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iGaming marketingglossary

The terms you'll meet in casino and sportsbook marketing — and in our quotes and reports — explained in plain English.

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Acquisition cost (CAC): What it costs, on average, to win one new depositing player through a channel or campaign.
Affiliate: A partner — often a review site, tipster, streamer or media brand — that refers players to an operator in return for a commission.
Affordability checks: Checks an operator makes, where rules require it, to make sure a player's gambling is sustainable for them.
Age-gating: Controls that keep gambling marketing and content away from people under the legal age, such as age-verified audiences and platform restrictions.
ARPU: Average revenue per user: revenue in a period divided by the number of active players in that period.
Attribution: Deciding which marketing touchpoints get credit for a registration, first deposit or other conversion.

Bet builder: A sportsbook feature that lets a bettor combine several selections from the same event into one bet.
Bonus abuse: Using promotions in ways they weren't intended, for example with multiple accounts. Detecting it protects promotional budgets.

Churn: Players who stop playing with a brand. Churn rate is the share of players lost in a period.
Cohort: A group of players who share a starting point — such as the month they registered — so their behaviour can be compared over time.
CPA: Cost per acquisition: a one-off fee paid to a partner for each new player who meets agreed criteria, usually a qualifying first deposit.
Crash game: A fast casino game where a multiplier rises until it ‘crashes’; players try to cash out before it does.
CRM: Customer relationship management: the data, tools and messages (email, SMS, push, in-app) used to onboard, retain and reactivate players.

FTD: First-time deposit (or depositor): a player's first real-money deposit. It's the main acquisition goal in iGaming.

Geo-targeting: Showing campaigns only to people in specific locations — essential when a licence covers only certain countries, states or provinces.
GGR: Gross gaming revenue: stakes minus winnings paid out, before bonuses, taxes and other costs.

Handle: The total amount wagered at a sportsbook in a period.
Hold: The share of the handle a sportsbook keeps as revenue after paying out winning bets.
Hybrid deal: An affiliate agreement that combines a CPA with a revenue share.

In-play betting: Betting on an event while it is happening, with odds that change as the event unfolds.

KYC: Know your customer: verifying a player's identity, age and sometimes source of funds, as licences require.

Live casino: Table games and game shows streamed from a studio with real dealers or hosts.
LTV: Lifetime value: the revenue a player is expected to generate over their whole relationship with a brand.

NGR: Net gaming revenue: gross gaming revenue minus bonuses and, depending on the definition, taxes and fees. Revenue-share deals are often based on it.

Overround: The margin built into a sportsbook's odds: the amount by which the implied probabilities of all outcomes add up to more than 100%.

Postback: A server-to-server message that tells a tracking platform or partner that a registration, deposit or other event happened.
Provably fair: A cryptographic method, common at crypto casinos, that lets players check that a game result wasn't manipulated.

Rake: The fee a poker room takes from each pot or tournament entry.
Rakeback: A share of the rake returned to poker players, often as part of a loyalty programme.
Reactivation: Winning back players who have stopped playing, through CRM, offers or product changes.
Revenue share: An affiliate agreement where the partner earns an agreed percentage of the revenue from the players they referred.
RTP: Return to player: the share of all money wagered on a game that it is designed to pay back to players over the long run.

Safer gambling: Tools, messages and interventions — deposit limits, time-outs, reality checks — that help players stay in control.
Self-exclusion: A player's request to be blocked from gambling for a period. National registers such as GAMSTOP, Spelpaus and ROFUS cover many operators at once.
Server-side tracking: Sending tracking events from a server rather than the browser, making measurement more reliable and easier to control for privacy.
Sub-affiliate: An affiliate recruited by another affiliate, who earns a commission on the sub-affiliate's results.

Tipster: A person or site that publishes betting predictions and analysis; many work as sportsbook affiliates.

VIP programme: Personal service and rewards for high-value players, managed within safer-gambling and affordability rules.

Wagering requirement: How many times a bonus (or bonus plus deposit) must be played through before winnings can be withdrawn.
White label: A gaming brand run on another company's platform and licence, so it can launch without its own technology or licences.

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