Game Lounge Unveils Affiliate Trust and Data Index for iGaming Transparency

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage

On April 22, 2025, Game Lounge officially launched the Affiliate Trust and Data Index – a first-of-its-kind benchmark that sets a new standard for transparency, performance, and integrity in the iGaming affiliate ecosystem.

This move isn’t just timely – it’s overdue.

For years, the affiliate tech landscape in online gambling has operated in a fog of fragmented data, black-box platforms, and vague performance claims. Game Lounge’s index finally shines a light through that fog. It evaluates affiliate platforms across three core categories: data granularity, usability, and security – providing stakeholders with the clarity they’ve been asking for and the accountability the industry desperately needs.

Whether you’re an operator choosing a tracking system, an affiliate tired of murky dashboards, or a tech provider looking to improve your platform, this index will matter. And it’s likely to shape how affiliate performance is measured going forward.

Key Takeaways

Game Lounge’s Affiliate Trust and Data Index is the first standardized benchmark for affiliate platform quality in iGaming.
Platforms are evaluated on data access, usability, and security, using over 100 operationally relevant criteria.
Platforms are mapped into a quadrant model that makes trade-offs and strengths easy to understand at a glance.
The initiative aims to reduce industry friction, improve decision-making, and raise operational standards.
Stakeholders (operators, affiliates, and platforms) stand to benefit from increased transparency and competitive pressure.

Why This Index Was Necessary

Affiliate platforms are the infrastructure behind the customer acquisition engine of iGaming. They track performance, attribute revenue, manage campaigns, and calculate commissions. But despite playing such a vital role, these platforms have long lacked an agreed-upon standard for quality or functionality.

Too often, affiliate partnerships are built on intuition, reputation, or branding rather than tangible features or measurable performance. For example, some platforms offer beautiful dashboards but fail to provide granular data on traffic behavior. Others offer powerful API access but lack a user-friendly UI for teams managing dozens of offers across multiple GEOs.

This inconsistency doesn’t just frustrate affiliates – it costs operators money, leads to attribution disputes, and weakens trust between parties.

Keith Cassar, CTO at Game Lounge said:

“We’ve been operating in a landscape where everyone is talking about performance, but no one is measuring what makes a platform actually perform. The index changes that.”

Methodology: How the Index Works

The Affiliate Trust and Data Index is structured around three essential pillars. Each pillar contains dozens of sub-criteria that reflect real-world operational needs and performance expectations. The aim isn’t to rank platforms by aesthetics – but by how well they serve the businesses that rely on them.

1. Data Granularity

This category evaluates how much visibility a platform offers into campaign performance and how flexible the reporting tools are.

Key metrics include:

API depth and frequency: Can data be pulled programmatically in real time?
Sub-ID tracking: Does the system support detailed tracking across different traffic sources or creatives?
Custom reports: Can users segment data by GEO, device, user behavior, time range, or channel?

Why it matters: Without granular data, affiliates can’t optimize campaigns and operators can’t identify fraud or segment high-value players.

2. Platform Usability

Usability doesn’t just mean nice graphics. It means intuitive interfaces, efficient workflows, and access to actionable data without jumping through hoops.

Key criteria:

Dashboard clarity: Are KPIs easy to read, export, and act upon?
Automated workflows: Does the platform automate link generation, payouts, or reconciliation?
Multilingual support: Can global teams work efficiently in their native languages?

This category matters especially for smaller teams or affiliates operating in fast-paced niches like crypto, esports, or emerging GEOs.

3. Security Standards

With hundreds of millions in affiliate commissions flowing through these platforms, security can’t be an afterthought.

Evaluated features include:

Two-factor authentication (2FA) for logins and high-risk actions.
Secure API key protocols with encryption and IP whitelisting.
TLS 1.3 or better encryption standards for all data-in-transit.

“Security is still shockingly inconsistent in our space. Some platforms don’t even require 2FA for withdrawals,” said Cassar. “That’s not acceptable in 2025.”

The Quadrant Framework: Making It Visual

To help users understand trade-offs, Game Lounge organizes platforms into four quadrants based on their scores for data granularity and usability:

1. Gold Standard

High data visibility + High usability
Best-in-class systems that combine technical depth with intuitive UX.

2. Manual Maze

High data + Low usability
Powerful under the hood but requires a developer or analyst to extract value.

3. Easy but Opaque

Low data + High usability
Smooth on the surface, but limited transparency for decision-makers.

4. Black Box

Low data + Low usability
Outdated or poorly maintained platforms—best avoided or restructured.

This model allows affiliates and operators to align their platform choices with their strategic goals – whether they value speed, flexibility, depth, or simplicity.

What This Means for the Industry

Everyone benefits from the

For Operators

Better partner alignment: Choose platforms based on your team’s needs and operational scale.
Reduced payout disputes: Standardized metrics reduce confusion over commissions or player attribution.
Higher ROI: Access to more reliable data means better resource allocation.

For Affiliates

Smarter optimization: More accurate insights into where traffic is coming from and which campaigns convert.
Greater trust: Affiliates know what to expect before onboarding with a platform.
More leverage: Affiliates can choose platforms that support their workflow instead of bending to vendor limitations.

For Platforms

Public benchmarking: Scores become a powerful marketing asset – or wake-up call.
Consulting support: Game Lounge offers recommendations for how to improve rankings in future updates.
Competitive edge: High-ranking platforms can attract elite affiliates and tier-1 operators.

The Bigger Picture: A Step Toward Accountability

This index isn’t just a shiny tool. It’s part of Game Lounge’s broader strategy to modernize the affiliate landscape through its GLX innovation lab – the same group that developed Kiickr, an affiliate management automation suite launched in 2024.

Future upgrades to the Index may include:

AI-based performance forecasting
Blockchain audit trails for payouts
Third-party API integrations to standardize transparency across tools

As Sergey Tadevosyan, co-author of the index report, put it:

“This isn’t just about tracking performance. It’s about building an affiliate ecosystem rooted in data integrity, operational alignment, and mutual trust.”

Final Thoughts

The iGaming affiliate industry is maturing. As operators become more data-driven and affiliates more sophisticated, platforms can no longer rely on marketing fluff and closed systems.

Game Lounge’s Affiliate Trust and Data Index is a turning point. It sets a measurable standard for quality, clarity, and fairness that benefits the entire ecosystem.

This kind of clarity isn’t just helpful in a market where compliance is tightening, budgets are scrutinized, and user acquisition costs are rising. It’s a competitive necessity.

Whether you’re evaluating platforms for your next campaign or building one from scratch, start with the Index.

Sources

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage

Game Lounge’s Affiliate Trust and Data Index: Revolutionizing Transparency in iGaming

Key Takeaways

Why This Index Was Necessary