Over a three-month period from March to May 2025, BC.Game generated 106,972 clicks and 28.4 million impressions through mobile-first advertising with Cointraffic. For a Web3 casino platform operating in one of the most restricted advertising verticals, this campaign demonstrated how crypto-native placements and mobile-optimized formats can overcome traditional advertising platform limitations.
This case study reveals the multi-format strategy that delivered a 0.38% CTR, meeting gambling industry benchmarks, while maintaining cost efficiency at €3.56 CPM across popunder ads, mobile notifications, sticky banners, and in-app placements.
Key Metrics Overview
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Total Investment | €139,421.51 |
| Campaign Period | March-May 2025 (3 months) |
| Impressions Generated | 28,430,927 |
| Clicks Delivered | 106,972 |
| Average CTR | 0.38% |
| Average CPM | €3.56 |
| Peak Month | March 2025 (41,218 clicks) |
Company Background
Founded in 2017, BC.Game is a leading Web3 casino platform that combines a wide range of games with seamless cryptocurrency payments. As one of the first blockchain-based gambling platforms, BC.Game has consistently worked to expand its global presence while maintaining its position as a market leader in the crypto casino space.
Company Overview
- Industry: Web3 Gaming / Crypto Casino
- Founded: 2017
- Type: Blockchain-based gambling platform
- Key Differentiator: Cryptocurrency payment integration, provably fair gaming
- Target Audience: Crypto-savvy gamblers, international players, mobile users
Partnership Background
BC.Game started working with Cointraffic in 2022, initially with a modest €5,000 test campaign across multiple countries and formats. What began as an exploratory partnership has evolved into a two-year ongoing relationship, with BC.Game continuously scaling successful formats and testing new placements.
The longevity of this partnership, over two years, speaks to consistent performance and mutual trust in a vertical where results are scrutinized closely and budgets shift quickly based on ROI.
The Challenge
BC.Game wanted to dominate the competitive online gambling space by reaching new users and maintaining brand visibility in a crowded market. While the team was already working with multiple ad networks, they faced challenges specific to the gambling vertical that required specialized solutions.
Challenge #1: Advertising Platform Restrictions
Traditional advertising channels present severe obstacles for gambling operators. Google Ads restricts gambling advertising with complex compliance requirements. Facebook and Instagram maintain strict prohibitions on casino advertising. This forces gambling operators to seek alternative traffic sources that don’t face the same regulatory restrictions.
BC.Game needed advertising channels that could deliver legitimate traffic without the constant risk of account suspension or policy violations that plague mainstream platforms.
Challenge #2: Mobile User Acquisition at Scale
Gambling and casino users are predominantly mobile. Industry research consistently shows 60-75% of online gambling activity occurs on mobile devices, with this percentage growing each year. BC.Game needed mobile-optimized advertising solutions that could capture users where they naturally consume content and make quick decisions about which platforms to try.
Desktop-focused advertising simply wouldn’t deliver the user acquisition volume required for scaling a casino platform.
Challenge #3: Performance-Driven Results
BC.Game operates in a competitive vertical with tight margins and sophisticated analytics. They needed more than just impressions and clicks—they required cost-effective results that would justify long-term scaling. Campaigns had to demonstrate clear return on ad spend, with measurable user actions beyond initial clicks.
The team sought partners who could provide hands-on campaign optimization with minimal input from their side, allowing BC.Game to focus on product development while advertising ran efficiently in the background.
Challenge #4: Continuous Creative Management
Gambling platforms run frequent promotions, seasonal campaigns, and branded events that require rapid creative updates. BC.Game needed an advertising partner capable of handling creative refreshes, holiday-specific messaging, and event-driven campaigns without delays or complicated approval processes.
Static campaigns lose effectiveness quickly in the gambling vertical where competitors constantly launch new offers and promotions.
Campaign Strategy & Execution
After the initial €5,000 test in 2022, BC.Game and Cointraffic developed a mobile-first, multi-format strategy focused on crypto-native placements and continuous optimization.
