During the 1970s bingo was one of the most popular pastimes across America. Scores of friends would flock to their local bingo hall to enjoy their favourite game two, three or even four times a week. This trend continued until the late 1980s, when suddenly bingo began to decline. Audiences dropped, revenue decreased and fears sprouted that the game could be on its last legs. However, this was short lived. Bingo which is truly a game of the ages bounced back. With large gaming sites like 888bingo offering high quality games, bingo became one of the most popular games around. Fast-forward to the present day and bingo is as popular as ever, with Jade Jagger, Christiano Ronaldo and Bill Clinton all confessing their love for the game. Such a dramatic turnaround can only be attributed to one thing: the advent of online bingo.

During the 1990s, the Internet took off in the first dot-com boom. Without doubt it has been the single most important factor in shaping the modern world, and bingo is no different. Yet it was not until Google revolutionised the world of the search engine in 1999 that the Internet really began to fulfil its true potential. Suddenly, there was a search engine that would not “trap” users within their own content. Now, if a surfer searched for bingo, he or she would be greeted with a list of possible results, sorted by relevance. They were essentially free to choose their own provider.

The bingo halls and companies realised this potential and began constructing websites. Although the first real online bingo provider sprang up as early as 1996 it was not until the turn of the century that the big providers cottoned on to the way the future was unfolding. Like many large corporations, the bingo providers feared that the breakdown of the first dot-com era would be shadowed by the second and ergo did not want to pour in hundreds of thousands of pounds into web-marketing with an uncertain future.

However, the advent and accessibility of new technologies – particularly that of broadband which also coincided with the rise of Google – meant that such fears were to be short-lived. Bingo companies were free to attract online players, and attract them they did. Aggressive marketing campaigns from bingo providers (including sponsorship, TV and print advertising and web-marketing) soon saw the numbers of people playing bingo soar to well over 3million (the numbers playing bingo on a regular basis today hover between 3 and 4million).

With new chat functions, auto-dab features and progressive jackpots, friends could still enjoy the excitement of bingo from the comfort of their own home. Soon, celebrities began to confess that they, too, enjoyed bingo, either in an attempt to appear down-to-earth or in genuine affection for the game. With magazines running articles and newspapers dedicating column inches to this new craze of online bingo, it is small wonder that the general public soon followed suit. At this point, it is difficult to see anything but a rosy future for a game that appeared on its last legs.

Online casino sites have managed to bring previously restricted games right to your living room. Fun games like bingo and roulette, and more serious games like poker and blackjack are all waiting for you at your favorite online casino site. Be part of the action and sign up now.