Bingo Industry
Bingo was once a game that people used as an excuse to get together, but now, with all the new hi-tech bingo accessories, and the popularity of online bingo, it's not just for senior citizens at the local bingo hall anymore. Land-based bingo is a massive market, and online bingo is developing into an even bigger one. Never in bingo history has bingo been such a popular game. Online bingo has become one of the biggest markets on the world wide web today, with millions of players registered to sites all over the world.
The growing success of bingo, in general, and online bingo, in particular, has the 10 year-old online gambling revolution to thank for its good fortune. Since first appearing on the scene, the world of online gambling has evolved exponentially, becoming one of the most popular offerings on the net today. Today, the estimate of online casinos amounts approximately to 1800, with new online casino sites popping up every day. Besides general online casino sites, which offer a broad variety of popular casino games, there has also been a new trend to launch sites geared to specific games, such as online blackjack, online poker and most importantly, online Bingo.
In 1999 alone, the US bingo industry had earnings of over $5 billion, so just imagine the potential the online bingo industry has. The rules to the games are simple, it can be played by anyone, anywhere in the world, and most people don't even recognize it as gambling.
Online bingo players are predominantly female, in the 25-65 age range. Almost half of these players do not play in any other type of online gambling. Clearly, this opens up a whole new market for the online gaming industry that would otherwise be unreachable.
In contrast to the amount of casinos that are available online, the online bingo industry is quite small, however it is growing by leaps and bounds. In the year 2000, there were only ten reliable bingo sites available. In 2001, the market grew by 50%, and by 2003 the market has increased by 150% to over fifty sites, with more sites becoming live every day.
Obviously, the online bingo market is quite different than that of the casino market. Here, players choose their bingo sites based on where their friends from across the internet are playing, and how the atmosphere is in the chat rooms that accompany the games. The dot-bingo.com staff finds that it's often the chat room that can make the difference in what makes or breaks a good bingo site. Additionally, the way the chat host interacts with the players, can ultimately effect whether the player will return or not.
So the race in the bingo industry is heating up between bingo providers that are battling to capture this new market with the latest software, and bringing in these potential players. Many of the top online casino providers are entering the market, but many providers of standalone bingo software are holding their own as well. This market is an exciting, fast growing part of online gaming that needs to be watched with a close eye for the many opportunities that will arise in the online gaming world.
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