sparkling washing: v93: Facebook gambles on launch of virtual bingo game offering real cash prizes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/07/facebook-launches-virtual-bingo-game

Version 93 of 95.

Facebook has made its first move into online gambling in the UK, launching a virtual bingo machine that offers real cash prizes.

Britons aged 18 and over will be able to stake real money on the new Facebook game, dubbed Bingo Friendzy. The US social network plans to introduce virtual slot machines in the coming weeks.

Facebook insists that its controls will prevent anyone aged under 18 from gambling, but the move is likely to provoke some concern from parents whose children spend vast amounts of time on the site.

Bingo Friendzy has been developed by the gambling giant Gamesys, which runs several big-name jackpot sites including the Sun Bingo and Caesars Casino.

When a user signs up to Bingo Friendzy, they are asked to enter their personal details and confirm their date of birth. They are then asked to enter bank account details and make a deposit of between ?10 and ?500 to begin playing.

The game will not be regulated by the UK gambling commission because Gamesys is based in Gibraltar. The government has said it plans to make any company offering gambling services in the UK comply with the country's regulatory regime.

According to media regulator Ofcom, nearly two thirds of internet users in the UK are on Facebook. The average UK user spends six and a half hours a month on Facebook, which was the most popular internet destination behind Google search in March.

A spokeswoman for Facebook said: "Facebook is a place that allows people to connect and share. Real money gaming is a popular and well-regulated activity in the UK and we are allowing a partner to offer their games to adult users on the Facebook platform in a safe and controlled manner."

Facebook said it had no immediate plans to expand the venture to other markets, but the site could partner with other companies to launch new games in the UK.

Many countries outside the UK have more burdensome regulatory regimes for online gambling. In the US, for example, online gambling is largely prohibited in all but some states.

The venture into online gambling had long been expected for Facebook, which generates a growing amount of its worldwide revenues from gaming.

In the three months to 30 June, ?123m ($192m) out of Facebook's ?760m ($1.2bn) in revenues were generated from payments made in games such as Zynga's Farmville and Mafia Wars.

Licensed UK gambling is forecast to reach ?10.0bn by 2012, according to the market intelligence firm H2 Gambling Capital. European interactive gambling was worth ?8.3bn (?6.6bn) in 2009 and is expected to reach ?12.6bn (?10bn) by 2012.

Comments

49 comments, displaying first

7 August 2012 12:48PM

Judging by the number of under 13's on Facebook-their controls can't be that stringent. This is bad news.

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7 August 2012 12:48PM

Facebook looking for more mugs to add to those suckered in its IPO, huh?

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7 August 2012 1:02PM

I just lost all respect for Facebook. Zuckenberg is now the Tony Blair of hi-tech. Trying to make a cheap buck from gambling addicts. Sickening really.

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7 August 2012 1:42PM

Slippery slope Facebook! Looks like a cashing in while you can approach to the platform. I'd give them 2-3 more years?

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7 August 2012 1:45PM

Facebook.... the privatised web within the web.

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7 August 2012 1:48PM

"The game will not be regulated by the UK gambling commission" - Funny, I wasn't aware they regulated ANY gambling sites...or betting shops...or casino's.

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7 August 2012 1:49PM

Facebook bingo? An oxymoron, surely. FB is (supposedly) about social networking. Gambling is not a social activity, unless you count the crimes committed and the social damage done to and by gambling addicts as "social" behaviour. But who cares when there's money to be made?

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7 August 2012 1:49PM

Presumably US players will also be able to play the game. If this is the case I await the US DoJ shutting down this operation ala Full Tilt Poker et al.

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7 August 2012 2:26PM

Will Facebook's well-known security protocols regarding user identity prevent my dog (he's only 16 and 3/4 in canine years) from playing?

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7 August 2012 2:27PM

Controls will prevent anyone aged under 18 from gambling on Bingo Friendzy, insists US social network

Presumably these controls will be considerably harder to circumvent than starting a new profile and entering a date of birth that makes you appear to be 18?

