Casino in Mexico: programmatic and native ads
Scale acquisition in a LATAM GEO through programmatic after Telegram was exhausted.
A casino brand had exhausted Telegram channels in Mexico and needed a scalable traffic source. Programmatic with native inventory gave access to sports and entertainment publishers without certification. Budget was $38,000 for six weeks, target FTD under $40.
Wave by wave
- Weeks 1–2
DSP launch
Connected two DSPs with native inventory in Mexico. Targeted sports and entertainment publishers. First week: data collection and floor price setting.
- Weeks 3–4
Optimisation
Removed publishers with CTR below 0.3% and added a lookalike built from existing depositors. CPA dropped from $42 to $31.
- Weeks 5–6
Push
Retargeting users who registered but did not deposit added another 210 FTDs at $28 CPA. Flight average: $33.9.
What worked
Native format instead of banners
Native ads on sports publishers delivered three times the CTR of banners. The format looked like editorial content and was not blocked by AdBlock.
Lookalike from deposits
For the first two weeks the DSP targeted by interest, and that was the most expensive part of the flight. There was no way to make it cheaper: a lookalike is built on your own depositors, and at the start there are none.
Retargeting registered users
The registered-but-not-deposited segment was cheaper than any new traffic — and it is also the first to run out: by the end of the flight it was fully bought out, with nowhere left to grow.
The first of two DSPs showed good click volume, but on inspection 35% of traffic came from mobile in-app placements with misclick effects. Registrations existed, deposits did not. We shut that DSP in week three and kept only the one with manually vetted inventory.
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