Alberta is set to become Canada’s second competitive regulated online gambling market after Ontario, as the province opens its commercial iGaming framework to private operators. The new model, overseen by the Alberta iGaming Corporation and regulated by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), is intended to channel online gambling activity towards regulated platforms through stronger consumer protections and a structured licensing framework.
For operators, suppliers and affiliates alike, the move represents more than another licensing opportunity. As compliance obligations increase across North America, affiliates are also reassessing how they compete, evaluate operator partnerships and adapt their long-term business strategies.
Speaking exclusively to SiGMA News, Aleksandra Drigo, Chief of Business Development at SEOBROTHERS, said regulation is changing not only acquisition strategies but also the economics of affiliate businesses, with compliance, transparency and long-term partnerships becoming increasingly important in regulated markets.
Regulation raises the bar for affiliate businesses
The transition to regulated markets creates greater transparency for consumers, but it also increases operational complexity for affiliates. “Regulation usually creates a more complex and expensive operational environment for affiliates. On the one hand, the market becomes more transparent, but on the other, marketing restrictions, compliance requirements, and acquisition funnel limitations increase significantly,” Drigo told SiGMA News.
According to Drigo, regulation affects affiliates beyond meeting compliance requirements. She said tighter marketing restrictions reduce promotional flexibility, while stricter acquisition requirements increase customer acquisition costs and make conversion processes more complex.
She said, “For SEO affiliates, this means reduced flexibility in promotion, more complicated conversion flows, and higher user acquisition costs. Competition also increases sharply, especially from large public companies and heavily funded brands that can afford major compliance and branding budgets.”
The result, she said, is that some independent affiliates may decide against entering newly regulated jurisdictions altogether. “As a result, many affiliates, especially independent SEO players, may decide not to enter fully regulated markets and instead focus on regions with more predictable economics and lower regulatory pressure.”
Drigo’s comments come as regulated markets introduce licensing, compliance and reporting requirements that affiliates must take into account when entering or operating in those jurisdictions.
Compliance teams, legal support, technical infrastructure and ongoing reporting become integral to doing business rather than optional investments.
Larger affiliates may gain a competitive advantage
The increasing cost of compliance could also influence the competitive landscape among affiliates. According to Drigo, regulated markets naturally favour businesses with the financial resources to invest in long-term compliance infrastructure.
“Regulated markets tend to favour larger players. Big affiliate companies have the resources for legal support, compliance teams, advanced tracking infrastructure, and long-term investment without expecting fast ROI.”
For smaller publishers, however, those same regulatory requirements may prove more challenging.
“For smaller publishers, entering the market becomes significantly more difficult, especially considering advertising restrictions, licensing requirements, and reporting obligations. Opportunities for niche projects still exist, but the overall barrier to entry becomes much higher.”
As more North American jurisdictions consider regulated online gambling frameworks, affiliates are increasingly balancing market potential against the operational costs of entering those markets.
Compliance is changing how affiliates choose operator partners
The implications of regulation extend beyond market access. They are also influencing how affiliates evaluate the operators with whom they choose to work.
Drigo said compliance has evolved into one of the primary considerations when selecting commercial partnerships.
“Compliance has become one of the key factors when choosing operator partnerships. At the same time, it also makes the affiliate business model much more complicated.”
She explained that affiliates increasingly assess operators on a range of operational factors, including reporting standards, responsible gambling measures, responsiveness and regulatory compliance, because reputational risks affect both parties.
“For example, on one of our portfolio projects, we pay close attention to how consistent an operator is in terms of reporting, responsible gaming policies, speed of communication, and local regulations compliance. Reputation risks affect both sides. If an operator lacks transparency or fails to follow compliance standards, it directly impacts the affiliate business as well.”
According to Drigo, affiliates are placing greater emphasis on factors beyond commercial terms when selecting operator partnerships. She said reporting standards, responsible gambling policies, communication and regulatory compliance have become key considerations.
Transparency becomes a business necessity
As regulated gambling markets become more established, affiliates are not only reassessing where they operate but also how they measure the value of operator partnerships. Compliance may determine market access, but according to Drigo, transparency increasingly determines whether those partnerships endure.
She said affiliates are placing greater emphasis on operational standards because the business has become significantly more data-driven.
“Affiliate business is becoming increasingly data-driven. Traffic costs are rising, competition is growing, and affiliates want to clearly understand the real performance of every traffic source and campaign.”
For affiliates investing heavily in SEO, content and player acquisition, access to accurate reporting has become essential for evaluating performance and allocating marketing budgets.
“When there is full visibility in reporting and accurate postback tracking, affiliates can make better business decisions, optimise their traffic mix, and scale profitable channels more effectively. Without transparency, it becomes difficult to build a long-term strategy and trust operator data.”
She added that the growing investment required to compete has raised expectations around operational support.
“In addition, many affiliates today invest significant budgets into SEO, content, and acquisition, so expectations regarding operational communication are much higher than they were even a few years ago.”
Drigo said transparency in reporting and communication has become an important consideration for affiliates as they evaluate long-term operator partnerships.
Trust extends beyond commercial terms
As affiliates navigate increasingly complex regulatory environments, transparency is no longer viewed simply as good practice. Drigo believes it has become the foundation of sustainable business relationships.
