Sweden’s re-regulated online gambling market launches next month, but the country isn’t the only major Scandinavian jurisdiction. Neighboring Finland is also an important space for iGaming and affiliate marketing.

We recently sat down with Finnish born-and-raised affiliate Toni Halonen (right), the founder and CEO of Good Game Ltd., to discuss the market. The Malta-based affiliate expert also spoke in detail about his career and his firm’s recently-launched Bojoko product.

IA: Toni, can you tell about your background in the iGaming industry, and your motivation in founding Good Game back in 2011?

Toni Halonen (TH): I have always been fascinated by games, be it sports, regular table games or – yes, you guessed it – gambling. Competing against others and winning are definitely a big part of the gist but learning new things and seeing yourself improving are important motivations as well.

I used to play poker professionally and build affiliate sites on the side with my friend a couple of years before we founded Good Game Ltd. in Malta. The biggest motivation for me was definitely freedom and gaining the independence to do what you want.

After that freedom was somewhat secured and we had enjoyed some success, we found that competing against others and finding new ways to get traffic that others hadn’t found yet gave us a lot of motivation.

Now, most of the motivation comes from our vision to bring iGaming to the mainstream through safer and more fluid gambling.

IA: The Finnish iGaming market was a core focus for Good Game’s affiliate portfolio. What are the challenges and opportunities for affiliates in promoting Finnish casino and sportsbook brands? 

TH: The biggest challenge, as well as the opportunity, is the language. Finnish is difficult to master and seems daunting, and therefore not many foreigners enter the Finnish market like they do, for example, in the UK. This also means that there is less competition in the Finnish market.

IA: One of most recent additions to Good Game’s affiliate portfolio is Bojoko.com. Can you tell us more about your newest product?

TH: The Bojoko site works like an Airbnb for online casinos. Our main market is the UK and over 170 UK casino sites have now listed themselves on Bojoko. Both established and new casino sites have been interested in the concept and the benefits Bojoko brings them.

IA: What are the main benefits of Bojoko?

TH: With Bojoko, you are better able to control and build your casino brand and affiliate marketing channel. We understand the UK casino regulations and our responsibility as affiliates when promoting your casino.

Also, you don’t have to chase affiliates anymore to change your bonus information, brand images or promote your latest offers and campaigns. You can do all this yourself quicker and better than the affiliate.

In other words, casinos can be more compliant and present their brand the way they want on Bojoko.

IA: You recently launched the Winning Stories section and are about to release browser push notifications for Bojoko. What were the goals of these innovations?

TH: We want to constantly build more tools for online casinos and affiliate managers to present their brand in creative ways and in exchange get more exposure for their efforts. For example, on Winning Stories, casinos can also post images of big wins, and in this way showcase that their casino truly creates big winners.

With browser push notifications, we want to give casinos a chance to go where players’ attention is – in their mobile phones. Whenever a casino is active on Bojoko, posts an offer or a winning picture, a notification is sent to Bojoko users who have opted in to push notifications.

These are great opportunities for casinos to get their brand up-close in-front of online casino players. They wouldn’t only be targeting their fan base anymore as with social media channels, but rather all online casino fans at once.

IA: What are your plans for Bojoko’s evolution in 2019?

TH: We aim to build new and better tools to casinos and affiliate managers to get exposure and showcase their great casinos. We will also invest in building the community side of Bojoko and amplify the benefits for logged in users, both players, and casinos.

IA: All the best for next year, and thank you for your time.

To discover more about Bojoko and Good Game Ltd., please reach out to Toni.