I have re-published yesterday&#8217-s BetFair Q &amp- A at the bottom of my previous post &#8212-because that&#8217-s the post that Google features, bringing in 300 people a day.

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My analysis of this PR debacle:

1. BetFair has a very complex information technology system, which is very costly, making BetFair less profitable than the fixed-odds betting operators (the big British bookmakers). They attack the problem with a dual approach: they try to lower the IT costs associated with each bet transaction (see FlyWheel Lite), and they try to spot and exploit their most costly customers (hence the premium charges).
2. BetFair&#8217-s PR department is made up of friendly, knowledgeable and competent people. However, they are not up to date with BOTH the brand-new web publishing tools AND the brand-new behaviors associated with these tools. In other words, they don&#8217-t grasp the Web &#8212-where velocity and interactivity are 2 factors. Hiring a SEO is not the solution. BetFair should embrace the culture of the Web.

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A FaceBook group has been created to protest the new BetFair premium charges.

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Here are some BetFair traders&#8217- takes:

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UPDATE:

A list of the Betfair forum threads about the new premium charges.

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