Routy - iGaming Voice by Yeva

Routy – iGaming Voice by Yeva

Added: July 14, 2023

Category: iGaming, iGaming Interviews, Top News

In this week’s installment of iGaming Voice, AffPapa spoke with the Co-Founder of Routy, Michael Filletti, who shared his insights on the challenges of working with data in the iGaming industry and talked about the importance of business intelligence solutions for affiliates.

Yeva: Could you please introduce Routy to our readers, Michael? What solutions does the company offer, and how can it help gambling businesses grow?

Sure! So Routy is a Business Intelligence tool for iGaming affiliates. We provide insightful dashboards, reports and integrations that allow affiliates to not only save time, but also increase their revenue and ROI.

My personal favourite success stories of affiliates using Routy are:

Using our page level insights to streamline their content strategy and focus on what generates revenue
Using our third party integrations to automatically optimize their PPC campaigns and spend
Identifying the advertisers that are not generating any revenue or conversions from traffic you are sending them now and promoting others that are

Yeva: There are a few different data solutions on the market for affiliates, what’s the main difference between Routy and other solutions?

When it comes to data solutions on the market for iGaming affiliates, you generally have two types. The first is your tracking solutions, that track your clicks on your affiliate links, where they came from and so on. The second is the stats aggregator, that pulls all your affiliate programs data into one place.

Routy is a combination of these solutions. We combine these solutions to give our users as much data as possible. Our focus is on delivering as much data as possible to the users to help them optimize their business. A success story for us is when an affiliate has increased their revenue, from the same level of traffic.

Yeva: Having partnered with many affiliates of all shapes and sizes, what do you think is the most important part of Routy’s success?

Obviously I’m a big believer in the Routy product – the data Routy provides is a game changer for iGaming affiliates. More data – better insights right? However, it’s not enough – it’s also about how you deliver that data to affiliates. That’s why

Whilst it’s impossible to specify one reason for our success, I really believe in strong customer support. One thing I’ve found, dealing with BI systems, both as a client and as a vendor – is customer support is crucial. Regular chats with our clients and good support have helped us shape and develop Routy into a product they love.

Yeva: What drove you to found Routy, Michael? What lessons did the experience of starting and growing the company from scratch teach you that you would like to share with our audience?

I’ve been working in data for iGaming affiliates since May 2018, so I had a very good idea of the challenges that companies and BI teams faced, and the shortage of data there was. Around a year ago I was introduced to Haim, who had built Routy some years earlier. After spending some time digging through Routy, and asking questions – I was extremely impressed by the amount of data and its potential.

When I look back at the struggles I had as an analyst to get more data and to answer more questions, Routy would have solved all my problems. My hope and motivation is that we’ll solve some other analysts and affiliates’ problems.

I’ve learnt a lot of lessons along the way, especially about myself. Firstly I’d say always, always listen and talk to your customers. They are the life-force of the business. Secondly, it’s the value of a co-founder – if you’re looking to start a business, having a partner really helps, especially if it’s the first business you’ve founded. If your skill sets are complimentary, it can be a huge advantage.

Yeva: What are some of the challenges in dealing with data in the iGaming industry, and how do you envision the future of data for iGaming affiliates in the next 5-10 years?

Data in affiliate marketing has always been hard to deal with. However, it feels like in iGaming it’s extra difficult – maybe it’s because there are so many different softwares and operators out there – who knows. Everyone knows that the data and analytics side of affiliate marketing is way behind. However, that makes this industry extremely exciting for a business like ours.

I’m hopeful that the next 5-10 years will see huge strides forward made. The growth of the data literacy movement, and the growing calls for data that we see are a good sign. More than anything, the ever-increasing competition means affiliates need to use data to get an edge over competitors.

Yeva: In your view, what is the most important ingredient when it comes to Business Intelligence for affiliates?

BI and data are a black box that pretty much all affiliates struggle with. This isn’t surprising given the nature of the space and lack of data ownership. The main difference between BI in affiliation and other industries is it’s more alive so to speak. You’re dealing with potentially hundreds, if not thousands of data sources, each of them having their own set of rules. So it’s not just the setup that is crucial, but even the maintenance. New operators, new rules, new deals – they all have an impact.

The trust of the affiliate with the data solution is hard won, easily lost. It’s not surprising considering the whole world is behind when it comes to data literacy, let alone the affiliation space which is behind the world from a data perspective. “Why does this brand show deposits, and this one does not – there must be something wrong?” Constant communication between the BI solution and team and the business is critical in this space, to build and maintain that trust. Only then can the affiliate really get the most out of BI.

Yeva: How do you ensure your clients’ security, has Routy ever had to deal with any breaches?

Security will forever be a big topic for us – affiliates are very sensitive about their data. Without a doubt the industry needs to do better on this front. From our side, our main priority is ensuring that our clients’ data is secure. Recent news has shown how prevalent password-stealing, and hacking is. In an ideal world, all affiliate programs offer secure API connections with proper reporting. However, this is yet to happen. From our end, we’re constantly taking the necessary precautions to ensure our clients’ data is safe.

Yeva: To finalize our interview, let’s get a bit off-topic. What do you enjoy doing in your free time, Michael? Do you have any hobbies outside of work you would like to share with our readers?

I’m a pretty relaxed guy, at the end of a long day I usually enjoy just watching some TV with my girlfriend, and spending time with family and friends to switch off. Sports is a big passion of mine, I love watching football and especially Formula One. Got the chance to watch a race with my dad last year, and can’t wait for the next! In cruel irony, I’m pretty terrible at sports, but thankfully I found friends who are just as bad, so I enjoy playing football with them once a week.

Company: Routy
Interviewee: Michael Filletti
Date: 14.07.2023

Routy