UK gambling websites are ready for US traffic

Site Confidence is a subsidiary of NCC Group, an independent escrow solutions, assurance testing and consultancy firm, and stated that UK gambling websites enjoyed 99.91 % availability rate from June 1 to July 31, which represented an average downtime of only one hour and 19 minutes.

In addition, Site Confidence revealed that the average download speed across UK online gambling sites for the same period was four seconds, which is well under the desired benchmark of eight seconds. “A return for online gambling in the US could be a real boost for the UK gambling industry,” said Bob Dowson, Director for Site Confidence.

“However, competition in the space is already fierce with merger and acquisition activity including the recent merger of PartyGaming and Bwin and continued speculation surrounding 888 fuelling providers’ drive towards optimum website performance. This competition will only increase as new US providers get in on the act.

“In turn, it is essential that UK gambling sites can cope with increased traffic and provide a seamless user experience to avoid losing visitors to rivals, which are only a click away. Our research illustrates that UK gambling sites are already offering a strong user experience. In addition, a notable lack of prolonged downtime, particularly during a period that included the 2010 FIFA World Cup, suggests that Internet gambling providers have built necessary capacity to cope with high volumes of traffic and are load testing ahead of expected hikes in visitor volumes.”

“On this evidence, providers have strong foundations to build on in order to respond to increased traffic from the US and competition from new American and enlarged European companies. However, it is likely that increased US traffic will require additional load testing to cope with expected volumes, particularly immediately after legalisation.”