Have you ever been playing on an online casino, and you’ve noticed that you’ve either been redirected or moved to another casino link? You may have been moved to an alternative link or a mirror of the site. These links are typically clicked into from official marketing campaigns from the casino, but in today’s article, we’re going to take a look at what alternative links and mirrors are – and why online casinos use them.
What are Alternative Links & Mirrors?
An alternative link in the online casino industry is simply a different link or URL that you access a casino through. For example, you may be gambling on “Bet365.com”, but you may be playing on “mirror.bet.365.com”. This is what we call an alternative link. This is where the casino offers the same gambling experience as their casino but through a different access link.
A mirror is quite simply another way of saying alternative link. A mirror is simply the same casino that you’ve been playing on, but using another URL like the above. A mirror is usually identical to a casino, and the only difference between the two is the URL in your browser. A mirror is usually created to prevent downtime, and for testing and troubleshooting but we will cover more of that in the rest of this article. To learn more, you can always click here!
Why do online casinos use alternative links & mirrors?
It’s not a massive secret as to why online casinos use alternative links and mirrors, but the true reason is really down to the online casino operator. In most cases, an online casino operator will want to use an alternative link and mirror for your benefit. Although online casinos are often up and active, there are downtimes where maintenance and downtime is to be expected, and with alternative links and mirrors – this reduces the downtime as if one site goes down, another link can take over and be used as the main casino until the primary one is back online and working.
Not only this, but some casinos also use alternative links and mirrors to aid in troubleshooting and testing. In most cases, people who are having issues with one website may be limited to only that website. In the computer world, cookies and cache can be the source of many issues on casinos, and if a user doesn’t know how to do this – sending the user to test on an alternative site or mirror can be an easy solution for the support staff.
There are other reasons that an online casino may use a mirror or alternative link, which revolves around marketing. Companies such as “Stake” or CSGO500 utilise many links in order to market their casino. Online casinos may also use click-through links for user tracking (to see how many users click into their campaigns), but this is all under marketing with these kinds of links.
Are there any benefits to using Alternative Links or Mirrors?
In most cases, an online casino will only use alternative links or mirrors in order to keep your experience seamless or without downtime, but there are some benefits to using mirrors. In some cases, you may be able to claim a bonus (that hasn’t yet been released on the main site) which could help you out. As we’ve already mentioned, if an online casino was to have some downtime, it also means that you can carry on placing bets and gambling to keep you entertained whilst the site is down.
Some alternative links and mirrors also help you with your gambling experience. Although the games may be the same, they may be faster, or may even be set up slightly differently from the main mirror or main link. This means that you could actually benefit from using a mirror link.
How does a casino benefit from using mirrors or alternative links?
As we’ve partially mentioned above, a casino may use a mirror or alternative link to keep the casino going even when there is downtime. Using mirrors or alternative links can keep the casino running for its players meaning the casino can continue to operate even if its games are not working correctly.
Companies like Stake and Ladbrokes (although can be slow at times), have never had any downtime that has caused a user to require to stop playing, which makes it a great business investment for the casino, and a great experience for you.
What are the downsides of alternative links & mirrors?
Although there are not many downsides to using alternative links and mirrors, there are still some negatives to using them. One of which is around security. When you use an alternative link or mirror, you could be using a fraud or scam site. These fraudsters do target casinos and create fake-looking websites with different URLs, however, show like famous casinos such as Bet365 or Stake. When you sign-up/in and deposit, they could take your payment information and use this fraudulently. We would strongly recommend googling the URL you’re visiting to make sure that this is an official mirror and not a scam site like some of them may be.
In some cases, alternative links and mirrors are also unsupported. This means that if you’re gambling through an alternative link, although you are using the same casino at the core of it, it may not have easy access support as the support representatives will be busy with the core website. You can always move to the main one for support to see if they can help you with an official mirror or alternative link.
Is a casino less reputable if it doesn’t have mirrors?
No! In most cases, if a casino utilises mirrors or alternative links, it’s usually because they care about you and your gambling experience. From a casino’s perspective, they love to be able to keep your gambling without interruption and concern, so boasting multiple links keeps you gaming even when the casino is not.
Conclusion
All in all, as long as you know you’re using a real link, and not a scam alternative link or mirror, then you should consider using one if the main casino link or mirror your playing on isn’t working out for you.
