The problem we solve
New Zealand players don't know which online casinos belong to the same operator network. The same company may run several different brands on the same licence, with the same payment methods and the same player protection, but with different bonuses, game libraries and design. This information gap is no accident: casino marketing emphasises the differences between brands, not their shared ownership.
The practical consequence is concrete. A player can sign up at several casinos without realising they are sister sites of the same operator, and in doing so lose the chance to make use of each site's separate welcome offer. On the other hand, self-imposed play limits don't always transfer automatically from one of the operator's sites to another, even though the operator is the same. When you don't know the network, you can't make informed decisions.
Go to any search engine and type "best sister sites", and you'll find dozens of sites that look professional. Most of them, however, are primarily affiliate businesses and only secondarily editorial publications. Their income depends on steering you to a casino, and this financial incentive shapes everything: which casinos get reviewed and how favourably they are presented.
How SisterSite was built
SisterSite grew out of a simple observation: it's practically impossible for a player to know which casinos sit under the same roof, because nobody spells it out clearly. We decided to make it transparent, not through marketing but through data and verifiability.
We started by mapping operator networks one at a time: we read the terms and conditions, cross-checked company details and licence numbers against public registers, and tested the sites ourselves. Gradually this work turned into a standardised method under which every connection is traceable back to its original source. This method is the foundation of the whole site.
What we do, and what we don't do
We compile and maintain a register of the operator and sister relationships behind online casinos, compare sister sites side by side, and tell you which of the siblings is the best choice for a player and why. Every assessment is based on verifiable sources and is rounded out by our own testing.
We don't produce marketing content and we don't copy information from other sites. We don't hide shortcomings and we don't recommend a casino whose licence we can't verify. If a casino gets a poor rating, that shows in the comparison regardless of our commercial relationship. Nor do we state figures we haven't verified; instead we mark openly what is still to be confirmed.
Our editorial principles
1. Every claim has a source
Every sister relationship, licence and bonus term is traceable back to its original source: the operator's terms and conditions, an official register, or our own test. We don't publish anything we can't demonstrate.
2. We publish what we find, not what we're paid for
Our affiliate income doesn't influence the content of reviews, the scoring or the ranking of casinos. Assessment is based on a standardised method, not a commercial relationship.
3. If we haven't tested it, it doesn't exist
We don't report unverified information. If a bonus, payment method or withdrawal time hasn't been verified against sources or tested, it's marked as pending, not a guess.
How we differ from other comparison sites
We're not claiming that the affiliate model is inherently bad, SisterSite is itself an affiliate site, and we tell you so openly. The difference lies in how the conflict of interest is handled. Most sites ignore it or hide it. We built our entire method around neutralising that conflict of interest: standardised scoring, visible sources and a clear line between editorial and commercial content.
The other difference is specialisation. We don't try to review every online casino; instead we focus on one thing that others treat only superficially: operator networks and sister relationships. This is a topic with direct, practical relevance for a New Zealand player.
How we make money, the affiliate model in the open
SisterSite is a commercial comparison site. We earn income when a user clicks the partner links on our site and registers at a casino. This is standard practice in the industry, and we want to be completely open about it. Partner links are marked, and they don't cost you anything extra.
The key point is this: our affiliate income doesn't influence the content of reviews, the scoring or the ranking of casinos. We don't recommend a casino we couldn't honestly assess favourably. Read more about our rating method.
Licensing and New Zealand's situation
In practice, New Zealand players use sites that operate under overseas licences. New Zealand's online gambling rules are summarised on our responsible gambling page. This makes checking the licence especially important, and it's exactly why we verify each operator's licence directly against an official register, for example the database of the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).