With 800 users around the globe Facebook is the undisputed leader in social networking. For young people Facebook is an aspect of daily life and anyone can easily set up their own Facebook page. Facebook users can also play a variety of games on the site. In January when Facebook announced plans to launch real money bingo games on the site many online bingo operators saw the move as a serious threat. In fact, Facebook’s decision was a matter of grave concern for UK based online bingo operators. Many online gaming operators opposed the move saying it would encourage underage gambling but these claims were dismissed as hypocritical and blatant self-interest. Opponents of the underage gambling concerns say that since online bingo operators and other gaming sites advertise their services on Facebook the concerns are hypocritical.

Industry competition in the internet bingo industry is fierce and Facebook online bingo games could easily be seen as a major threat to the industry. In February social gaming giant Zynga announced the launch of their own version of bingo on Facebook. Zynga has had great success with Farmville and Zynga poker on Facebook. Until last year Facebook prohibited any advertisements for internet gambling services but has now reversed course. Currently online bingo operators outside of the United States may advertise their services on Facebook. Facebook guaranteed that gambling ads would only be shown to users over 18. Many online bingo operators were quick to take advantage of Facebook’s potential as a new advertising medium. When Facebook announced plans to offer their own bingo games many advertisers withdrew their ads on Facebook.

The online bingo industry has good cause to fear Facebook’s latest move. One senior executive at a major player in the online bingo industry pointed out the advantages Facebook has over its competitors. The unnamed executive pointed out that advertising online bingo services and products is very expensive and even after spending millions bingo operators cannot be sure they are reaching their targeted audiences. Statistics show that over 50% of the UK population has Facebook accounts and the site will be able to advertise their services to a wide audience at no cost to the company.

Gambling addiction experts are also unhappy with Facebook’s decision to offer real money gambling. Dr Robert Lefever, director of Promise Rehab Clinic says that the introduction of gambling on Facebook could lead impressionable and vulnerable children to believe that the games have the approval of Facebook.

During the ongoing global economic crisis many companies and corporations saw declining revenues and profits. Several studies showed that the online bingo and gaming industry as a whole seemed immune from the effects of the recession. In face many stock analysts and investment advisors said that stocks of publicly traded online bingo and gaming companies are sound investments. History has shown that in times of economic turmoil gambling and substance abuse increase. Many turn to gambling as a quick way to resolve financial problems. There are other factors in play that can help to explain the growth of the online gaming industry during the global recession.

Many online bingo sites and casinos have upgraded their game software and are offering larger jackpots and player perks to entice new players. For most online bingo companies marketing efforts have been highly successful. Volatile currency exchange rates also prompted players to take advantage of favorable exchange rates at offshore bingo and gaming sites. In the UK the pound fell against other major currencies and British players using dollars and euros could increase the size of their winnings. In the UK and Europe most people pay more attention to exchange rates that people in the United States.

By improving game software online bingo games have become much more entertaining and bingo operators are constantly adding new bingo and side games to their sites. Online bingo is considered by many gaming experts as one of the best online gaming options available to players. Online bingo is incredibly inexpensive compared to most forms of internet gambling. At many online bingo sites cards are available for as little as a penny and the jackpots can be substantial. Since bingo is a random game of chance players do not have to learn complicated game strategies and each player has an equal chance of winning the game jackpot.

A night out clubbing or at a local pub can be expensive and online bingo offers an attractive alternative. Land based bingo halls are also expensive compared to online bingo. People are going out less to save money and the only thing needed to play online bingo is an internet connection and a modest deposit. Today there are about 400 online bingo sites competing for the same player base. Because of this online bingo operators have been compelled to offer players more bang for their bucks and most gaming experts say this trend will continue well into the foreseeable future.

