This week a survey of online bingo was released and has caused quite a storm as it suggests that a player revolution is underway. According to these new figures, online bingo players are shifting their loyalty from long term sites to freebie sites. Since the launch of Cheeky Bingo earlier this year, the pressure for all sites to provide free bingo choices to players has been on the increase. The pressure felt by sites is now underpinned by the figures quoted in this latest survey, it seems that while that in January of this year,free bingo rooms accounted for 3% of bingo traffic in the UK, whereas that figure increased to a massive 31% in July!
Where do you play most?
This huge shift in traffic is certainly ruffling a few feathers across the whole of the bingo universe; but what does it mean for players who have been always been loyal to their sites before these new sites appeared? The results of this survey suggest that offers of small jackpots in freebie games are now becoming as popular as pay to play games where jackpots are traditionally higher. If this trend continues, this will have a knock on effect in terms of what player points and long term player investment is worth. The industry are sure to be hoping that this shift in loyalty could however just be a temporary reflection of the economic hard terms and could well be shortlived. If not, all sites will have to continue to increase their free games with cash prizes however. Not only this but it's quite possible that the huge jackpots we as long term players have been used to will deplete and that player loyalty systems could even become a thing of the past.
Bingo doesn't have to costa lot
If freebies continue to take a hold of the bingo audience, the question of how established sites retain their player numbers also becomes a more pertinent one. Offering everything from freebie bingo to daily buy one get one free deals, new sites offering new ways to play is not necessarily good news for those of us who have been playing online bingo since its creation. In fact, this influx of new players could be bad news as the so called sign up war to bring in new traffic is constantly hotting up around us, with brand name sites bettering their ad campaigns and offering newbie incentives that are irresistible. If larger numbers of newbies are only looking to play with bonus money and in free games, this ultimately means less money in the pot for prizes and less rewards for existing players.
Where will it all end?
With all this in mind, we at the Hideout are beginning to wonder where the freebie revolution will lead to in the long term for online bingo; after all if every site offers freebie bingo for smaller prizes there will be intense competition but ultimately less choice for players who joined for the community spirit that tourneys and team play build over time.
