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In this series, we break down the specifics of working with different GEOs in gambling and betting. We don’t just share dry facts and general data — we also provide insights from our team’s practical experience with each GEO, helping you launch faster and more efficiently. Today's breakdown is all about India — one of the world's two most populous countries and the largest where gambling and sports betting are legalized.
Introduction: About the country's population
India is the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.4 billion people, of whom 80% follow Hinduism and 14% Islam. Despite being classified as a Tier-3 country, India has a large number of affluent citizens, cheap traffic, and significant potential for growth.
The national currency is the rupee, although dollars are also commonly used, especially in creative materials. There is an interesting reason for this — the audience with lower incomes tends to calculate in the national currency, while wealthier Indians think in dollars. As a result, they respond better to creatives that use dollars instead of rupees.
India also has linguistic diversity. While around 35% of the population speaks Hindi, English is much more widespread as it is also an official language. Nearly 65% of the population communicates in English, primarily in large cities.
Among the wealthier regions are Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Telangana, Punjab, and Kerala. At the same time, the standard of living remains low in the cities of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Odisha, and Rajasthan.
Popular traffic sources
Among the most popular platforms attracting audiences are: YouTube — 462 million, WhatsApp — 536 million, Facebook — 378 million, Instagram — 362 million, Telegram — 104 million, TikTok — 30 million.
Local sources to note include:
- ShareChat — local influencers and hidden bonus offers.
- Moj — short videos with entertainment content.
- Roposo — video content related to games or cricket.
- Chingari — hidden advertising in the form of short videos.
India's main areas of focus in iGaming
In India, there are several popular directions for driving traffic, especially in the iGaming sector. Here are the main ones:
Sports betting: for example, cricket is the most popular sport in India, and betting on cricket matches attracts a huge number of users, especially during the final IPL matches. Betting on football, polo, field hockey, and kabaddi — an ancient Asian team sport — is also popular.
Slots and casinos: online casinos and slot machines are also becoming increasingly popular, especially among the youth. Currently, Aviator and Plinko are at the peak of popularity.
Esports betting: with the rise in popularity of esports, betting on tournaments for games like Dota 2 and CS:GO is becoming increasingly relevant.
List of popular iGaming brands in India as of November 2024
Regarding market regulation, according to Indian legislation, player deposits in products of licensed operators are subject to a 28% tax (for example, in Brazil, this rate is 12%), which forces the vast majority of products to operate offshore. Combined with the level of popularity of gambling in the country, this results in 41% of tax-evading companies in India being from the iGaming sector.
Despite the nuances of the legislation and periodic arrests of company representatives caught violating rules and evading taxes, the size of the audience and interest in iGaming in India are so large that the number of new products on the market continues to grow, and media buying projects keep increasing the volume of traffic being directed.
Tips for working with traffic
Maxim Makeev, the owner of the smellmytraffic team within Marlerino Group, has provided recommendations on working with the Indian geo, drawing from his extensive experience in this market.
The first point is the choice of the offer. We try to work with less hackneyed offers where the base is still "clean." Either we agree with the advertiser on conditions for slices, ensuring there are no more than 10-20%, or we agree to pay for all deposits, except for fraud.
After choosing the offer and agreeing on the terms, we move on to app and reviews design:
- In the design and description of the app, we always use the local currency and language. We also ensure that the texts don’t look like clickbait. For example: "Register and get a 100% bonus — start winning today!"
- We make reviews realistic. Instead of saying "Won a million!", we add:
- Examples of real winnings (average amounts).
- User descriptions in the form of: "I’ve been playing for a week, withdrawals are fast!"
Creatives: сurrently, 90% of the flow when working with FB is based on the slot approach, both in static and video creatives, as well as in the app design and the landing page itself. Before launching, it’s essential to find out which slots are currently trending among players. Below is a selection of slots based on the average monthly number of queries.
For example, here’s how creatives and app designs look with the use of the Plinko slot ↓
Sometimes, an approach with a video tutorial is used, demonstrating the registration, deposit, and gameplay process. The effectiveness of this approach lies in the fact that it removes barriers for users by showing them exactly what to do. To increase effectiveness, it’s recommended to add localization: voiceovers in the target audience's language and the use of local memes or phrases.
Below is a fragment of a creative using this approach for Aviator — the top #1 slot by query frequency ↓
As for targeting, I recommend starting with a broad audience, then using look-alike audiences based on quality registrations and deposits. Focus on regions with high purchasing power (such as Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi for India) and men aged 25-45.
Next, to determine the most effective creatives, we use A/B testing with schemes 1-1-3, 1-1-5, or 1-3-3. The process looks as follows ↓
- Day 1: Launch the test with an even budget distribution across multiple creatives.
- Days 2–3: Analyze results, disable low-performing creatives, and increase the budget for the best ones.
The recommended budget for the test is $300–500 for 3–5 creatives.
Facebook often favors clickable creatives, ignoring those with higher conversion rates. To avoid this, it’s important to analyze not only the CTR but also the EPC (Earnings Per Click), which will help identify the truly profitable creatives.
Target metrics:
- CTR: 1–3% (If below 1%, the creative needs improvement).
- CPC: $0.03–0.08 (If above $0.10, I recommend revisiting the audience/creative).
- CPI: $0.3–1 (Optimal — up to $0.5).
- EPC: $0.08–0.15 (If higher, it's recommended to scale the campaign, roughly by increasing the budget by 20–30% per day and monitoring the results).
When it comes to conversion tracking in the Facebook API, a common issue is data delay (reg/dep). To bypass this, use:
- Sub ID: these allow you to see in the affiliate statistics which creatives/campaigns deliver immediate results.
- Tracker: Integrate Keitaro with affiliate programs and Facebook, then we can collect and analyze data in one place.
Deposits: the target for India is 10–15% of deposits on the first day and up to 30% by the 7th day, with a reach of up to 30%.
Thus, the norm looks approximately like this: 100 registrations → 10–15 deposits on the first day → 10–20 reach within a week.
For a $500 budget, I recommend optimizing traffic using the following steps:
- First, disable campaigns with a high cost per install or low CTR.
- Leave only those campaigns that show profitability within a day or two.
Next, work with RD should be done as follows:
- Push notifications: segment based on behavior (e.g., users who registered but didn’t deposit, or deposited but didn’t play).
- Product (SMS, calls): send reminders with bonuses or promotions to encourage users to return.
- Excluding non-paying users: filter out poorly converting users based on parameters (devices, regions, interests).
Conclusion
In our opinion, India, due to its large population, will not be "saturated" for a long time, which is why we continue to work with it and recommend you try it if you haven’t tested it yet. If you want to drive traffic to India without turnover limits and on the best terms from direct advertisers, Marlerino Group is ready to provide this opportunity, along with a well-established infrastructure and extensive expertise. Learn more in our chatbot → HR bot Marlerino Group.
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