Online bingo software is like a car’s engine and powers the site. Like car engines there varying qualities of bingo software. The game software can tell players a lot about an individual bingo site. Software is what powers an online bingo site. In addition to bingo games the software is responsible for marketing tools, game quality, user friendliness and ease of site navigation. There are bingo review sites that provide extensive information and ratings on the various kinds of software used by bingo operators. Providing software to online bingo sites has become big business since online bingo is the fastest growing sector of the online gaming industry. Online bingo is hosted on a server or group of servers that allow players to access all of the site’s features.

For new and established online bingo sites quality software is critical. Poor quality software can easily put a bingo operator out of business quickly. High quality software is necessary to support all of the graphics and provide players with a superior online bingo experience. A bingo site with quality software will have a better layout and will allow players to access all of the sites features quickly and easily. In the past many online bingo sites required players to download their software. Today most bingo sites use Flash or Java platforms that provide instant access, support more interactive features and support the use of amazing animations and graphics providing the players with a hassle free gaming experience.

In the UK leading bingo software providers include Virtue Fusion, Dragonfish, Cozy Games and many more software brands. Most UK bingo software providers are licensed by the gaming commission ensuring that all of the games are random and fair to all players. Bingo sites in a network generally share the same software, games and player pool. In addition networked bingo sites are usually able to provide larger jackpots because of the large player pool shared by all of the sites in the network. Although the sites may have different graphics and animations the game software is the same. In the UK online bingo sites are required to list their software provider. The information is usually on the home page. Experts recommend that players always check the reputation of any bingo software provider.

In addition to software providers the online bingo sector supports a variety of other industries creating jobs for many. Advertising and marketing firms, site designers, television producers, game creators and animators all have close ties to the online bingo industry. Online bingo operators have invested a great deal of money in their software to provide players with the best online bingo experience possible.

While the recent economic crisis hurt many industries the online gaming industry seems recession proof. Online bingo and gaming companies consistently reported positive figures even during the height of the global recession. History has shown that gambling always increases during times of economic crisis. Gamblers hope to win enough money to get themselves out of their financial straits. Other factors are also in play such as improved software and incentives designed to lure players. Volatility in currency markets prompted some players to take advantage of favorable exchange rates at offshore bingo and gaming sites.

In the UK the online bingo industry is the fastest growing sector of the internet gambling industry. Bingo operators have improved their selection and quality of their games. Mobile bingo has become immensely popular with players. The recession has caused changes in consumer spending habits. People are seeking less expansive forms of entertainment and online bingo is a perfect fit for these players. Strangely enough some analysts say that the recession has been responsible for the growth of online bingo and other forms of web based entertainment.

Although most bingo players are playing for fun and entertainment there is also the lure of large jackpots at many online bingo sites. Several online bingo players have won life changing amounts of money. Online bingo has also benefitted the UK economy. The bingo industry has created thousands of living wage jobs and contributes a significant amount to the government in the form of taxes. Game creators, advertising and marketing firms have been kept busy by the demands of the expanding online bingo industry.

In the United States the door has been opened for the online gaming industry. The prospect of entering the lucrative US market has excited gaming operators around the world. The US market could stimulate even more growth and create thousands of new jobs for the online bingo and gaming industry. Several states have announced plans to offer online gaming licenses. Many states are going to allow online poker but most gaming industry experts believe that online bingo games and other casino games will be available in the US in the near future.

Online gaming will provide states with extra revenues and may help to avoid tax increases. The online bingo and gaming industry in the UK has clearly shown that economies benefit from legal internet gaming. The UK was one of the first to regulate online gaming and their policies could easily serve as a template for regulators in the United States.

Although things are improving we are still in the midst of the worst and most prolonged recession since the great depression of the 30’s. The European Union is in serious trouble because of Greece’s massive debt problems and credit downgrades of several European nations. In Spain the unemployment rate is 20% and in the United States is just short of 10%. The recession has prompted a change in consumer spending habits and many people have limited disposable income. Many households have bare bones budgets and people are looking for inexpensive entertainment. Because of this demand one industry is thriving; online bingo. Online bingo fits the needs of cash strapped players and is affordable to just about everyone.

