A former official in gambling enforcement in the UK headed eCOGRA’s special three member committee tasked with investigating a controversial search engine campaign carried out by the Jackpot Factory. Bill Galston was also joined by a former Hilton Group executive, Michael Hirst, and a legal expert in the gambling industry, Frank Catania, to pass judgment on the Jackpot Factory’s campaign.

The gambling firm was accused of unscrupulous practices contrary to the eCOGRA code of gambling ethics for its campaign. In its findings, the committee stated that “the nature and tenor of the Jackpot Factory search engine optimization project was totally unacceptable because of the fictitious and misleading scenarios it portrayed. This resulted in widespread public disapproval of the campaign.”

The committee also referred to the Jackpot Factory’s claims that the initial stages of the campaign were outsourced. “The company’s supervision of the project was inadequate,” the committee’s report read. However, the committee noted in the company’s favor that management had co-operated fully with the investigation and found that there was no “malice” intended to coerce vulnerable players to gamble beyond their means.

At the close of the investigation, Galston advised that the objectives set by eCOGRA to address similar cases had been met. The aim, Galston stated, had been “to remove the immediate cause and potential for harm as quickly as possible, and then through fair and factual investigation isolate the reasons and ensure that systems are in place to guard against any repetition. These objectives have, in the opinion of this Committee, been met.”

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