Strategic Approach
Mobile-First Format Prioritization
The campaign centered on mobile popunder ads and notification formats, which consistently showed stronger results in the gambling vertical compared to standard display banners. These formats proved particularly effective because they command full attention without being blocked by banner blindness that affects traditional placements.
BC.Game deployed:
- Popunder Ads: Full-page formats that open behind the main browser window, capturing attention without disrupting user experience on the original site
- Mobile Notifications: Push-style notifications optimized for mobile devices
- Sticky Mobile Banners: Persistent placement formats that remain visible as users scroll
- In-App Advertising: Placements within mobile applications frequented by crypto users
- Slide Banners: High-impact formats that slide into view on mobile devices
Why These Formats Work for Gambling:
Gambling advertising requires formats that break through user habituation. Standard banner ads suffer from extremely low CTRs in the gambling vertical due to market saturation. Popunders and notification formats achieve 2-3x higher engagement rates by commanding immediate attention when users are actively engaged with crypto content.
Crypto-Native Placement Strategy
BC.Game focused advertising on platforms where crypto users already spend time, including CoinGecko, DEXTools, and Etherscan. These crypto advertising marketplace placements deliver users who are already comfortable with cryptocurrency transactions—a critical qualification for a crypto casino platform.
Platform Selection
CoinGecko: The leading cryptocurrency data aggregator with millions of monthly users checking prices, researching tokens, and tracking portfolios. Users on CoinGecko demonstrate crypto literacy and active participation in the ecosystem.
DEXTools: A real-time DEX trading platform attracting active traders. These users have high crypto engagement, existing wallet infrastructure, and demonstrated willingness to take calculated risks—all positive indicators for casino user acquisition.
Etherscan: The primary Ethereum blockchain explorer. Users researching transactions and contracts on Etherscan represent sophisticated crypto participants with existing infrastructure to use a Web3 casino platform.
These placements offered significant advantages over general gambling advertising networks, which deliver users unfamiliar with cryptocurrency mechanics and require additional education before conversion.
Advanced Tracking
BC.Game integrated server-to-server tracking through Voluum to track micro-conversions tied to specific user actions, such as clicking buttons on landing pages or completing initial registration steps. This sophisticated tracking enabled more refined performance analysis and budget optimization based on actions beyond initial clicks.
Rather than optimizing solely for CTR or CPC, the campaign could identify which formats, placements, and creative variations drove users furthest through the conversion funnel.
Advertising Campaign Details
Budget Allocation: Total spend of €139,421.51 over three months (March-May 2025), with the largest allocation to popunder and notification formats that consistently delivered the strongest performance.
Creative Management: Cointraffic’s team handled regular creative updates, particularly around holidays and promotions, as well as ad hoc campaigns for branded events like BC.Game’s LCFC sponsorship and community contests. This full-service approach allowed BC.Game to maintain fresh, relevant advertising without dedicating internal resources to constant creative development.
Placement Testing: The campaign tested high-tier placements including Etherscan, CoinGecko, and DEXTools. Placements that met CTR and CPC expectations continued running, while underperforming sites were paused and budget reallocated to proven channels. This continuous optimization ensured efficient use of advertising spend.
Geographic Scope: Campaigns ran across multiple countries, with targeting adjusted based on BC.Game’s licensing and regulatory compliance in different jurisdictions. The crypto-native nature of both the platform and advertising channels simplified geographic expansion compared to traditional gambling advertising bound by strict country-specific regulations.
Results & Performance
| Metric | Result | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Total Spend | €139,421.51 | 3-month campaign |
| Total Impressions | 28,430,927 | Mobile-focused placement |
| Total Clicks | 106,972 | Peak: 41,218 in March |
| Average CTR | 0.38% | Meets gambling industry benchmark |
| Average CPM | €3.56 | Cost-efficient for gambling vertical |
Performance by Month
March 2025 (Peak Performance):
- 41,218 clicks delivered
- Highest engagement rates
- Lowest cost-per-click achieved through mobile sticky and popunder formats
The March peak coincided with increased creative refresh cadence and expanded placement testing, demonstrating the impact of active campaign management on performance.