The UK remains the world’s largest bingo market for both land based and online bingo. In recent years the land based bingo industry has been hard hit by a combination of factors. The national smoking ban caused a 60% decline in attendance at a number of bingo halls and several independent operators were forced out of business. Approximately 40% of the live bingo market in the UK is controlled by two companies; Gala which is owned by Gala Coral and Mecca which is owned by the Rank Group. Both companies have large online bingo operations.

Smoking bans in other countries have also had a devastating effect on live bingo. In Spain Rank Group reported serious losses after the imposition of a national smoking ban last year. In the United States several charities and veteran’s organizations were forced to close their bingo games because of declining attendance caused by smoking bans. In the UK high taxes have also pressured live bingo halls and the tax on slot machines has increased. These same factors have caused rapid growth in the online bingo industry. Online bingo sites are not subject to smoking bans and do not pay the same tax rates as live bingo halls. In addition online bingo operators are not faced with the expense of maintaining a bingo hall and a large staff of employees.

2011 was a very good year for the online bingo industry and the gaming industry in general.  For players affected by the recession online bingo game is probably one of the most affordable games on the internet. Even better there are none of the ancillary expenses associated with a night out at the local bingo hall. There are now more than 300 online bingo sites targeting players in several countries. Games are available in a variety of languages and currencies. Most online bingo and gaming companies say that 2012 will be another banner year.

Last week the world of social gaming was in turmoil after two game developers accused Zynga of copying their games. This is not the first time the well known social gaming company has been accused of copying the games of other developers. Buffalo Studios, founded in 2010, accused Zynga of copying its popular ‘Bingo Blitz’ game. Salim Mith, Buffalo Studios’ vice president of product marketing and operations told internet gambling magazine VentureBeat “We wanted to alert you to the striking similarities between Zynga’s recently announced game to our game Bingo Blitz.” Mith explained that Zynga copies several aspects of the game, including, themed bingo rooms cities, and “powerups.”

Mark Pincus, chief executive officer at Zynga, was quick to respond to the accusations and denied that Zynga had copied Buffalo Studio’s popular online bingo game. Pincus turned the accusation around and said that Buffalo Studios actually borrowed ideas from Zynga. Zynga alleges that Bingo Blitz is copied from one of Zynga’s earlier games. Pincus told interviewers “It was a little ironic to look at Bingo Blitz. Pull that lens back. Look at our game Poker Blitz (comparisons below), and then Bingo Blitz, you see striking similarities in those pictures.” Pincus added “You can go back to (Zynga’s) FarmVille. Look at Farm Town and say, ‘Those pictures are troubling. They look too similar.’ But you pull the lens back again, and you see Farm Town next to My Farm, and next to Happy Farm, and next to (Zynga’s) YoVille. What you see is a series of games innovating on top of each other. You see Farm Town had a very similar avatar to YoVille.” Buffalo Studios launched their online bingo game ‘Bingo Blitz about a year ago. Currently it is the number 1 bingo game on Facebook and has over 1 million daily players.

It seems that lately there has been an epidemic of copycat charges in the social gaming world. Earlier in the week game developer Spry Fox announced that it was going to sue 6waves Lolapps for copyright infringement. Spry Fox alleges that 6waves Lolapps copied the company’s popular game Triple Town by creating Yeti Town. Pincus pointed out that game developers routinely ‘reimagine’ current games. Pincus stated “We think there is a massive body of work in the video game industry that is going to be reimagined for decades to come in a way that is free, accessible and social. That’s what we’re doing. I don’t think anyone should be surprised when they see us come out with games that they’ve seen before, a decade or more ago. I don’t think there are a lot of totally new games that are invented. We always try. But to us, they are like the crew mechanic in our games. They give you a new way to interact with your friends.”

