09/09/09 - BrightShare Ltd. operating as Brightshare.com has become the third online gambling affiliate program to receive eCOGRA’s Affiliate Trust seal following rigorous inspection and monitoring by the independent player protection and standards body's professional compliance teams.
BrightShare handles the affiliate marketing activities of the popular Jackpot Factory group, which owns nine online gambling brands including five online casinos featuring Microgaming’s Viper download and Flash instant play software, a multiplayer poker room, an online bingo hall and two mobile casinos.
Like eCOGRA’s accreditation process for gambling site operators, the recently introduced affiliate service provides detailed best practice business standards, backed by a strict inspection and monitoring process. Approved affiliate programs are entitled to display the eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal, marking the holder's success in achieving the required levels of integrity and efficiency.
The standards attached to the seal have been specifically designed for affiliate program operations, a Brightshare spokesman said.
To display the new seal, affiliate programs must demonstrate that their program establishes, enforces and monitors best practice standards. Specifically, they must show that they calculate affiliate revenue accurately and make payments promptly, communicate efficiently and that they have controls in place to accurately link players to affiliates.
Although there are others monitoring affiliate programs, eCOGRA provides the most public, structured and formal on-site inspection approach, ensuring adherence to consistent standards through regular monitoring and full annual reviews carried out by appropriately qualified audit and accounting professionals.
Congratulating BrightShare on achieving accreditation, eCOGRA CEO Andrew Beveridge said his compliance teams had been impressed with the high levels of efficiency encountered during their on-site and in-depth study of BrightShare operations.
He added that the credibility of the Affiliate Trust seal, and the improvement in business that this could deliver had resulted in a growing number of applicants.
"eCOGRA's independent directors are very pleased with the positive response by affiliate programs to this custom-designed addition to our services, which indicates a real desire among the programs to measure themselves against practical international benchmarks through independent audits," he said.
Lloyd Apter, affiliate manager for BrightShare, said that affiliate programs occupied a critically important role in the successful operation of online gambling companies, and that this made professionally defined standards and business processes essential.
"eCOGRA has provided BrightShare with a valuable level of confidence that our program can and does meet the highest industry standards," he said. "The ongoing review and inspection service helps us to maintain those standards for the benefit of our primary customers - the affiliate marketer and the operator."
