Gaming - Ads
The client is one of the leading online gaming business operating in a highly competitive and performance-driven market. Their success depends on their ability to acquire large volumes of qualified users while maintaining profitability under strict CPA targets.
Objectives & Challenges
Objective
The primary goal was to generate high volumes of user registrations for a gaming offer, using a CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) model, where a successful conversion is defined as a completed registration.
To validate traffic quality and optimize performance, the campaign was initially launched using a CPC (Cost Per Click) model for testing before scaling to full CPA.
Challenges
- Gaming traffic is highly competitive and expensive
- High risk of low-quality users and bot traffic
- Need to identify scalable traffic sources while maintaining profitability
- Optimizing conversion rates without using pre-landers
- Maintaining CPA targets while scaling traffic volume
- Google and social ads are not an option for this vertical
Our Process
We executed a data-driven performance testing and scaling strategy:
- Launched CPC campaigns to test traffic quality and user intent
- Tested multiple ad formats:
- Push notifications
- Native widgets
- Popunders
- Closely monitored:
- Click quality
- Registration rates
- CPA performance
- Scaled the highest-performing formats and placements
- Eliminated underperforming channels
- Optimized traffic sources and creatives based on real-time results
No pre-landers were used — users were sent directly to optimized landing pages to maximize conversion intent.
Media Strategy & Key Performance Results
Because gaming offers cannot be promoted on Google or Meta, we leveraged specialized performance media networks that allow and support regulated high-risk verticals.
We deployed a multi-format performance mix to maximize reach and conversion:
- Push notifications (the best-performing)
- Native advertising widgets
- Popunder traffic (used for large-scale volume)
Popunder traffic was tested and optimized over a period of 2.5 months
- Total Clicks: 2.3 million
- Total Registrations:15,973
- CPA reduced by 22% through optimization
- CPC buying outperformed CPA, delivering cheaper registrations
- Push and pop traffic produced the strongest performance at scale
Through proper campaign setup, creative A/B testing, and auto-optimization, both CPA and CPC were reduced to minimum levels, enabling sustainable scaling.
The Outcome
The campaign delivered a stable, scalable acquisition engine, generating:
- Nearly 16,000 high-intent registrations
- A 22% reduction in cost per acquisition
- A profitable and repeatable traffic model
This case demonstrates our ability to run large-scale performance campaigns in highly competitive verticals like online gaming.
