ONLINE POKER TRAFFIC CONTINUES TO DECLINE

03/27/2012 : But Zoom is doing wonders for Pokerstars traffic
 
The latest weekly report from an independent online poker monitor shows an overall decline in traffic – albeit only 1.8 percent this week – for the seventh consecutive week.
 
Once again, sites with declining traffic outnumbered those making gains by eight to two.
 
Adding a brighter note – at least for Pokerstars – was the news that the online poker giant's Zoom venture into speed poker continued to pull in thousands of players, enabling Pokerstars to gain 3 percent whilst rivals like PartyPoker, iPoker, Ongame and Microgaming all declined by 5 percent or more.
 
"Interest in Zoom Poker remains high," Pokerscout reports, noting that the game accounted for 26 percent of all cash game players on the site, with the number of cash game hands dealt up by 50 percent or more, and at least three-quarters of a site's revenue typically coming from cash game rake.
 
Merge Gaming Network continued to outperform the market, with a year-on-year increase in traffic of some 64 percent.
 
Many French, Italian and US-facing sites also lost significant traffic this week, indicating a generally downward trend.
 
Pokerscout's Top 20 Movers included:
 
• EverestPoker.fr gained two spots, landing in 14th place.
 
• iPoker.it dropped one to 15th.
 
• PartyPoker.fr fell two spots to 17th.
 
• Bodog climbed a notch to 16th.
 
• Svenska Spel overtook Everest Poker, ending the week in 18th.
 
• Enet Poker Network made its debut in the top 20, rising two spots to 20th and knocking IPN down to 21st.
 
According to PokerScout's Aces indicator, online poker traffic (ex-Italy) has decreased by 34 percent in the last year, with the top three sites this week  Pokerstars (up 22 percent); iPoker (up 3 percent) and Party Poker (up 2 percent).
 
Among the sites that have made headway and showed gains were 888Poker, Winamax.fr and Bodog.
 
Significant declining traffic was reported for International Poker Network and Ongame.