AS: Thank you very much. Yanica, we are talking about how spending on advertising is decreasing and how this has an impact on the operator’s revenues. So can you please explain from the operators perspective, and from your experience, how these restrictions are affecting your company? YS: First of all, I think I’m ready to give a fairly obvious and unexciting answer: that it presents obvious challenges. Sometimes a change in advertising or marketing regulation in some markets can completely change the market for an operator, making it perhaps no longer viable. I think it very much depends on the brand status in a particular market. It’s obviously more difficult for a new entrant in the market if they are suddenly faced with advertising restrictions. And I think there’s also a challenge that is posed very clearly on policymakers and regulators by virtue of this new regulation or this new policy about advertising. Are you reaching the objectives, the regulatory objectives as you are duty bound to achieve as operators comply with your regulations? We talk about evidence-based regulation. And it’s difficult enough to get a proper evidence base of the problem that exists. And we’re seeing how sometimes it’s difficult to agree on the degree of a problem. But then also we’re seeing that there’s very rarely any evidence that is sought it with regards to the effect of a new regulation. So will that new regulation actually achieve what you wanted to achieve? And are you able to enforce it and are you able to police it? Or is it just putting your regulated market in a difficult position, as opposed to the market which is not regulated? So I would really like to see a situation where there’s more collaboration between policymakers and operators. I mean, operators employ the best ad tech to make sure they do not target vulnerable people. These are not sustainable practices. So there needs to be some form of a discussion. And Jason Lane made a really valid point in the first panel saying we don’t ask for data we can’t analyze, which is a very fair point. But I think it should be everyone’s priority to actually seek data and analyze it before coming up with a rule that could potentially change the market in a way that even the policymaker did not intend. So it’s an obvious challenge. I mean, it’s the reason we keep our jobs as well. So I’m not really complaining about it. But it’s a challenge that operators face. And I don’t think it necessarily achieves the objectives that we all want to achieve. AS: Do you think there is enough collaboration from the operators perspective? Are you speaking a lot with stakeholders with regulators? YS: I was, as many of you know, also a regulator before. And I could see a difference in the fact that there’s now more collaboration, and more regulators are open to having these conversations with operators. And there’s a better maturity in that sense, it’s understanding that we need to achieve these objectives together. Obviously, I’d like to see more of it. And there’s room for more. But, it is a step in the right direction. AS: Luis, from the affiliate perspective, are the restrictions causing less business opportunities from a marketing standpoint. Bearing in mind the laws, how do adapt your services, your product to the different requirements that we have across the different jurisdictions, because as we said, there is no uniformity. What are the particularities or challenges that you are encountering and how this is affecting your company, as an affiliate? LC: Everyone has to adapt to every jurisdiction’s requirements. I see this is hypocrisy because to take the Italian example, some politician decided that gambling should be disrupted, then everyone has to adapt. Fortunately, we come across some solutions. We have very talented lawyers to help us surpass them. But I don’t think it’s good for the ecosystem. It’s not good for the operator because he reduces the advertising. And obviously, in my opinion, operators need affiliates to evolve and to subsist. It’s not good for the affiliate, obviously, because he will tend to make less money. And it’s not good for the press and for social media. Because of the way affiliates work, we work mostly as intermediary between the operator and publishers, social media, etc. If we cannot advertise, we will not give them money. So they will also have problems in subsisting. And this is a vicious cycle that will damage the industry. When I mentioned hypocrisy before, it’s because I always like to give local examples. And it’s very easy to attack gambling and say gambling is not good. Six months ago, I was in the same conference in Napa Valley, and asked the question, why can I have a bottle of wine and no one will call me an alcoholic. But if I bet on the Euros, they will say
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