She said, “Operational transparency is the foundation of long-term partnerships. Affiliates need to understand that the data is accurate, tracking works properly, and communication remains open even in difficult situations.”
She argued that attractive commercial terms alone cannot compensate for uncertainty surrounding reporting or attribution.
Drigo said, “Even a strong commercial deal loses value because of constant concerns regarding statistics or attribution. In the long run, trust becomes more important than short-term commercial terms, especially in SEO, where affiliates invest in projects for years ahead.”
The importance of trust becomes particularly evident when disputes arise between affiliates and operators.
Rather than viewing financial disagreements as the primary source of conflict, Drigo believes communication failures often create the greatest challenges.
“In my opinion, many conflicts today are caused primarily by a lack of transparency and communication.”
Drawing on her experience, she said affiliates can sometimes struggle to verify explanations for commercial decisions because they do not have access to operators’ internal systems. “On one of our projects, we have experienced different situations that are quite common in the industry. Flat fee payment cancellations, CPA reductions due to chargebacks or alleged multi-accounting. In many cases, we cannot fully verify whether those reasons are accurate because we simply do not have access to all internal operator data. This is exactly where transparency between affiliates and operators becomes extremely important.”
She stressed that disagreements over payments are often easier to resolve when communication remains open. “Financial disagreements can usually be resolved quickly if there is trust and clear communication between both sides. Whereas, when affiliates do not receive timely information, face unclear reporting, or get no explanation for performance changes, tensions escalate very quickly. In regulated markets, communication and transparency become just as important as the financial terms themselves.”
Affiliate managers are taking on a strategic role
According to Drigo, the responsibilities of affiliate managers now extend beyond negotiating commercial agreements. She said, “It has become much more strategic. The focus used to be limited to making deals and basic relationship management. Today, a strong affiliate manager needs to understand compliance, data analytics, traffic quality, and the business goals of both sides.”
She said affiliate managers are increasingly acting as business partners rather than account managers, with responsibilities that include communication, transparency, performance optimisation support and resolving operational issues.
“In highly competitive markets, affiliate managers increasingly act as business partners rather than just account managers. They are expected to provide proactive communication, transparency, performance optimisation support, and fast resolution of operational issues.”
Building resilient partnerships for the long term
Drigo said transparency, consistency and a long-term mindset are important in building operator-affiliate partnerships. “I would highlight transparency, consistency, and a long-term mindset. Especially when discussing markets like Canada, strong partnerships are built when both sides focus not only on short-term revenue but also on sustainable long-term growth.”
She also highlighted the importance of timely communication and said, “Fast communication is also extremely important. Our CasinoCanada.com managers are expected to be available 24/7 because of different time zones, and we work hard to ensure our team remains responsive and productive at all times.”
According to Drigo, honest reporting, collaboration and adapting to changing market and regulatory conditions are also important to maintaining long-term partnerships.
She added, “Honest reporting, willingness to collaborate, and the ability to adapt together to market and regulatory changes are also critical. Modern affiliate partnerships increasingly resemble strategic business alliances.”
A more accountable affiliate ecosystem
Beyond individual partnerships, Drigo believes the affiliate industry itself is becoming increasingly data-driven and accountable. She said, “Affiliates and operators make decisions based on analytics, traffic quality metrics, player value, and retention data rather than simply focusing on traffic volume alone.”
She added that regulation is raising transparency and operational standards across the industry, while also increasing operational workload. “At the same time, regulation is pushing the market toward higher standards of transparency and responsibility, while also adding a significant amount of operational workload,” she said.
Preparing for the next phase of affiliate marketing
Looking ahead, Drigo expects affiliates operating in regulated North American markets to place greater emphasis on localisation, brand credibility and direct engagement with users as competition intensifies.
“I believe the key trends will be localisation, brand authority, and first-party audience strategies. Competing purely through generic SEO is becoming increasingly difficult.”
She said trusted brands, expert content and local market knowledge are likely to become increasingly important differentiators. “Trusted brands, high-quality expert content, local expertise, and the ability to build direct relationships with audiences become much more important. Products such as forums and real user reviews will play a major role.”
Drigo also described several initiatives her organisation has introduced to strengthen user engagement, including expanded bonus content, verified user reviews, social slot tournaments and community-focused features designed to encourage direct interaction between players and operators.
“With all this in mind, we launched several new products at a portfolio project recently, a dedicated bonus section where bonuses are updated daily, real user reviews on casino review pages, and free social slot tournaments for user retention. Next, we will introduce casino profiles where operators will be able to respond directly to player feedback. We are also developing a forum where players can discuss their pains and gains and further enhance our social slot tournaments.”
She added that technological change is further reshaping the affiliate landscape, requiring businesses to diversify beyond traditional search strategies.
“With AI and online search ecosystem changes already transforming the SEO landscape, affiliates need to become much more flexible and technology-driven than before. And compliance-friendly SEO strategies and diversification beyond traditional search traffic are becoming increasingly important.”
As Alberta prepares to introduce its regulated commercial iGaming market, Drigo said affiliates will need to adapt to changing compliance requirements, greater operational demands and evolving partnership expectations. According to her, transparency, communication and data-driven decision-making will continue to play an important role as regulated markets develop.
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