Not sure how they would do that, though. Perhaps they'll require credit card details, in the hope that only over-18s have access to credit cards. Yeah, right.

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7 August 2012 2:29PM

Can the bots which have registered 80 million FB accounts play?

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7 August 2012 2:33PM

I just hope no pension funds invested in Facebook.

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7 August 2012 2:33PM

The share price has halved, they are still making a loss and they have admitted 80m of their accounts are false. All going well then!

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7 August 2012 2:37PM

Anyone remember FriendsReunited ?

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7 August 2012 2:42PM

Aha! For all those who wondered how Facebook could justify its valuation, here you are

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7 August 2012 2:47PM

FriendsReunited? Yeah, but I don't think you can really compare the two and predict FB doom just because they were both 'social networks'. I mean, FR never became a verb ("Facebook me!") and never became a household name around the world, not least throughout America.

MySpace is definitely the one to compare FB to, as they shared similar success but I think FB has ingratiated it's way into far more day-to-day interactions than MySpace ever did. For example, many sites require FB logins if you want to comment, or offer FB logins alongside Twitter logins etc, if you don't want to make an account there. I never saw TV shows interacting with people via MySpace.

This isn't evidence that FB will never stumble and fall, or even just become boring to the many millions of people that use it once something fancier comes along, but I do feel like it's here to stay for many a year at this point, even as it becomes ever more corporate and ever less private.

Stay away, that's my best advice. Nobody, but nobody, needs to be on Facebook.

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7 August 2012 2:48PM

If it's designed for over 18s, why on earth does that screenshot look like a CBeebies programme?

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7 August 2012 2:50PM

That article goes on to break down what 'false accounts' actually means in Facebook legal parlance. Also, I don't think it's really an issue to be worried about. It's only 8.something percent of all accounts around the world, which I know is still quite big, but not bad given how ubiquitous FB is.

How many Twitter accounts are spambots, anyone know?

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7 August 2012 2:52PM

If it's designed for over 18s, why on earth does that screenshot look like a CBeebies programme?

Because it wants to make it's insidious offerings seem casual and fun. Given that the vast majority of FB users are just regular human beings for whom starting a Facebook account was their first big step into 'The Internets' appearing accessible and casual is the name of the game when it comes to launching a game on FB; and that's the hook, they want to seem like it's just a game.

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7 August 2012 2:53PM

Can the bots which have registered 80 million FB accounts play?

Not if they don't have a bank account, which you need to start playing.

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7 August 2012 3:13PM

What's the risk of hackers getting access to users' bank details through this development?

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7 August 2012 3:17PM

The graphic promises "Bingo & Slots" but the article never mentions the "slots" - are they the digital version of what Aussies call "Pokies"?

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7 August 2012 3:18PM

Sounds like Zuckerberg is anxious nay, desperate to raise Facebook's share price.

Just another corporate asshole then.

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7 August 2012 3:20PM

What's the risk of hackers getting access to users' bank details through this development?

Same risk as any other internet-based company that has any of your bank details on file.

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7 August 2012 3:21PM

Slots? Slot machines? Things you put a coin into? Here in the UK where the Guardian is based, we all know what slot machines are :)

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7 August 2012 3:22PM

I beg to differ. In this case there is no noticeable social benefit but I worked for a bookies for about five years and it was more like a local pub than anything else. Many regulars came in every day, spending maybe 20p to ?1 per bet, hanging out with their friends, watching the racing and having a few coffees. It was like them going to the pub all day, except they weren't pissed and spent less.

Not all gambling is bad.

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7 August 2012 3:23PM

Sounds like Zuckerberg is anxious nay, desperate to raise Facebook's share price.

Just another corporate asshole then.

YEAH! All you Chief Executive Officer's of companies! Take heed of this comment quoted above! How dare you try to increase the value of your company? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU, you corporate assholes...