Cost Efficiency Analysis
Why Results Matter:
The 0.38% CTR achieved by BC.Game aligns with gambling advertising industry benchmarks of 0.3-0.5% for display and mobile formats. While this may appear modest compared to other verticals, gambling CTRs tend to be lower due to market saturation and user selectivity—players research multiple platforms before choosing where to deposit funds.
The €3.56 CPM represents strong cost efficiency for the gambling vertical, where typical CPMs range from €4-8 for quality crypto-native traffic. This efficiency resulted from mobile-first optimization and strategic placement selection on platforms with genuine crypto user engagement rather than general web traffic.
Cost Per Click: At 106,972 clicks from €139,421.51 spend, BC.Game achieved an average CPC of approximately €1.30. This cost efficiency enabled sustainable scaling while maintaining user acquisition costs within profitable ranges.
Format Performance Insights
Mobile formats (popunders, sticky banners, in-app placements) consistently outperformed desktop inventory, with most impressions and clicks coming from mobile-first placements. This validates the strategic decision to prioritize mobile over desktop for gambling user acquisition.
Popunder and notification formats delivered the strongest CTR performance, confirming industry wisdom that gambling advertising requires attention-commanding formats rather than passive banner impressions.
Long-Term Partnership Validation
BC.Game has maintained an active partnership with Cointraffic for over two years since the initial 2022 test. This sustained relationship—unusual in performance marketing where brands frequently rotate networks—demonstrates consistent delivery of cost-effective results and responsive campaign management.
The client remains highly engaged, frequently requesting new campaigns for upcoming events, testing additional formats, and scaling placements that demonstrate strong performance. This proactive approach reflects confidence in the advertising channel and results achieved.
Key Takeaways for Gambling Advertisers
1. Mobile-First is Non-Negotiable
With 60-75% of gambling activity occurring on mobile devices, desktop-focused advertising misses the majority of potential users. BC.Game’s success came specifically from mobile popunders, sticky banners, and notification formats—desktop placements played a minimal role.
Allocate 70-80% of gambling advertising budgets to mobile-optimized formats and test desktop only as supplementary reach.
2. Crypto-Native Placements Overcome Platform Restrictions
Traditional advertising platforms severely restrict gambling promotion. By focusing on crypto-native placements like CoinGecko, DEXTools, and Etherscan, BC.Game accessed qualified users without policy violation risks that plague Google Ads and social media advertising.
For crypto gambling platforms, crypto-native advertising networks deliver better user quality and eliminate compliance risks inherent in mainstream channels.
3. Format Experimentation Drives Performance
BC.Game tested multiple formats including popunders, notifications, sticky banners, in-app placements, and slide banners. By continuously evaluating performance and scaling what worked, they optimized budget efficiency over time rather than committing to a single approach.
Reserve 10-20% of gambling advertising budgets for format testing while scaling proven approaches with the remaining 80-90%.
4. Long-Term Optimization Beats Quick Wins
The partnership evolved from a €5,000 test in 2022 to sustained monthly campaigns exceeding €45,000 by 2025. This gradual scaling based on performance validation delivered more sustainable results than aggressive upfront investment.
Start with modest tests in gambling advertising, validate performance over multiple months, then scale aggressively once unit economics prove favorable.
5. Full-Service Management Enables Focus
BC.Game benefited from Cointraffic handling creative updates, holiday campaigns, event-specific messaging, and placement optimization. This allowed BC.Game to maintain aggressive advertising presence without dedicating internal resources to constant campaign management.
For high-velocity gambling platforms running frequent promotions, full-service advertising management provides better ROI than self-managed campaigns requiring constant internal attention.
