For a couple of years now web users have become accustomed to encountering rich media – videos, sound, high res rendered imagery – on the sites that they visit, particularly those aimed at more high-end market conversions such as car sales and new tech product launches.

And over the course of the past year, everyone from the commercial sphere to those working in news have been steadily incorporating the use of social media – Twitter and its ilk – in their online propositions.

Today it seems that a large proportion of websites come fully equipped with the kind of interactivity that only rich, appealing visuals and engaging social media aspects can allow for. Sites are no longer static pages for users to stare blankly at, but living, breathing portals through which meaningful communication between brand and consumer is possible.

There has been one type of site which so far has been slower than others to adapt to this new environment: online gambling. Part of the reason behind this is that most online gambling portals are already perfectly built for purpose. Users visit them to play games and win money – they expect them to do exactly what they say on the tin, without the need for fussy trimmings.

However, having found useful ways to integrate rich content and social media without merely stapling them on as superfluous accoutrements, online gaming is now catching up.

Online free bingo sites such as BOGOF Bingo, which launched last year, now come with rich video content, perfectly placed to enable social media sharing (that site hosts videos of its campaign star, Britain’s Got Talent rapper DJ Talent), while big players like 888 and Paddy Power – the latter of whom gives users access to reams of video content alongside truly commendable horse racing commentary – are starting to show new flair for the process.

Meanwhile, online casinos have moved legitimately into the world of Twitter, using characters from popular games series as figureheads for social media tweet campaigns. All of which, along with the graphically flashy entry portals and focus on constantly refining the software that powers online gambling, shows that these sites are no longer playing catch-up, but are out there at the front of the pack.

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