UK Bingo Sites Concerned About Facebook Plans - 12-13-11

December 13 - The news that the social network giant, Facebook is making plans to introduce some form of online gambling, has caused concern among UK bingo operators.

Bingo sites are concerned that Facebook will be able to use its giant customer base of millions of people to launch an advertising campaign for its own online gambling brands.

In terms of Facebook online bingo plans, executives from the social networking site have reportedly held meetings with major online gambling providers, including 888 Holdings, with a view to offer online gambling services.

Around 50% of the UK population has a Facebook account and it does not take much imagination to realize just how many households a news campaign about a Facebook online bingo operations would be reached.

Facebook has the potential to market its bingo application to literally millions of users, especially since the network has detailed profiles of its clients.

Bingo Operators Concerned about Facebook Threat

An unnamed senior executive at one of the top UK bingo brands was quoted on an online portal this week, saying: "Around 50% of the UK has Facebook accounts, this provides them with a substantial base to jump start gambling operations. While online bingo sites do their best to target marketing campaigns at groups of people that MAY have an interest in bingo, such as TV advertising at key times, this is expensive and is only a broad match."

The executive said that online advertising also comes with significant costs and is reliant on users searching for keywords.

"Facebook, however, has the opportunity of advertising to its own users at no cost and can also search out all users that have the word bingo in their profiles," he said, adding that this was a major advantage over traditional online bingo operators.

The executive predicted that Facebook could quite easily be one of the biggest players in the global online bingo market in the coming years, and that the social networking giant poses a threat that is far greater than plans by the UK Treasury to tax remote internet gambling.

Other concerns about the risk of exposing youngsters to the idea of online bingo and gambling on Facebook have been expressed by social groups.

There are an estimated three million young people between the ages of 13 and 17 with Facebook accounts in the UK, and many fear that the introduction of online bingo apps could negatively impact them and lead to gambling addiction at an early age.

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