The events of early 2022 hit traffic arbitrage hard. Facebook* is banned along with ads billing on the territory of Russia, Russian payment methods are disabled and much more. We questioned traffic arbitrage teams and received feedback on the impact on their work.
How do you work with Facebook* after it’s being blocked in Russia? What proxies, cards, and accounts do you use?
Dmitry Esipov – IM GROUP** team owner
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“There were no problems, only the virtual card provider that we have used discontinued operations, but we found an alternative quickly. We farm accounts ourselves and only use them.”
Timur Sharipov – Avalon team owner
“We work with the traffic source in the same way as we did before:
- Anti-detect browser + proxy.
- Ukrainian and Lithuanian mobile proxies.
- Capitalist / Brocard virtual cards.
- Accounts: farmed accounts + BMs”.
“In general, we are currently experiencing difficulties with social accounts on the market. We’re concerned that the BM will not withstand such a large number of banned accounts, so we want to use virtual machines or a physical machine controlled remotely in Cyprus. Most likely, we will use social accounts taken from residents of this country. As for deposits, we try different services, but we have a Euro BM, which makes it easier.”
Alexander Marchenko – Vibe CPA owner
“Facebook ad cabinets* are prohibited in Russia. But if you are outside Russia, you can work with the platform via a foreign legal entity and opt for proven foreign payment services, which will bring you back into the competition.
According to our best practices with Facebook*, IPv4 server proxies and farmed expensive autoregs work best.”
Are there any moderation challenges you face?
Dmitry Esipov – IM GROUP** team owner
“Moderation challenges are always there, but we work it out.”
Timur Sharipov – Avalon team owner
“There were no moderation issues in March, everything worked well. In April, it was a bit more challenging: some FP were banned, we couldn’t bypass the system, there were billing and BM limit errors, etc.”
“Not at all, because all the offers we work with are white. If we use some misleads, they are white as well, so there are no problems with moderation. We have heard about some issues with TikTok when white creatives couldn’t pass moderation, but you can solve it classic-style: by blurring an image where needed or using a neural network service, etc.”
Which GEOs are you working with? Did you have to switch GEOs?
Dmitry Esipov – IM GROUP** team owner
“We work with many GEOs: Europe, Asia, T1, and LATAM. Within the given scenario, those who work in these GEOs are not affected in any way, but the situation within the Russian Federation is different of course.”
Timur Sharipov – Avalon team owner
“LATAM is our main GEO. In addition, we drive traffic to Europe, Asia, and Arab countries. So there was no need to switch to another GEO.”
“We work with Tier1 mostly. Of course, we consider rich Tier2 GEOs, such as Germany or Italy, but we will work with them only when we receive a good outcome in the USA and other GEOs like the UK, AU, etc. In case we are satisfied with the indicators, we’ll roll out new locations, make creatives, and scale up to other GEOs. But our current priority is Tier1.”
Alexander Marchenko – Vibe CPA owner
“We conduct a/b tests in different GEOs, and scale-up in ones that perform best.”
Dmitry Esipov – IM GROUP** team owner
“Many virtual card providers have discontinued their services and there is a small shortage on the market, which will soon be balanced. I can’t think of any other issues.”
Timur Sharipov – Avalon team owner
“The predominant change for us is that such payment providers as Qiwi, Karta.io, Ecards, etc. have discontinued their services. But new providers will replace them soon.”
“We don’t work with Facebook*. Sometimes we test third-party APs, but direct advertisers who prefer other traffic sources are our priority. It is worth mentioning that we experience technical challenges from time to time, but it only concerns Asia and it didn’t affect us either.”
Do you think the market competition has expanded?
Dmitry Esipov – IM GROUP** team owner
“There is less competition, which can be calculated from the indicators and the CR.”
Timur Sharipov – Avalon team owner
“Market competition has declined because payment means were suspended. But I think that soon people will find new solutions which will work for them.”
“We spotted that CPM on Facebook* increased on 24-25 February, when the blockages started. Others also experienced such an issue. Logic suggests that as white companies began to quickly wind up their major divisions in Russia and suspended their traffic, the auction had to stop, but CPM increased instead. It resembles a situation when major advertisers are trying to blow up the residual budget faster at the end of the quarter, so they throw in a large sum despite their KPIs, and, because of this, auctions get “overheated.”
How’s traffic arbitrage doing today?
Dmitry Esipov – IM GROUP** team owner
“It’s fine. With each passing month starting this year we are growing both in the number of buyers and in turnover.”
Timur Sharipov – Avalon team owner
“Traffic arbitrage remains our core activity. There are good months, and there are drawdowns. February was good. There were payment issues in March, but we solved them. April started with bans, but I think this is temporary.”
“We are fine. In particular, this is since we started with rich countries like the USA. We also work with a mobile apps niche which is mostly white. As to traffic arbitrage in general, white offers are trendy now since everyone is tired of fighting with Facebook*, people just want to drive traffic with less ROI, but no complications.”
Alexander Marchenko – Vibe CPA owner
“Speaking of traffic arbitrage in general, those who were successful before, remain so by testing new traffic sources.”
Summary
The situation is complicated, but it is realistic to adapt and continue working.
Those who have not yet managed to switch to the non-CIS market are forced to do it now. There are options here like Europe, Asia, and LATAM. The majority of the affiliate networks have adjusted to the next normal by rolling out new offers and GEOs and offering profitable terms to webmasters, including US dollar and cryptocurrency payouts.
To launch ads on Facebook* today, they opt for UA accounts.
As to payments, there are several options as well: foreign bank cards, Capitalist cards, and other services. For more information on top-of-the-agenda payment systems, follow the link: https://cpa.rip/blogs/current-payment-systems
TikTok also remains relevant in line with such traffic sources as teaser networks and VK, which demonstrated a record audience and views gain by attracting users from Instagram* and TikTok.
*By Meta (declared extremist organization and banned in Russia).
