eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance, otherwise known as eCOGRA recently made it known they will be conducting the largest player survey dedicated to gaining insight on the current state of the online casino gambling industry. The news of this undertaking, which was announced in a report published by IGN, seeks to survey an estimated 20,000 online gamblers residing in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Japan.

Chief Executive Officer of eCOGRA, Andrew Beveridge, admits such a vast and widespread demographic will be no easy task, but that a detailed plan has already been laid out, and will involve the help of several connected resources, including some eighty-five different online casino gaming sites. To get the survey to the players, it is presumed that eCOGRA will be seeking the assistance of those gaming sites which the group has awarded its "Play it Safe Seal" to in the past. Help from online casino portals may also play into the overall quantitative aspects of the survey.

Beveridge also said there will be a highly qualitative aspect to the survey, thus making it the most comprehensive - in addition to the largest - online survey of its kind. What this will entail is collecting the subjective opinions of over twenty different demographical groups within the aforementioned countries.  Using the help of a scientific research team based out of Nottingham Trent University and the University of Las Vegas, it looks as if the survey will be targeting even non-gamblers in the world's largest online casino gambling markets.

The plan is to make the survey live by late August, and conduct it for a time period of two months.  The intent of the survey, says Beveridge, is strictly for the players benefit, so that player perceptions regarding online casino gambling fairness, security and customer service can be gauged to help improve the overall online gaming experience. eCOGRA will specifically be looking at ways to introduce server controls and creating an more rewarding experience overall.

The results of the survey will be published in eCOGRA's Global Gambling Report, but will first be divulged to the media in summary form around January of 2007.  Shortly following the media release, the survey results will be compiled into an in-depth report that will be shared with online casino operators and members of the eCOGRA family.  The university research departments will likely release reports of their own, pending verification and approval regarding their relation to the overall survey.