Last week gaming giant Zynga launched their new Facebook bingo application. The company is hoping to cash in on the popularity of online bingo which generates millions in revenue annually. The launch of Zynga’s bingo game was well publicized. It is hard to imagine a controversial bingo game but this week another company has accused Zynga of copying its popular Facebook game Bingo Blitz. This is not the only time Zynga has been accused of copying. According to an article in PC Mag Zynga’s latest game, Dream Heights bears a close resemblance to 2011’s iPhone game of the year.

A three person team at NimbleBit, which makes Tiny Tower, says that Zynga has copied the popular game. IPhone game developer Ian Marsh who works at NimbleBit posted an open letter to Zynga on Twitter. The letter read “Dear Zynga (all 2,789 of you),” the letter reads. “We noticed you are about to launch a new iPhone game called Dream Heights! Congratulations! We wanted to thank you guys for being such big fans of our iPhone game of the year Tiny Tower. Good luck with your game, we are looking forward to inspiring you with our future games! Sincerely, (all three of us) NimbleBit.”

Another game developer has also accused Zynga of copying their game. Buffalo Studios is the developer of the popular Facebook game Bingo Blitz. The game has over 1 million daily users on Facebook. The company created a side by side comparison with Zynga’s new online bingo game and claims that Zynga has “obviously played” Bingo Blitz. As part of Buffalo’s comparison the company said it was inspired by Ian Marsh’s Twitter post. In a letter Buffalo Studios stated “Hello Zynga. We are moved that your new game was so inspired by our innovative product, Bingo Blitz. You’ve obviously played our game Bingo Blitz a lot,” it continues. “Please tell your thousands of employees and shareholders that we hope they enjoy playing the games we’re cooking up next!”

Recently several accusations of ‘cloning’ have been made by other companies. Spry Fox, the developer of Triple Town, has filed a copyright infringement suit against game developer 6Waves Lolapps. Spry Fox claims that 6Waves Lolapps game Yeti Town is a “blatant copy of Triple Town.’ A spokesperson for Zynga did not immediately respond to inquiries by PC Mag. The accusations have created quite a stir in the internet gambling world and blog posts are full of accusations and counter accusations.

For months social gaming company Zynga said that a bingo game was in the works. On January 26th Zynga released their long awaited bingo game in beta to a small group of players. Eventually the game will be available on Facebook to millions of users. The new game is similar to other online bingo games and features great graphics and unique features. The Zynga game is a traditional 75 ball bingo game. Players can earn cards, coins and keys to move up levels and unlock other bingo rooms in the game. The bingo rooms include “Vegas Lights,” “FarmVille Bounty,” and “Pirates Paradise.” In a statement Zynga said “Right now, we’re only letting a limited number of people into the game to make sure our players are getting a primo, Zynga Bingo experience, before officially open the floodgates.”

Players can play a maximum of six cards simultaneously and there is no limit on how many people players can play against. Facebook friends can help players by giving them tiles on the “friends boost meter” and their Facebook picture will then be used as a chip on the bingo board. Other game features include real time chat, themed rooms and a Zynga Casino navigation bar that allows players to move easily from Zynga bingo to other Zynga games such as Texas HoldEm Poker or other Zynga Casino games. At a press conference a Zynga spokesman declined to discuss any future additional related to the Zynga Casino interface. Zynga bingo was created by a team led by Senior Producer Nicole Opas.

Zynga has added some features not common to typical online bingo games. The games were designed for younger players and have options and features not common at most online bingo sites. Players will be able to see what bingo rooms their Facebook friends are in. As has been mentioned the games will take place in themed bingo rooms. In the Vegas Lights room bingo balls shoot out of a classic Cadillac. The Pirate’s Paradise room features include a pirate map, golden coins, and a treasure chest. In the Farmville Bounty room players will be able to play inside scenes from Zynga’s wildly popular FarmVille.

