Establishing trust is one of the most critical components for long-term success in the iGaming industry, but can it also lead to incredible growth? Bojoko has long been one of the leading comparison platforms for UK gamblers, and we’ve previously spoken to their team about UK marketing challenges and their expansion into bingo. However, over the last few months, their profile has skyrocketed.
Bojoko doubled its traffic and first-time depositors (FTDs) sent to affiliate partners in Q3 of 2024 alone, and according to their CEO, Joonas Karhu, this is in large part due to their focus on transparency.
Joonas Karhu joins us today to explore how Bojoko’s commitment to trust and transparency has fueled its remarkable growth. He delves into the importance of delivering consistent, reliable reviews and explains how maintaining credibility through transparency has helped build Bojoko into a trusted brand in a crowded market. Karhu’s insights shed light on why players are increasingly turning to platforms like Bojoko and how the focus on trust will continue to influence the future of the iGaming industry.
Bojoko doubled its traffic and first-time depositors (FTDs) in Q3 of 2024, an incredible achievement. What do you attribute this growth to?
It’s definitely an exciting time for us at Bojoko, and I believe the primary driver of this growth has been our unwavering focus on trust and transparency. Players today are more discerning than ever before. They are looking for reliable information that they can trust and
I think many of our competitors in the iGaming space have struggled to keep up with this shift. It is well-known that many of our competitors sell positions and can be less than objective when reviewing brands that pay them a lot of money.
At Bojoko, we have rejected this kind of manipulation. We’ve consistently delivered high-quality, detailed reviews by experts based on strict criteria while allowing our readers’ feedback.
Players can see expert assessments and peer reviews, giving them a well-rounded understanding of what to expect from each casino. This commitment to transparency has led to our traffic doubling and the surge in FTDs we’ve sent to our affiliate partners.
When players trust the platform, they’re more likely to register and deposit, which is precisely what we’ve seen.
You’ve mentioned that trust and transparency are key to Bojoko’s success. From a business perspective, why do you think these values are so important in the iGaming industry?
Trust and transparency are absolutely essential in the iGaming industry, and I believe they’re becoming even more important as the market grows. When players choose an online casino, they’re making a financial commitment, so they want to be sure they’re making the right decision. They need to trust that the casino is legitimate, that their data is secure, and that they will have a fair gaming experience.
At Bojoko, we’ve built our entire business around these principles. We know that if players trust our reviews and feel confident in the information we provide, they’ll be more likely to follow through with a registration and deposit. Our recent growth in traffic and FTDs is proof that this approach works. Players are gravitating towards brands that they can trust, and they’re becoming wary of platforms that lack transparency or provide inconsistent information.
In contrast, we’ve seen some of our competitors, who haven’t focused as much on these values, experience declines. Their reviews may not be as thorough or consistent, or they might have overly commercialized their content, which erodes trust. As the industry evolves, I think trust and transparency will continue to be the biggest differentiators between successful platforms and those that fall behind.
How do you ensure your reviews remain consistent and reliable across the board?
Consistency and reliability are key to maintaining trust, and we take a lot of steps to ensure our reviews meet those standards. First, we have a clear and structured framework that all our experts follow when evaluating casinos.
This framework covers critical aspects like game selection, payment methods, customer service, bonus fairness, etc. By using this structured approach, we ensure that every review is thorough and based on the same key factors, no matter who is writing it.
At the same time, we encourage our experts to share their experiences with the casinos they review. This gives players both objective information and a personal perspective. We also conduct regular training sessions with our review team to ensure that everyone is aligned on the latest industry trends and that our reviews stay up to date.
Transparency is built into this process. We openly disclose our review criteria, and players can also see user-generated feedback, which adds another layer of insight. Our goal is for players to feel confident in the information they’re getting, and that consistency is a big part of why players trust us. This trust directly feeds into the kind of growth we’ve seen in traffic and FTDs.
How does Bojoko ensure its reviews and rankings offer genuine, trustworthy comparisons between casinos, and what steps do you take to guarantee that one casino truly deserves to be rated higher than another?
Every casino we review is evaluated against a strict set of criteria, covering things like game variety, customer service, deposit and withdrawal speeds, and fairness of bonuses. These elements are the foundation of our ratings, but we also ensure that the rankings reflect ongoing performance, not just a one-time snapshot.
This is especially evident in our top 100 casino list, which is one of our most trusted features. It’s not just a static ranking—it’s updated regularly based on real-time data and expert insight to determine what the top 100 online casinos in the UK actually are. Our experts are constantly monitoring these brands, and if a casino improves its customer service or offers better withdrawal speeds, its ranking can rise. Similarly, if a casino experiences issues, decreases bonuses, or otherwise declines in service, it will move down the list.
This dynamic approach ensures that the top casinos aren’t just good on paper but are consistently delivering the best experiences to players.
We are fully transparent about how we create these rankings, and that’s why players trust them. They know that the rankings aren’t influenced by advertising or promotions but are based on real performance metrics and genuine player experiences.
However, we also recognize that casino preferences can be highly subjective. Every player is looking for something different, whether it’s game variety, specific bonus structures, or the speed of payouts.
That’s why we allow users to filter and trim down this list and all other ranked lists on our website based on their preferences. We provide tools so players can personalize the rankings to find casinos that align with their particular tastes.
Our aim at Bojoko is always to help players find their best match—not just the highest-rated casino but the one that suits their individual needs. By providing a flexible and transparent ranking system, we empower players to make informed decisions based on what matters most to them.
Do you believe that Bojoko’s growth in Q3 shows that trust and transparency can directly lead to business success? And if so, how do you plan to maintain this momentum going forward?
Our growth is, at the very least, partially due to our commitment to trust and transparency. Maintaining that momentum will mean continuing to evolve while staying true to those core values.
Another core part of our success is in empowering the user and letting them find their best matches. I believe users, as well as search engines, value genuinely beneficial experiences with comparison sites. Players come to Bojoko, find what they are looking for, and can quickly get the information needed to make informed decisions.
Overall, this has led us to continue doing exactly what we have been doing. However, it is important that we stay responsive to our users’ needs. I know this sounds a little vague, but the iGaming industry is constantly changing, and we need to stay on top of every trend to continue to serve our users.
Our increased success also means we have the resources to invest even more into our team of casino experts, expand the team, and strive to improve Bojoko in every way we can.