The third online bingo summit held in July 2008 issued a number of interesting statistics and figures which helped to paint a picture of the online Bingo game in the UK today. Changes have been rapid, and growth unprecedented but along with this has come increased competition. Conflicting views were expressed about the extent of growth online Bingo could expect to enjoy.

The first most interesting figure was the increase in online providers with 243 sites online providing Bingo and growing at a rate of roughly two new sites a week. In September 2007 that figure was around the 200 mark. (These figures come from the UK Bingo portal Which Bingo.) Forty three new sites represent an increase of approximately 25% in one year. Figures such as these point to the increase in competition in the online provider market.

As part of their quarterly of review of player activity in gaming in the UK, the Gambling Commission highlighted a slight drop in online Bingo players over the last couple of quarters. As well as the figures taken from their survey, the Gambling Commission estimated that there were around 500,000 people in the UK playing online Bingo. It's unclear how they arrived at these figures and whether they include players with multiple accounts, but it has to be acknowledged that the figure is almost double the figure mentioned in the previous year's summit of 250,000 people. There was some contradiction in the figures, as on the one hand the Gambling Commission had seen a drop in players in its survey but an increase in players overall. If the Gambling Commission's figures are correct and there are less players playing online bingo and more sites online providing the game, it shows how competitive the next year will be in the space.

The turnover in online bingo is estimated at £600 million, with profits to online Bingo operators being around the £120 million mark. It is also estimated that there's as many as 15,000 concurrent online Bingo players at peak times every night.

Some put the game's growth down to the influence of a number of factors that coincided in recent times and helped to drive the online Bingo explosion.Many of these factors are well known, but there were a couple of interesting new ones to add to that mix. These reasons were stated as the prime drivers.

• The implementation of the UIGEA in the US forced many gaming operators to seek out new products and markets to explore.

• The introduction of the smoking ban in the UK.

• The penetration of cheap broadband in the UK.

• The change in legislation around the advertising of online Bingo TV.

New factors were identified as:

• The high cost of fuel stopping people going to Bingo clubs.

• The credit crunch meaning people want better value for money and avoiding the auxiliary costs, online Bingo represents good value for money.

The share of Bingo in the online marketing space appears to be still growing, However, it is expected by some that this growth will level out in coming

years as the very simple nature of Bingo would hinder its wider appeal, unlike sports betting which has a much more changing and varied nature due to the sporting and life style events it follows. Others however hold the belief that online Bingo is yet to go mass market, and as a result the current success will pale compared to the potential growth and market for the game should it break into the mass market.