In this interview, JustGamblers Co-Founder, Magnus, dives into the journey behind launching a trusted iGaming media brand, with highlighting the market gaps, verified reviews, and what it truly takes to build user trust in today’s competitive landscape.
TheGamblest: In 2018, you co-founded JustGamblers. Can you tell what exactly inspired you to enter the iGaming industry? How did the idea for JustGamblers come about, and what gap in the market were you aiming to fill?
Magnus: I had previously worked for one of the prominent iGaming affiliates in Malta, so I had a good understanding of the industry. Initially, it wasn’t about a “gap” in the market. We were only confident in our SEO knowledge and that we could do what the others were doing, but slightly better. Back then, that was all it took.
TheGamblest: JustGamblers.com is known for its expert-reviewed content. How do you ensure neutrality and trustworthiness in such a competitive industry?
Magnus: By actually signing up to each casino that we review. We deposit real money and test the site as if we were a regular player. We gather all the data for the areas that we test, and then we create the review based on those data points. We also take real pictures and videos of us using the site so players can trust that we have actually done what we claim. You can check out our video reviews on JustGamblers YouTube channel here.
TheGamblest: JustGamblers has managed to expand into multiple markets, including the US, India, and Brazil. What has been the biggest challenge that the company has faced while expanding into new markets, and how did you overcome it?
Magnus: We have drastically reduced the number of markets we target. Our main focus at the moment is the US. The biggest challenges with other markets are to stay compliant with ever changing regulations, and the competitive nature of the industry.
TheGamblest: This year, in April, JustGamblers.com introduced a groundbreaking initiative – the first-ever Verified List of Sweepstakes Casinos; each substantiated with real image proof. What motivated this initiative? Was there a particular industry problem or user feedback that pushed you to create a verification system with image proof?
Magnus: We’ve moved on from our early days that I mentioned earlier, when simply doing things a little better than others was enough. Now, we’re at a stage where innovation is something that motivates us.
In terms of this particular initiative, the trust for text only reviews has gone down significantly since AI text content became scalable for webmasters. I personally never buy into written text if it’s not accompanied by real images and video walkthroughs. I need to see what I’m about to buy, and screenshots are not enough. It needs to be a person that I can relate to who has the product in their hands for me to believe it.
On top of this, Google added more weight to user engagement signals and how they interact with content over “seo optimized texts” in their “helpful content update” that launched during 2023. We took a massive hit with traffic declining as a result. It was clear that a change was needed.
At this time my co-founder Tobias Alriksson had been showing me a car he was researching and checking reviews for. He sent me a link to a UK based site called Carwow.
They had something that I had not seen anyone doing in the iGaming industry: instant proof of the reviewer actually testing the product, which included text accompanied by real videos and images. After watching the video I felt this was all I needed to know to buy this car. I was ready to make a decision.
At that time, we asked ourselves, “Why are we creating text content reviews that we ourselves would not rely on ?”
All this together led us to take the decision to invest heavily in real testing as a base for our reviews. The verification system with image proof has been crafted by our Head of Content, Patrik Lidin.
At the moment we’re on a mission to review all Sweepstakes casinos, real money casinos and sportsbooks in the USA to serve as a database, with real reviews by real gamblers for other gamblers.
The Gamblest: Magnus, what do you think are the biggest challenges in running a media and affiliate business within iGaming, and how do you address them? Or, if you could fix one major problem in the iGaming affiliate industry, what would it be?
Magnus: The current main challenge in the affiliate business is the lack of trust between affiliates and operators; the fact that operators have 100% ownership of tracking and have hostile terms in their affiliate policies that you’re forced to accept.
Example: “We can close down your account at any time, and all your funds at that time will be transferred back to the casino.”
These types of terms aren’t unusual.
A tip for other affiliates is to copy and paste all terms into chatGPT and prompt it to find all terms that are unfair for you as an affiliate.
Some of it can be solved by having a true clean rev share split on NGR. But it doesn’t solve the issue that operators can still untag your players or change/edit the values to whatever they see fit.
The Gamblest: It’s not easy to create content that ranks well and at the same time genuinely helps users. How do you deal with the constant push and pull between SEO performance and real value?
Magnus: We’ve leaned over to prioritize users which will be seen in our updated design launching later this year. SEO fundamentals need to be there, pages need to be crawlable, structured headings, some text etc, but the page or content needs to be user focused. And content is shifting more from text to media content, as very few people these days are consuming text based content only. All of this needs to be taken into consideration when creating real value.
The Gamblest: Magnus, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter the digital media or iGaming world today?
Magnus:
1. Identify a company that you know is doing well. They might have sites or products that you’re using yourself or if they’re stocklisted you can analyse their quarterly reports. You would want to join a company that is on an upwards trend with high profits established in a niche that is trending upwards.
2. Get a job at that company. Apply for all positions they list, and show them that you are interested in just their company.
3. Identify what department or person in that company has the best understanding of the business, how they make money, what value they convey, and where the industry is heading.
Focus on where the industry is heading. You’re already too late to create something that exists. You should try to be better than current players, and be a driving force.
Don’t be shy here, ask people out for lunch, 1-to-1s preferably, and ask a lot of questions. People love talking about themselves and their job, and they’ll share a lot of data and facts that they wouldn’t have shared in a Slack message.
4. Become someone known as a doer who delivers results in your company,
5. Establish good relationships with all departments in the company, and find people who have a drive or have extensive knowledge in a field. By talking to these people, you’ll start to see patterns in where things are going, and you’ll have enough knowledge about who can help you to create what you want to create.
6. Pitch your idea to the CEO as an “intrapreneur,” with them funding it and you having a no-capped % on the profits generated from the product.
7. If they say no, go solo and convince the people in the network you’ve created to start a business with you.
The Gamblest: And when you’re not deeply involved in business, what do you enjoy doing to recharge?
Magnus: During my time in Malta I was definitely focusing too much on work. In the last few years, I’ve become more balanced. When I’m not working, I like training at the gym, traveling, and going to restaurants.