Recently it was revealed that Zynga may enter the real money internet gambling industry. Late last year a spokesman for the company said that Zynga was not interested in real money gaming. Since Facebook has over 800 million users the potential for Zynga can easily be seen.

The holiday season has come and gone and during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays most online bingo sites roll out their best promotions of the year. There are special holiday themes bingo games, generous bonus offers, bingo tournaments, new holiday slot games and special prizes and jackpots. At most online bingo sites the New Year’s promotions last through the month of January. The next big holiday is Valentine’s Day and bingo operators are getting ready for this yearly day of romance.

For most people Valentine’s Day is about Love, Flowers, Romance, Chocolates, jewelry, special gifts and pampering your significant other. Every year online bingo sites join in the spirit of this romantic holiday. Although many people see no connection between online bingo and romance nothing could be further from the truth. There have been marriage proposals in chat rooms and several there have been several cases of an online bingo flirtation leading to a full blown romance resulting in a wedding.

In 2010 Suzanne Latta, 28, and her groom Matt Brown, 37, won £5000 towards the cost of their wedding after entering a competition sponsored by an online bingo site. The bingo site had offered the cash prize to any couple willing to feature the site’s logo on the bride’s wedding dress. The online bingo operator also wanted the groom to put a small logo on his suit and on the bottom of his shoes so it would be visible as he knelt at the church’s altar. Unfortunately they ran into a vicar who was a bit of a fuddy duddy.

Rev Tony Watts banned the logo from the wedding saying it encouraged gambling. When the contest was announced the Church of England said that couples should think twice about sponsored weddings. A spokesman for the church said “It seems like the latest in a long line of themed weddings. Presumably at the end someone shouts ‘House! But it might not be the best way to start out in what should be a permanent relationship.” The move by the vicar generated a lot of controversy and a majority said they thought the wedding should be allowed to take place.

Other online bingo romances have had happier results. At one popular UK online bingo site players Tracey and Chris met in a chat room. The couple started chatting and eventually exchanged phone numbers. After several conversations the couple decided to meet in person. Both described their meeting as love at first site. They courted for two years and finally Chris proposed and Tracy said yes. The couple has been happily married since 2011.

It would appear that the US Department of Justice has reversed course when it comes to online gambling. A memo released in December said that only sports betting on the internet is prohibited by the 1961 Wire Act. Earlier in the year the DOJ seized the domains and assets of several major poker sites and one popular online bingo site. Last August players that logged onto Funtime Bingo were greeted with a DOJ logo and text that informed that the domain had been seized. The seizure was responsible for the voluntary closure of the World Bingo Network. Many other online bingo sites announced that they would no longer accept players from the United States.

The recent interpretation of the wire act opens the door to legal online bingo in the US. For years American online bingo players have been plagued by limited deposit and withdrawal options. Currently banks and credit card companies are prohibited from processing transactions related to gambling but the recent change in policy could change all that. Cooler heads at the Justice Department have prevailed and most experts say it is only a matter of time before American players will have access to major online bingo sites and casinos.

Bingo is considered to be a ‘soft’ form of gambling that carries little social stigma. The technology is already in place to address the concerns of regulators thanks to the huge online bingo community in the United Kingdom. UK policies and regulations could easily serve as a template for US regulators and the UK has had a highly successful online gaming market for years with very little trouble. Britain enjoys a thriving online bingo market and there is no reason that the success cannot be duplicated in the United States. There are several UK bingo sites that are poised to enter the US market as soon as policies regarding online bingo and gambling are clarified.

Some experts remain concerned because the DOJ is subject to changing politics as administrations change. The Attorney General of the United States is appointed by the sitting president and any administration change could bring different policies and interpretations of the online gambling laws and regulations. This could lead to another cycle of site seizures and criminal prosecutions. In the meantime American players can take comfort in the fact that there are many online bingo sites perfectly willing to provide American players with their favorite online bingo game.