Since the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, the online gambling industry has skyrocketed. This has been a trend in the works for a while, with the lockdown restrictions of the past two years adding fuel to the already simmering fire. Now, the industry is on track to be worth over $150 billion by 2030 and is a vastly different beast from what it was 10 years ago. We look at some of the improvements that technology has brought to the online gambling industry.
Improved Accessibility Through the Internet and Smartphones
Eighteen months ago, research showed that 85% of Americans owned a smartphone.
Chances are, that number is up over 90% now, which means that the vast majority of the population has immediate, convenient access to the internet. Extrapolate this trend over the world’s population, and it’s quite easy to see how the online gambling industry has boomed over recent years.
What online casinos have done well, is capitalized on this trend by making their platforms hyper-adapted to mobile technology. Now, virtually every online casino can easily be navigated and accessed on a smartphone, while many have their own app.
Not only has this contributed to the growth of the industry, but it has improved the overall experience of online gambling, making it convenient and enjoyable for users.
Incredible Graphics Driving User Engagement
While gaming consoles have constantly been pushing to develop more and more realistic graphics for their games, online casinos have been busy doing the same thing.
While online gambling used to be purely for the potential financial reward, now it is much more about the experience. In fact, many online gamblers are using a slot tracker to measure how much an online casino is returning, purely because the overall experience is so immersive that it would be easy to get lost in it and forget about the financial side of gambling.
Consumers can now go white water rafting down the Nile, explore the African safari or fight off deadly zombies, all in a video game-like experience while playing slot machines.
Improved Security Means No Nasty Stuff
While a core tenet of any successful business is innovation, online casinos have done this while still focusing on the basics.
One of these is security, which is an area where natural concerns have existed for a while when it comes to online casinos. At a physical casino, you can literally see your cash being handed over to the dealer or cashier and turned into chips, then you can hold those chips tightly while walking the casino floor, and know they are secure in your hand.
With online casinos, it’s a little different. The reality is that users must trust a faceless website to store their financial information and return their winnings when requested, all without any nefarious activities occurring. That’s why online gambling platforms have worked hard to ensure that they are constantly improving their security.
Now, any good online casino will have a Secure Socket Layer certificate to defend against unwanted intrusions, as well as two-factor authentication and 256-bit encryption for any stored information.
