John Wright from StatsDrone interviews Bohdan Lytvyn
John Wright from StatsDrone interviews Bohdan Lytvyn from wdldt.com
1. When you founded MyCasinoIndex.com, what was the idea, USP and main differentiator behind it to not just be another casino affiliate site?
Bohdan Lytvyn: I have founded wdldt.com in 2020 as a side project, almost a joke. My idea was why not try to appropriate the methodology of reviews aggregators of the likes of metacritics.com to the domain of online casino gambling. I was thinking it’s fine to get a picture of how each slot game or casino was reviewed in one place. To that end, we were thinking of aggregating reviews with scores from online publishers and updating it once in a while.
So, I started with taking reviews from AskGambler and other big names and was surprised to see how the picture began to build-up: the good slots were proven to stay good, but ... it was not even close to that when it came to casinos. Likewise, especially in the beginning, the whole thing with casino reviews felt erratic: I must say it still feels weird at times to see how a particular casino gets a whole spectrum of scores from great to bad elsewhere (we use 0-100 scale).
Literally, right from the start I have had the idea that the industry' road of content leads a client in the wrong direction: reviews where quite the same with only a bit of useful info (if any). Sometimes, scores of casinos (and slots alike) looked meaningless, including they would often contradict the review itself, etc. Therefore, I posited to walk away from content productions in the conventional meaning. Likewise, I used 3rd party data available online as well as excerpts from reviews to create the backbone of the site. As the site lived on, we started to get player-generated reviews that were the only "original" pieces of content at that time.
Now it works as the McDonalds in a way: when we onboard, for example, a new casino we give them an access to our User End where the brand representatives fill in the data for themselves from the database of options. So, it became a platform where anyone can claim their profile, verify their data and start off some campaigns towards our visitors, B2B and B2C alike.
2. As the editor of your site, do you always prefer to create more content yourself rather than outsource it?
Bohdan Lytvyn: We have Reports and Interviews sections on the site where I publish content that I personally like or take interest in. Since the site was built as an attempt to find an industry consensus on slots and casinos (through the aggregation of scores) I felt there's no need to make another review on a game title. So, I now focus on bigger topics and ask myself (and readers) complicated questions, and, of course, I do it by myself. Besides, I kinda don't actually believe in the whole outsourcing idea.
In all, I tend to have casino brands or slots providers to do the job instead. I just like to think it's them (not me) who need to try to consolidate their online footprint, have more affiliate partners upstream and, finally, facilitate their clients' journeys through working with complaints, etc. My mission is to remind of that and give access to the community thereto.
Seriously, sometimes I feel I am on the mission to bring together the iGaming Affiliate Marketing Community, which obviously includes a Casino Player as an Ultimate Client, to learn, share and grow together. It means more successful partnerships, more mutual awareness and as a result, more real successful affiliate programs. I use my content to build a community and create a feedback loop, all the rest I leave to the market participants.
3. You were CEO of TheoGaming focusing on leadgen and B2B partnerships, which skills and experience have you brought with you into MyCasinoIndex?
Bohdan Lytvyn: We all know that an instinct to sell is a born one (joke). It's like you have it or not. Therefore, I use MyCasinoIndex as a playground to hone my instinct to sell. I must say it's a handy job for me right now: as a father of 3 kids that flew from war in Ukraine to France, I have lots of daily tasks, and I like the way I can work for myself and keep 'profiter de la vie' (enjoying life) as French say.
Interestingly, I now have a stronger belief in B2B than ever before. I have constant calls from my peer publications and so we have discussions on the state of affiliate marketing in gambling, etc. Suchwise, I am coming to the idea that I have to take it seriously, like bringing together publications and operators. After all, someone has to do this job.
Another thing that I have discovered lately is that slot providers (and slot publishers) have a great interest in affiliate marketing. So, I am planning to start a collaboration with one of the big names in the slots industry soon in a way to streamline their work with all the publishers. I believe it may work out, because we - as an aggregator - just happened to be in the centre of the whole publishers community.
4. What inspired you to launch the ‘Bohdan Lytvyn Talks’ podcast?
Bohdan Lytvyn: I have noticed that there's not so much education for grown-up professionals in our industry. To the contrary, the information that's useful for making business decisions is strictly guarded and rarely slips from the lips of industry practitioners. I decided to try to change it, since in my opinion there's no practical use in keeping secrets... Like a tribe that watches their members and rarely encounters the outside world, the online gambling practitioners (especially, online casino market) is left to its own means, without influx of fresh ideas and even a critic from outside.
Sometimes, it even get's funny: by the European business terms, for example, the flagship media companies in the market are mere 'small business', if you'd judge from their turnover, which rarely exceeds €100 mil annum. That's how much a farmer that grows onions in France makes (provided that he/she has around 1000 ha of land). But when you look at the farmers' side, you'd find all the info on how to run a business in the smallest details. What is the difference, I ask?
Obviously, there's not much difference. So, my 'Bohdan Lytvyn Talks' video series is a set of video discussions on the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) as well as questions how to run an online casino, how to do marketing in online gambling, how to make affiliate marketing teams work better, etc. I would like to extend this practice even more to start off with online webinars and events for affiliate marketers in this business.
5. I see you also have started a show for gamblers called Take off your coat, gambler! What topics do you cover in this series?
Bohdan Lytvyn: 'Take off your coat, gambler' is more like a late night radio. I don’t take it seriously, it is better this way. It’s meant to be a radio that is relaxed and open to like minded people, sometimes funny, sometimes philosophical. There’s an immense necessity (as I see it) to rethink what has been done in online gambling up to the date, recall the steps and names, call people by name and try to shape together the idea of the future.
6. As a guy who thinks outside the box, what do you think the next generation of affiliate startups should be focusing on in getting started in iGaming?
Bohdan Lytvyn: I like the idea of going further into B2B. And I like the word ‘like minded’ - I always take it with me where I can. Likewise, I personally started Gambling Publishers Club to be able to to share insights and data on casino operators performance, request and get the community opinions on topics and problems that matter to all, share casino deals that work for some of us (and why) as well as discuss best practices and share things that are helpful. I think it’s fine to move in the direction where there’s an intersection of ‘like minded’ businesses, education and information sharing.
