Comments on: It’s too late for gambling to save Zynga

By: Matt Ackeret

Matt Ackeret — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:04:57 +0000

“Online gambling was illegal until last December”

Citation needed.

FTP was shut down due to business shenanigans, and other gambling sites followed suit.

Players have never been gone after, AFAIK.

(BTW, I have never used online poker sites.)

By: dave

dave — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:08:21 +0000

Very poor form, Jeff, using one of your own investment companies as a “credible source” and promoting their only customer along the way.

The reality is that Zynga has a marketing asset that any regulated gaming company would kill to own.

The flip-side is also true, regulated gambling delivers the reveune per customer that Zynga would kill to own.

Zynga has pleanty of time to execute a regulated gambling strategy.

By: Frank Rizzo

Frank Rizzo — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:55:00 +0000

LOL, “too late”. Was Google too late because Lycos and Altavista had head starts? Was Facebook too late because Friendster and MySpace had head starts. One of the great lessons of the rise of the Internet has been the fallacy of first mover advantage.

By: Gideon Bierer

Gideon Bierer — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 23:45:39 +0000

no doubt that gambling could be a large opportunity for zynga — even an affiliate-only strategy could generate meaningful revenue. the ARPUs in online gambling are typically $500-1000 per year,with 30%+ going to affiliates. the US is clearly the largest single potential market opportunity, but timing of market opening is unpredictable beyond Nevada, and zynga’s participation options (licensed operator, licensed supplier, affiliate, JV partner etc) are subject to regulatory uncertainty. Given this reality it would make great sense for zynga to use regulated international online gambling markets (UK, Italy, Canada, France, Spain…) as pilots to refine its strategy and approach to the US. whether their organization and/or technology is able to effectively execute on such an approach remains to be seen…it is rare for major US technology companies to pilot major new strategies, especially those that require meaningful product development, outside the US…ROI calculations will always favor projects that can be monetized in the US as well as ex-US

By: Sherman Sall

Sherman Sall — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 12:04:09 +0000

I’m sorry to say but this article seems like nothing more than a PR puff piece for Betable. After 15 years in the online casino business I can assure you that Zynga has everything it needs to enter the real money gambling business head on. They will learn the thing or two they need to learn to run a successful gambling operation by hiring the best hands in the business, which will not be a problem given their cash on hand. Bottom line they have a huge database that they know how to use and players they know how convert and retain, they just need better games.

By: Ryry

Ryry — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 01:08:18 +0000

Jeff – Zynga aint going anywhere. Startups need funding to survive. If states take their time to legalize (and license) gambling, Zynga has a much better position than others.

By: d

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 15:09:43 +0000

A 9-month head start by Big Fish means… what exactly? Online gambling has been around for many years, especially in the UK. I have no idea whether Zynga will succeed, but it seems like this is a mature market where quality and good marketing can make a dent, not winner-take-all like social networking.

By: Jeff John Roberts

Jeff John Roberts — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 05:54:07 +0000

Viggy, that seems like a bit of a cheap on ‘online journalists’.. As I note in the article, the skeptic is a rival CEO which means he’s hardly impartial.. But I just don’t see how Zynga becomes a gambling success

By: Jeff John Roberts

Jeff John Roberts — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 05:50:52 +0000

Thanks for your comment, ryanoff. I agree that Zynga is very good at some things — but I don’t think running a casino is one of them. The company does have a devoted fan base — but are fans of draw something or Farmville also gamblers? As someone who doesn’t gamble but like games, I just don’t think that user base will cross over.

By: Viggy

Viggy — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 22:21:17 +0000

Biased article with very little justification of the points made apart from the fact that CEO of a sister company of the website said so … If only we could hold online ‘journalists’ to higher standards…