{"id":279,"date":"2025-03-02T08:24:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T06:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fortismedia.com\/?p=279"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:07:39","slug":"how-seo-helps-online-betting-operators-achieve-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fortismedia.com\/en\/how-seo-helps-online-betting-operators-achieve-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"How SEO Helps Online Betting Operators Achieve Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brief History of Online Betting in the U.S.A.<\/h2>\n

Gambling was always an attractive market in the United States. Sports events were part of this and there was no shortage of scandals, like the Black Sox<\/a> one in 1919. Athletes, coaches, and sports commissioners were overall worried about the integrity of the games.<\/p>\n

With the popularity of the internet increasing in the early 90s, several operators turned to online markets and the alarm went off.<\/p>\n

In January 1993, The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) became active, forbidding citizens or states from engaging in sports betting<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite this law, there were 3 states who could still operate under specific legislation: Nevada (where Las Vegas is located), Oregon, and Montana.<\/p>\n

This law lasted until 2018, when the Supreme Court voted to vacate the PASPA, allowing states to take the decision into internal scrutiny. Since then, there have been several states taking legislation into debate, with some having already sports betting bills passed: like New Jersey and Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n

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Despite the possibility of legalization, states are still threatened by illegal markets. Illegal operators are more likely to provide attractive odds and come up with alluring promotions. Mostly, because they don\u2019t need to take part of their revenue to pay taxes.<\/p>\n

According to Forbes<\/a>, that is why there is an incentive for states to keep tax rates low for legal gambling providers: this way it will be easier to put illegal operators out of the market.<\/p>\n

In the long run, this system will bring more profits, both to the legal betting brands, as well as to the state who repels the ones operating outside the law.<\/p>\n

\"Map
Credits: OnlineCasinosElite.org<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brands Under Analysis<\/h2>\n

For research purposes and analyzing the influence of SEO factors into SERPs ranks, we chose to analyze the top 5 betting brands currently ranking in the U.S. for the keyword \u201cbetting online\u201d.<\/p>\n

These operators are MyBookie<\/a>, Bovada<\/a>, FanDuel<\/a>, DraftKings<\/a> and BetOnline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MyBookie<\/strong> ranks 1st<\/sup> for the keyword \u2018betting online\u2019 right now. They are an online gaming brand created in 2014, offering hundreds of online casino games. MyBookie describes itself as a pioneer in improving services where other brands failed.<\/p>\n

One may have noticed that MyBookie has a .ag domain, from Antigua and Barbuda. They profit from the Free Trade & Processing Act that the Caribbean country legislated in 1994, shortly after the PASPA became active in the U.S.<\/p>\n

This Act allows organizations to apply to open online casinos, thus creating a loophole for online brands to keep operating in markets where gambling is not completely legalized. MyBookie\u2019s headquarters are currently located in San Jose, Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

BetOnline<\/strong> also has a .ag domain, operating under those circumstances too. The location which they currently operate in Panama City, Panama.<\/p>\n

They have existed since 1991 and they offer the opportunity of betting in several sports, having their own stats center to help betting enthusiasts decide who to gamble on.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bovada <\/strong>is in Quebec, Canada, and was born nearly two decades ago, although they changed from Bodog to Bovada in December 2011.<\/p>\n

They are the only online sportsbook that is exclusive to US residents and they do not allow client accounts from states which have uncertain jurisdictions on iGaming, like Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, and New Jersey.<\/p>\n

FanDuel<\/strong> and DraftKings<\/strong> are different kinds of betting sites than the two previously mentioned. They offer fantasy leagues in NFL, soccer, basketball, and other team sports.<\/p>\n

However, FanDuel also has a sportsbook and horse racing pages. FanDuel was created in 2009 and operates in New York, NY, USA, and has a second office in Edinburgh (Scotland).<\/p>\n

Created in 2012, DraftKings<\/strong> is their main competitor. They launched their sportsbook in 2018 and have 8 million users. DraftKings is located in Boston, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Retired NBA superstar Michael Jordan has been one of the investors since September 2020.<\/p>\n

This white paper is purely for research purposes. Fortis Media is not affiliated with any of the brands and does not intend to promote them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether the named brands operate under legal or illegal terms is also not relevant for this paper. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Keyword Volume<\/h2>\n

\u201cBetting Online\u201d is one of the most popular betting keywords in the US. The average number of monthly searches in the past year was 201000. In October 2019 it had about 250k monthly searches.<\/p>\n

In 2020 this number started to drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 135k in March 2020.\u00a0Search volume started to grow back in the Summer and in September there were 301k searches.<\/p>\n

\"Monthly<\/p>\n

<\/a>SERP\u00a0\u2013 First View<\/h2>\n

\"SERP<\/p>\n

By analyzing the\u00a0aforementioned search\u00a0result page of\u00a0Google\u00a0for the keyword\u00a0betting online<\/strong>\u00a0we can acknowledge that:<\/p>\n