When Popunders Pay Off: 6M Impressions, 308 Sign Ups, 41% ROI!

Most advertisers are afraid to enter new markets and lose revenue because of this. In this case, we described how an advertiser earned more than $5,000 with a casino offer for an Indonesian audience, as well as talked about current trends in the gambling industry and shared useful insights from our expert.

Offer: Casino
GEO: ID
Traffic: Non-Mainstream/Mainstream High and Medium
Ad Format: Popunder mobile
Ad campaign period: 1 April – 8 April (8 days)
ROI: 41%

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Since early 2022, we’ve been working hand-in-hand with one of Indonesia’s leading online casino platforms. With a sleek, user-first interface, lightning-fast withdrawals, and localized promos that truly engage, they’ve become the go-to destination for players chasing quick spins and big wins on the move.

Now that you know who’s behind this success, buckle up: our gambling-industry expert is about to share the exact insights that made this campaign a winner. We recommend you to read our other cases in the vertical of IGaming.

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The global online gambling market is booming. By 2025, the market is projected to reach around $117.5 billion, driven by widespread smartphone adoption, regulatory shifts in key regions, and the rapid rise of digital platforms. With a 12.3% CAGR, it’s on track to surpass $186.6 billion by 2029.

Today, Europe leads in online player share, but the U.S. is catching up fast: 10% of adults are already spinning slots, placing live bets, and diving into online casinos. In North America, one in three adults gambles online, while in Western Europe nearly one in four has tried their luck. In East and Southeast Asia — despite massive offline gaming — only 9.2% of respondents play online, favoring unregulated or land‑based formats. However, the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to become the fastest‑growing market for online gambling in the coming years. Meanwhile, in developing areas like Africa and Latin America, online play remains limited due to spotty internet access, strict regulations, and cash‑centric economies.

Helena

HilltopAds senior advertising manager, focusing on gambling traffic nuances

Gambling traffic is highly seasonal — peaks align with major sporting events, so timing is everything. And when crafting iGaming creatives, you must respect each GEO’s mentality. Landing pages and banners that highlight ‘Big Wins’ or ‘Exclusive Bonuses’ perform best, because this audience lives for that adrenaline rush.

With this diverse market picture in mind, let’s dive into the top gambling trends of 2025 that are shaping the future of online gaming.

The appetite for tech‑driven entertainment is surging — and online casinos must cater to a diverse crowd of gambling enthusiasts while delivering truly unique experiences. Here’s what’s shaping the casino world in 2025 (and into 2026):

Helena

Senior HilltopAds Manager

Mobile casino gaming is booming, so launching on smartphones is a no‑brainer for massive traffic. Every market has its own regulations — our Popunder format cuts through red tape and gets straight to profit. This year, we’re zeroing in on booming LatAm and SEA regions that are ripe for growth.

The casino industry’s rapid expansion in 2025 makes this an exciting time for both investors and players. As we continue to ride the AI wave, new tools and techniques will keep driving innovation — and we hardly know where the next breakthrough will come from. To learn more about the IGaming industry, we recommend watching our YouTube video.

When Popunders Pay Off: 6M Impressions, 308 Sign Ups, 41% ROI!

We’ve touched on these global trends, but our case study has a sharper focus: the Indonesian market. Next up, let’s explore how these insights play out in ID’s unique GEO.

Indonesia’s vibrant culture and rapid digital growth have made it a top-tier GEO for online casino offers. With roughly 68% of players aged 18–24, the market is dominated by tech-savvy Android users and popular e-wallets like GoPay, LinkAja, and Jenius. Slots, roulette, and the traditional Sic Bo game reign supreme here — players keep coming back for the thrill of big wins and straightforward gameplay.

The real secret? Deep localization. Offering interfaces and creative in Bahasa Indonesia, celebrating local holidays with in-game events, and weaving cultural references into promotions creates a truly native experience. By honoring local customs and speaking the players’ language — literally — you build trust, engagement, and loyalty.

