How to Choose a GEO for Driving Traffic to Gambling: an Improve Team Study

Today, together with media buying agency Improve Team, we take a detailed look at the question of GEO selection for gambling traffic. We'll cover exclusive GEOs, potentially promising regions, approaches to testing new countries, finding winning bundles, and the specifics of testing new regions — along with tips that will help you save money. Read on!

Which GEOs has your team worked with? Which ones do you consider yourselves experts in?

ImproveTeam has an extensive background working with a large number of Tier-1, 2, and 3 GEOs. It's worth noting that the team started its journey with classic Tier-1 GEOs such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, building its initial capital on exactly those GEOs. Over time, however, the focus shifted, and the team began working more with Tier-2 and Tier-3 GEOs such as Poland, Brazil, India, Greece, and Bangladesh.

As of 2023, the team's top GEOs include South Korea, Egypt, India, Canada, Morocco, Brazil, Switzerland, and a number of African GEOs. In other words, we work across a diverse range of GEOs and have tailored approaches for each one. Overall, the number of GEOs the team is currently running simultaneously is around 20.

How does your team test and find bundles that work for specific GEOs? Are there any particular methods or strategies you use in this process?

The bundle testing process starts with product selection. As a rule, we work from the GEOs we're currently running and have a clear understanding of the relevant approaches and conversion rates. We recommend approaching GEOs comprehensively — meaning that when you start working with a particular GEO, you should select several products (offers) and test them in parallel.

After that, team leads and buyers hold brainstorming sessions with designers and develop 4–5 creative approaches with unique bonuses for the product. The next step involves testing the player flow in a webview app, making a test deposit, analyzing the complexity, and launching ad campaigns across different apps.

Once several deposit prices have been spent on a bundle (app + landing + creative), buyers identify the working approaches and scale them (if any exist, of course 😅). This algorithm allows for testing both new GEOs and new products within a single GEO, while gaining a deep understanding of the player flow across different landing pages.

It's important to note that there are "slow-burn" GEOs — GEOs that may not show positive results right away, but after a certain period of running and push campaigns, they turn profitable and allow you to earn and scale.

Does the testing process differ for gambling and betting across different GEOs? If so, how exactly?

Yes, the testing process for gambling and betting does differ across GEOs. This is mainly due to the fact that the betting niche is quite dynamic and can shift in its approaches depending on the time period and the specific sporting events taking place at different times of year. That said, both betting and gambling share a number of classic approaches that remain consistent across different GEOs and different sports.

Betting tests are best run during the events you're advertising around. For example, testing creatives with odds for football matches should be done on Champions League or Premier League match days — not during an international break. The same creative will get a very different CTR depending on the context. Generally, CTR for betting is higher than for gambling, and install prices in most GEOs are also higher for betting compared to gambling products.

There are GEOs that run on gambling almost year-round. These are GEOs where there is a national passion for a particular sport — for example, football in Turkey or cricket in India. But we run betting on India not only during the IPL season.

Which regions, in your view, have the greatest potential for growth? Why do you think so?

When it comes to regions with the greatest growth potential, in my opinion, it's Africa and Asia. Asians are very gambling-oriented, and many of their countries have certain relaxed regulations around online gambling and betting, which helps products integrate popular payment services and allows affiliates to enter these markets and run ads that convert really well. We have some very strong cases with high average check sizes in GEOs such as South Korea and Singapore.

The situation with African countries is similar. Many GEOs on this continent are gaining better internet connectivity in cities, access to resources is improving, and urbanization is driving people to spend more time on their smartphones — getting access to online casinos and betting. This in turn allows products to integrate deposit options that are convenient for the local population.

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Have you worked with any very specific GEOs? What makes them stand out?

The ImproveTeam has extensive experience working — and continues to work — with exotic GEOs, including countries such as Mongolia, Somalia, Nepal, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and others.

The defining characteristic of GEOs that are "new" to the affiliate market is a low R2D (ed. registration to deposit) rate. As a rule, new products don't immediately have the ability to offer players a full range of payment services and a smooth deposit experience, or ideal rendering within webview apps.

When it comes to ad approaches, it's worth noting that what worked in the Eastern European market 5 years ago — for example, news-style creatives — is working extremely effectively in these GEOs right now.

However, every GEO is a unique region with its own culture and laws, and this is something any affiliate planning to run ad campaigns there needs to take into account.

How do you choose new GEOs for testing? Is it a systematic approach?

We actively work with direct advertisers, which is why we often receive new GEOs directly from them. However, when we plan to select new GEOs on our own, we rely on factors such as the country's population, the popularity of online casinos in that country, and the stability of payment systems on the products. The ability to comfortably make a deposit on a product is a key factor for a potential player — after which we consider graphics and slot variety.

There are countless articles online about how people in different countries engage with online casinos or sports betting. I recommend analyzing them.

Do your approaches differ depending on the region of the world? If so, what are those differences?

We believe approaches should be differentiated not by geographic region, but by a country's Tier-1, Tier-2, or Tier-3 classification. Experience shows that Tier-1 countries generally respond similarly to comparable creative and app approaches (with minimal adjustments for GEO and product specifics), while Tier-3 countries require entirely different approaches.

Overall, it's important to understand people's income levels and their motivations for playing at a casino. For example, Swiss and Australian players, in most cases, play at casinos for entertainment, while Indian and Chilean players are more often driven by the desire to earn easy money. This serves as the foundation for shaping creative strategies and launching ad campaigns.

When choosing a new GEO for running gambling traffic, pay attention not only to how exclusive the market is, but also to product quality, integrated local payment systems, how well the casino performs on mobile devices, and other factors that can impact CR.

The Palai Media editorial team thanks Improve Team for their answers and wishes you profitable campaigns.