William Hill Giant Gambling Merger

One of the largest mergers in online gaming and sports betting history took place this week, with the joining together of the affiliate programs of William Hill, CPays and Webroute Affiliates, to pave the way for a new group - Affiliate Guarantees.

In an email sent out just hours after the merger, William Hill Online CEO Henry Birch outlined several changes that the new group expects should be fully integrated by the end of 2009, including an assurance that "you will continue to receive lifetime revenue share or CPAs on all your existing and new players referred, no matter which affiliate program you are with."

Other changes outlined

• Being able to promote casinos, poker, bingo, sportsbook, games and skill games all using the same affiliate program.
• Players will be using some of the best software and systems in the market such as Playtech Casino, I-Poker, Virtue Fusion and Playtech Bingo and the Orbis sports betting platform.
• A true global reach using one affiliate program with a large presence in all major markets except for the USA.

Major bookmaker
The British bookmaker William Hill has gone from strength-to-strength since opening its doors in 1934. Since branching out into online casino operations, the company has become one of the biggest in its field, with a total revenue in 2007 of 940 million pounds (around $2 billion).