Helena

Senior HilltopAds Manager, on targeting the Indonesian GEO

Indonesia sits in Tier 2–3 alongside markets like Bangladesh and the Philippines. To really capture attention, you’ve got to speak your audience’s language — both literally and culturally. We craft pre-landers and ad creatives in Bahasa, then use language-based targeting to ensure our ads reach people who truly understand and resonate with every nuance.

By tailoring your approach to Indonesia’s unique cultural and tech landscape, operators and advertisers can tap into one of the world’s most dynamic and promising online casino markets.

And the best and fastest way to tap into one of the most dynamic and promising markets is with HilltopAds!

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The gambling industry’s creative landscape is evolving faster than ever, driven by an unprecedented AI takeover and shifting player preferences. Today, operators deploy machine-learning to optimize risk controls, dissect player behavior, and forecast the next big trends, while partners harness AI to auto-generate landing pages and ad assets — algorithms analyze top performers and spin out fresh variations at scale. Looking into 2025, three creative imperatives emerge: Hyper-personalization, where data on individual tastes and pain points fuels one-to-one messaging; Native integration, embedding ads seamlessly into content feeds with tips and answers rather than hard sells; and a video-first approach, leveraging mobile-optimized Reels, TikToks, and Shorts under 15 seconds to capture fleeting attention.

Helena

Senior HilltopAds Manager

Casino traffic spikes around major sporting events — timing is everything. Tailor your creatives to local passions and make them pop when interest is at its peak.

Always factor in the mentality of each GEO. Players crave banners and landing pages shouting ‘Big Wins!’ or ‘Exclusive Bonuses!’— it speaks directly to their thrill-seeking nature.

Use AI tools for automatic A/B tests and to craft ‘neutral’ creatives that sail through moderation while still engaging regulators and players alike.

In practice, AI-driven funnels start by mapping every user’s habits — favorite providers, typical spend — and then serve up games, bonuses, and tournaments perfectly aligned with those interests. The more a player engages, the sharper the AI’s recommendations become. 

Helena

Senior HilltopAds Manager

In the online casino niche, pre-landers are your secret weapon—grab attention before the full offer even loads. Free-spin and bonus-focused pages prime users for registration and deposits.
Free Spins & Bonus Boosts: These offers spark instant interest and drive users through the funnel.
Model-Led Visuals: Eye-catching landing pages featuring attractive hosts resonate strongly in male-skewed markets.
Clear, Direct CTAs: Whether it’s a “Claim Your Spin” button or “Unlock Bonus Now,” a concise call-to-action seals the deal.

As for the question of which creative elements reign supreme in 2025 — prelanders offering free spins or bonus boosts, striking visuals (often featuring models for male-skewed audiences), and crystal-clear calls-to-action stand out as universal winners. Combined with hyper-personalization, native placement, and punchy video storytelling, these approaches turn fleeting clicks into enduring player loyalty.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain tech are shaking up online casinos. By 2025, more players will choose Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other tokens for faster deposits, near-instant withdrawals, and greater privacy. Crypto casinos boast faster payments, greater privacy, and decentralized transactions, which appeals to tech-savvy users. Blockchain also enables provably fair games — anyone can verify outcomes on a public ledger. Meanwhile, NFTs and tokenized loyalty rewards are popping up, turning once-simple bonus points into digital collectibles with real-world value. Regulators are starting to catch up, too: as more forward-thinking jurisdictions embrace crypto-friendly laws, operators who integrate blockchain-powered jackpots and smart-contract payouts will pull ahead.

For marketers and partners, this means centering campaigns around crypto benefits — speed, transparency, and exclusive token rewards — and aligning creatives with audiences eager for cutting-edge payment solutions.

