Betfair Top Of The Hitwise Pops

UK internet gambling group still the top dog when it comes to sports betting visitors. Live Odds and Scores.com reports that the latest Hitwise sports book rankings for the six months to August 2010 continue to be dominated by British online gambling group Betfair. The competitive intelligence service continues to rank Betfair as the most popular sports betting website in the UK, producing stats to prove that the UK giant is the sector's market leader with a 13.78 percent market share. The latest rankings show that Betfair has maintained its strong market positioning – the company also enjoyed the top spot in the previous Hitwise rankings published in February 2010. In the current report, Ladbrokes sports book was the second most visited sports betting site with its online offering achieving a 9.91 percent share of the market, whilst Bet365 ranked in joint third place alongside William Hill with a 9.28 percent share. According to Hitwise, Betfair was also the most searched-for sports betting firm across all UK search engines. The betting exchange receives 7.5 percent of the traffic from sports betting-related searches across search providers, more than any of its competitors. Ladbrokes is its closest rival with 6.8 percent of the traffic, followed by Bet365 with 6.56 percent. Betfair's head of UK marketing Matt Booth said: “It's great to be in such a strong position online, with more customers in search of bigger wins on Betfair. “Our marketing strategy prioritises SEO, a move which is paying dividends as we continue to receive a high volume of traffic from leading search engines in the UK and across the globe.” Hitwise – most popular in gambling – sports betting ranked by visits (March – August 2010) 1.Betfair – 13.78 percent 2.Ladbrokes – 9.91 percent 3.Bet365 – 9.28 percent 4.William Hill – 9.28 percent 5.Paddy Power – 7.19 percent Hitwise – search engine traffic for UK sports betting industry (March – August 2010) 1.Betfair – 7.5 percent 2.Ladbrokes – 6.8 percent 3.Bet365 – 6.56 percent 4.William Hill – 6.2 percent 5.Paddy Power – 6.1 percent