I’ve been an active member of the online gambling community for more than 10 years as a professional gambler. I noticed lately that the term ‘gambling’ tends to be substituted by the word ‘gaming’ both in the news and in marketing campaigns. Is it because ‘gaming’ sounds more… innocent to the public than gambling?
Gaming is pretty much connected to… games, obviously! Although people have blamed specific video games for encouraging violence and illegal activities (even gambling itself!), video gaming is regarded as a safe hobby in general. Just look at popular games at social media like Facebook or the top games in Android and Apple stores. With millions of people playing Angry Birds or Farmville, gaming is not only an acceptable word to use, but also appeals to the majority of people in the online world.
Gambling on the other hand is not a nice word to use or read. Even search engines like Google do not favor websites incorporating the term ‘gambling’. Take it from a man managing three gambling blogs! That’s justifiable due to the horror stories of degenerate gamblers and some shady people in that line of work.
Yet, let’s not forget that gambling is primarily a form of entertainment.
Surely, you cannot go bankrupt by playing Angry Birds. I haven’t heard of gaming addicts either, but I’ve heard of gamers spending endless hours on particular games. Even I myself have probably played Football Manager for months. And I’m talking about hours of actual play. Isn’t that a waste of time if not plenty of lost opportunities?
Most helpful Football Manager review at Steam. Notice the hours on record.
No, I’m not defending gambling. Far from it, as I always try driving people away from gambling, unless they can prove their edge. I just try to figure out why the gambling industry has suddenly been renamed into ‘gaming industry’.
I no longer read of bookmakers, gambling companies or online gambling news. They have converted into gaming operators and gaming news. At times I’m confused of an article’s title that includes the term ‘gaming’. Is it a post about gambling or the video gaming industry?
The featured image usually spills the beans for anyone in doubt like myself. Still, hasn’t anyone else noticed this behavior change/internet trend that slowly makes the term ‘gambling’ obsolete? For the time being, gambling is a much more expensive keyword to bid on in online advertising than ‘gaming’. The question is for how long, though!
