Munich, 17 January 2018. fanSALE, the secondary ticketing platform offered by CTS EVENTIM, one of the world’s leading providers of ticketing services and live entertainment, will be prominently placed in Google search results in the future as well. At the start of the year, fanSALE became the very first German provider to obtain Google AdWords certification for display advertising. This rapid authorisation is acknowledgement of the strategic approach taken by fanSALE, namely to provide a fair and transparent ticketing portal for fan-to-fan transactions.
To protect its users against scams and to prevent potential confusion, Google has been applying strict rules to search engine advertising by ticketing platforms addressing the secondary market. For example, such websites and apps are required to clearly disclose they are not the primary provider of the tickets. They must also inform their customers about how the final price for a ticket is broken down – and that said price may be (significantly) higher than the amount initially paid.
Malte Blumenthal, Senior Vice President E-Commerce at CTS EVENTIM, commented as follows, ‘We welcome Google’s initiative for creating additional transparency in the ticketing market and to indicate clearly the differences between primary and secondary market platforms. The reason why fanSALE fulfilled the criteria so quickly was above all because honest and open communication with our customers has always been an essential element of our approach. In the years ahead, we want to establish fanSALE not just as one of the leading, but also as the fairest ticketing platform for the secondary market.’
Today, fanSALE already displays the original price for all available EVENTIM tickets – a requirement that will not be obligatory on Google AdWords until March this year. Any offer that does not exceed the original ticket price is also marked as a ‘Fair Deal’. Most fanSALE users already rely on such offers. For that reason, CTS EVENTIM will continue to offer that service – even though it is not a compulsory requirement for Google AdWords certification.
Since its launch in 2007, fanSALE has grown continuously. For three years now, tickets offered via fanSALE have also been listed in the EVENTIM web shop – resulting in double the number of tickets being sold through fanSALE. CTS EVENTIM has also designed resale solutions for many professional sports clubs. Their Supporters are able to sell tickets conveniently to other fans of their respective club, on the basis of fanSALE.
About CTS EVENTIM
CTS EVENTIM is one of the leading international providers of ticketing services and live entertainment. More than 150 million tickets for over 200,000 events are marketed annually using the company’s systems – be it through stationary box offices, online or from mobile devices. Its online portals operate under brands such as eventim.de, oeticket.com, ticketcorner.ch, ticketone.it and entradas.com. The EVENTIM Group also includes many concert, tour and festival promoter companies for events like “Rock am Ring”, “Rock im Park”, “Hurricane” and “Southside”. Some of Europe’s most renowned venues are operated by CTS EVENTIM, for example the LANXESS arena in Cologne, the Waldbuehne in Berlin and the EVENTIM Apollo in London. CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE 0005470306) has been listed on the stock exchange since 2000 and is currently a member of the MDAX segment. In 2016, its 2,384-strong workforce generated a total of 830 million Euro in revenues in 25 countries.