The Malta-based leading performance marketing company Catena Media confirmed that it had withdrawn from the Dutch market at the time when the operator published its interim report for the second quarter of 2017.
The company revealed an all-time-high estimated to €11.53 million, which represented a 58% increase in its search revenues year-on-year. The result also marked a 5% increase in comparison to the first three months of the year in spite of the negative impact that the withdrawal from the Dutch market had on the company’s performance.
Catena Media officially revealed its decision to temporarily withdraw from the Dutch market, saying that has always followed strict compliance standards in regard to its partners reached through its affiliate network. The Malta-based company shared that its decision has been provoked by the fact that the Dutch Gaming Authority, KSA, had imposed stricter regulatory regime on online gaming companies which offer their services to local players.
The performance marketing company further shared that it decided to temporarily exit the local gambling market in order to make sure it fully complies with the laws applied. Catena Media explained that its revenues were expected to be hurt in the short term by an amount of about €100-150 thousand on a monthly basis. However, the company projected that its decision to exit the Dutch gambling market would turn out as a positive one in the longer term, especially in case that the Netherlands choose to re-regulate the market. As a matter of fact, this could not be such a long shot as the Remote Gaming bill aimed at regulating iGaming in the country is currently being considered by the Upper House of Parliament.
Recently, the Netherlands have been widely criticised in terms of its enforcement actions against some foreign companies that currently operating in the country. As mentioned above, the local Government and authorities have been focused on forging the new iGaming legislation of the country for some time now, with the Netherlands being expected to enforce the approved rules for the iGaming market as soon as possible. Before the online gambling regulations to be finally set, local legislators first need to agree on some of the upcoming procedures that are to be taken in order for the new rules to be officially presented. This is expected to happen over the second half of 2018 at the earliest.
For the time being the local iGaming market is still closed, but the political situation in the country suggests that it is likely that the Netherlands will choose to implement an online gambling law that would come in line with the major principles of the European Union.
The country, however, also faced a wave of criticism, as its state regulatory body Kansspelautoriteit has started to act very aggressively towards iGaming operators that had been violating the law by offering their services to Dutch customers without having a permission for that as well as an operating license, in spite of the fact that the new online gambling legislation has not been officially presented.
- Author
Olivia Cole