Oh no hang on, raising the share price is pretty much the single most important thing a CEO is responsible for, no matter what company he runs.

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7 August 2012 3:28PM

I'll be interested to find out how Facebook takes its cut. If your a gambling site, based off-shore, I presume you take 100% of what's lost or staked, no tax to pay. However, if Facebook is taking it's usual 30% cut then will that come from every transaction (win or lose) or just the profits? Even when punters paid tax on their bets it was only 9% (now bookies pay it).

If indeed it is 30% then I'd assume these guys are hoping that Facebook delivers enough punters for it to be worth the time.

In my opinion, this is a dangerous road. Online gambling is a very big problem, much more so than shops. How much easier it is to keep spending money when you're sat in your bedroom, never touching the physical cash, it's scary. And Facebook is a great (horrible) way to get at those who would never think of setting foot in a bookies or casino.

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7 August 2012 3:28PM

This thing is dead in two years.

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7 August 2012 3:45PM

I know the type. In one of my local pubs there are a pair of chaps who argue for ages about who's going to win the 3.00 at Kempton or wherever, getting really agitated with each other, only to finally decide on the winner and place their ?1.00 each way bet. Harmless, amusing and strictly just for fun. I would not dream of criticising their pastime. Down the road, another story. Bookies, pub and Cash Generator in a row. The traffic from pub to bookies and back never stops.............people spending their wages or benefits on the horses and then, in desperation, the FOBTs. Lose enough and it's Cash Generator time. The trouble is that for every responsible gambler there's a problem gambler out there. What do you think will happen when 13-year-olds go on FB and see something they aren't allowed to use? They'll find a way. Nick dad's wallet for ten minutes and they're into the wonderful world of losing money that ain't theirs on something they're not allowed to do.

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7 August 2012 3:45PM

I just find this depressing - if Facebook had to take one of the big things that make money online but are morally dubious then I wish Zuck had chosen porn. I'd far rather that coming up in my newsfeed

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7 August 2012 3:47PM

I stopped using (and deleted) my FB account about 18 months ago - how would something you have no interest in (gambling apps, porn apps, whatever) turn up in your timeline?

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7 August 2012 4:02PM

If anyone that you are friends with use an app there's a chance it can come up as a story in your news feed, but anyone marketing these apps will use a Facebook 'sponsored story' or 'promoted post' type of ad to pay & make sure that the story of an app being used is seen by all that person's friends. It's to try and make the app look more trustworthy. If you go on Facebook now (especially the mobile version) it's absolutely full of these sponsored stories.

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7 August 2012 4:05PM

And there's no way to turn that off? Well,that's the price of free; the users are the product, and they're sold to advertisers. :(

I don't miss FB in my life one little bit, one less noisy distraction in an already noisy world. I guess future generations will treat FB as an essential element of their lives, that they have to be on it and feel withdrawn if they can't use it. Sad :(

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7 August 2012 4:42PM

No not really, there isn't a great deal that can be done to turn off the ads, apart from using an ad-blocker I suppose.

I don't think I'll be turning my Facebook off any time soon though, there's loads of good that comes of it as long as you actually like your friends. You're right though, future generations will feel withdrawn if they don't use it. That's because it's part of people's lives now, like mobile phones, email, TV, computers and all those other cultural developments that made previous generations moan and say they were the death of society. Even if Facebook fails (which I don't think it will) people will just migrate to another social network, the concept of wanting to know what your friends are up to isn't going anywhere.

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7 August 2012 4:48PM

It's just so tacky.

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7 August 2012 5:04PM

Seem to be a lot of knee-jerk comments here. The service doesn't rely on facebook login information for date of birth, and from a quick look at the app's information they use identity verification software to confirm the details entered are correct (verified from a number of databases) before a single bet can be placed. As for the insinuation that being licensed in gibraltar makes the company somewhat less reputable, look at the number or online gambling operators licensed out of there. It's for tax reasons, not because the rules are more lax. In terms of exploiting people with gambling issues, the app is certified by Gamcare, the UK's leading gambling support charity. If people want to gamble they will, this is just a new method for them to do so on a platform that is primarily used by adults. The sky isn't falling.