Helena

Senior HilltopAds Manager, on high-performing ad formats

Our go-to for casino offers is Mobile Popunder — it delivers a strong CR at modest bids, letting you reach a broad audience and drive conversions. Pair it with a compelling pre-lander — think spin-to-win wheels, bonus-focused landing pages, or eye-catching model creatives — to warm up users for the next step: sign-up or deposit.

With a clear winning format in hand, the next step is execution. Let’s shift gears and walk through how to configure a casino campaign on HilltopAds for our direct advertiser’s offer.

Before you can start your advertising campaign on HilltopAds, you’ll need to sign up as an advertiser. You can register through this link.

Once you’re all set up, here’s how to create your campaign:

• Head over to the Manage Campaigns section.
• Hit the Add Campaign button.
• In the campaign creation area, choose the Popunder mobile ad format.
• In the Traffic Channels section, pick Non-Mainstream/Mainstream High and Medium.

To analyze ad campaign performance, we recommend you to set up Postback. To learn more, please check out our Full guide. 

How can I track my advertising results? | Advertising Network HilltopAds

Next, we set the necessary targeting settings:

• GEO —  ID
• Browser — Chrome, Firefox

You can also configure campaign filters to manage Proxy and WebView traffic — in this case, we enabled both the Proxy and WebView filters.

You can cap both your daily and total spend, but keep the daily limit above $20. We set a daily budget limit of $500 for our ad campaign. This allocation ensures ample exposure to our target audience while allowing for effective performance monitoring and optimization.

Next, choose your CPM. By using the suggested CPM, you can quickly test if the offer is viable before deeper optimization. In our April 1–8 test (8 days at $0.67 CPM), we achieved 308 conversions from 5,991,627 impressions — a reliable snapshot of performance at that rate.

Advice from HilltopAds: As a starting point to test a new offer, use the suggested CPM. This will indicate if the offer is performing and if the campaign should be optimized.

Right from the start, we turned on auto-optimization to cut out traffic sources that weren’t pulling their weight. This built-in feature quietly monitors performance and filters out zones that aren’t delivering, automatically adding them to your blacklist and keeping the campaign on track.

We set a 48-hour assessment period from day one, requiring at least 1,500 impressions and one conversion to keep a zone active. This window gives enough time to gather meaningful data, while the thresholds help avoid cutting potentially good sources due to random fluctuations. As a result, we quickly dropped underperforming placements and shifted the budget toward segments that reliably drove at least one conversion within two days.

To learn more about the capabilities of automatic optimization with HilltopAds, you can check out the article on the website.

From April 1 to April 8, we executed an 8-day popunder mobile campaign on HilltopAds, targeting Indonesian casino players. By continuously optimizing our placements and cutting out underperforming zones, we focused budget where it mattered most.

Key Campaign Metrics:

Impressions: 5,991,627
Conversions: 308
Average CPA: $13.03
Total Spend: $4,014.39
Total Revenue: $5,680.69
ROI: ~41%

Even with a conservative $0.67 CPM, this campaign turned nearly 6 million ad views into significant revenue — demonstrating that, in Indonesia’s competitive online casino market, targeted creatives and smart optimization can deliver impressive returns.

Next, let’s dive into our final conclusions and forward-looking strategies.

In just 8 days, this Popunder mobile campaign delivered nearly 6 million impressions, 308 sign-ups, and a 41% ROI. The key? Smart setup, full localization, and hands-off optimization.

We used Bahasa-language pre-landers, familiar visuals, and promoted local payment methods and big bonuses — everything tailored to Indonesian users. HilltopAds’ auto-optimization handled the rest, quickly focusing spend on the best-performing sources.

This case proves that with the right tools and local approach, affiliates can win big even in competitive, regulated markets. For anyone targeting growth regions like SEA, Africa, or LatAm — go mobile-first, localize hard, and let smart tech do the work.

HilltopAds provides the best traffic for iGaming advertisers from all over the world. You will get 10 billions of ad impressions, direct traffic sources, White Lists for iGaming offers, personal support and more.