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7 August 2012 5:17PM

Judging by the (awful) artwork it's definitely aimed at young people.

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7 August 2012 6:02PM

Ok, firstly this is UK only and will be limited be IP geolocation; secondly before penny one is spent you will have to be id validated - almost certainly by possession of a valid DUK Drivers Licence. Passport or CC / DC from which funds will be debited; thirdly, the Gibraltar regulations are certainly NOT lax.

It will be as easy for your kid to book a holiday to Cancun using your credit card as to do this. In other words, steal your card and use your name and cash. No service accepting CCs can effectively counter that as far as I know.

Not of the foregoing makes any of this a particularly good idea but let's have some perspective.

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7 August 2012 6:26PM

Because it wants to make it's insidious offerings seem casual and fun

All those fancy bright colours fooling the unthinking plebs.

I think you may find for some people it is exactly that - harmless fun. The problem is that term "harmless fun" has vastly diminished in scope.

Still, it is not a particularly inspiring move from Face-ache

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7 August 2012 7:57PM

How tacky can you get?

Thank goodness I have never gone near Facebook.

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7 August 2012 8:18PM

If it's designed for over 18s, why on earth does that screenshot look like a CBeebies programme?

It had to be 'dumbed down' for them.

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7 August 2012 8:19PM

How tacky can you get?

Keep watching facebook over the next few years to find out.

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7 August 2012 8:23PM

Ok, firstly this is UK only and will be limited be IP geolocation

Is that the same IP geolocation that hotmail believe when they keep pestering me for an american phone number - 'just in case' - even though I'm in the UK and use a Bristol ISP?

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7 August 2012 9:31PM

It just goes to show how silly some people can be, though the fb thing really is a bit confusing for some, including active users. I mean, how could so many apparantly normal people invest billions in an entity that could disappear in a flash, on a collective whim to move to something else?

Their success *so far* may be due to the relative unobrusiveness of their adverts, which you don't even notice if you get into the habit of not looking at the relevant part of the screen. Sometimes it's quite amusing though; I saw a urologist once and was rewarded with adverts for medical devices I didn't know existed. If they start getting aggressive, like with betting stuff that is strictly regulated in some normal countries, it looks like fb's demise is programmed for very soon - no doubt an inside job in the offing.

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7 August 2012 10:15PM

As a software engineer, I do not understand the attraction of web social-networking, a la Twitter and Facebook. If I want to share things with my friends/family I simply phone/email them. I make friends with people I meet in the normal run of social-life, at parties, gigs, and sometimes just chatting to someone in a place like a coffee shop, a bookshop,a cafe. Why does anyone feel the need to broadcast to a global audience? Seems to be something pathologically narcissistic about it all. Perhaps this is why Facebook is the perfect platform for launching a gaming enterprise ? a ready market with so many vulnerable people.

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8 August 2012 1:38PM

I guess Facebook really is the new Bebo/Myspace in more ways than one....

Sell, sell sell.

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9 August 2012 4:28AM

Looks like the thinking behind those mini "casinos" in service stations - lots of people passing by on their way to lay down a crap but you are making no money out of the vast majority of them.

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9 August 2012 12:42PM

hmm, not sure if this is a bug for facebook / mobile (Android OS)

- facebook app - google -------------------------- android OS

- Owner has log in to facebook app - log out - at google (if you type your facebook id) it comes up - with access to your profile - even if your log out at the facebook app

- second user - login to facebook app and via google then after logging out - user can use google to find fb id - and get full access

other samples are - when owner has login to facebook app - but second user uses google - login to myspace music player - second user still goes online and get full access..

not good at reportin - but aniway <<<

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