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Global Expansion: Entering New GEOs and Markets

The arbitrage (affiliate) market is changing fast: familiar GEOs are getting more expensive and more crowded, while fresh opportunities are increasingly opening up in new countries. Many teams are already trying to move into places where competition is lower and audiences respond more actively to offers.

Today, the SEA, LATAM, and MENA regions are called the main growth points. These regions are moving forward at their own pace, and for arbitrageurs this is a chance to catch the wave. We will break down why entering new markets is turning into a strategy rather than an experiment, and what should be taken into account to make a campaign truly land.

Why Global Expansion Became a Trend

Arbitrageurs are increasingly facing the same problems: high competition in familiar GEOs, rising traffic costs, and shrinking margins. Even proven combos stop delivering stable profit, and more and more budget goes into testing. If you feel your ROI melting before your eyes—you’re not alone.

Moving into cooler GEOs with low competition opens up new opportunities for high ROI

The key advantage of expansion is the ability to enter a region earlier than others and stake out working combos. Those who come later will fight for traffic under much tougher conditions. Therefore, for many arbitrageurs global expansion is no longer an experiment, but a way to survive and preserve profitability.

SEA: A Region of Fast Mobile Conversions

SEA brings together the countries of Southeast Asia—for example, Vietnam and the Philippines. It’s a huge market where the audience is eager to try new services. But at the same time, without adapting to local specifics it’s difficult to achieve stable profit.

Which offers work

Here, directions related to everyday needs and quick solutions perform well:

  • mobile subscriptions for entertainment content;
  • e-commerce with products up to 20–30 dollars;
  • fintech, especially microloans and wallets;
  • nutra—if you package it as a “simple solution in a short time.”


Offers in the mobile gaming and education verticals are promising. Demand for games and courses (English, IT, etc.) is growing, while competition here is lower.

Traffic sources

The main drivers in the region are social networks and mobile formats:

  • Facebook Ads works steadily for e-commerce;
  • TikTok delivers cheap clicks and converts subscriptions well;
  • local ecosystems: LINE in Thailand, Zalo in Vietnam;
  • push and pop, with precise segmentation, provide a cheap lead.


It’s important to keep in mind that SEA is a mobile-first region. This means landing pages should be lightweight, load quickly even on low-end devices, and support mobile payments.

Creatives and approaches

To hook the user, creatives should be simple and emotional:

  • use local faces and everyday scenes—“familiar people” inspire more trust;
  • emphasize benefits “right now,” avoid complex schemes;
  • test short videos up to 15 seconds—a clip format holds attention best here.


In SEA the audience especially values lightness and positivity. Aggressive creatives in the style of “last chance” or “sign up urgently” are often met with hostility.

Creatives for SEA mean a positive, neat presentation with local faces and symbols

A soft approach works much better: show the product’s benefit through the story of an ordinary person or highlight the simplicity of use.

Payment solutions

The region remains extremely heterogeneous. In some countries Visa and Mastercard work; in others the audience prefers local mobile wallets like GCash or OVO. Cash on delivery is still common in e-commerce—users want to make sure of the product before paying. If payment methods aren’t adapted to audience habits, conversion can drop two to three times.

Pitfalls

When working in SEA, arbitrageurs most often encounter three problems:

  • English doesn’t save you: users expect creatives in Indonesian, Vietnamese, or Thai;
  • cultural taboos: some European visuals are perceived as hostile;
  • nutra is under strict control: aggressive “before/after” creatives or miracle results are a direct route to a ban;
  • low purchasing power: premium offers convert poorly; it’s optimal to focus on “an affordable product for everyone.”


In the end, we can say that SEA is a GEO with huge potential. However, it’s important to watch the details. The winning strategy is to account for linguistic and cultural specifics and to tailor payment solutions to local realities in advance.

LATAM: A Market of Emotion and Trust

LATAM covers Latin America—one of the most emotional markets. The audience responds actively to offers but quickly loses trust if promises don’t match reality.

What to enter with

In the region, directions related to health, finance, and entertainment perform well:

  • nutra and health products (they deliver results with careful packaging and compliance);
  • fintech: installment plans, quick loans, local wallets;
  • subscriptions for entertainment content;
  • betting and gambling (where legal and culturally acceptable).


Beyond that, LATAM is rapidly growing e-commerce. Affordable products with fast delivery are in demand: the audience is ready to buy online but values speed and reliability of service.

Offers for an emotional GEO are presented in a lively and vivid style

Traffic sources

The main reach channels in LATAM are social networks and video platforms:

  • Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads provide broad reach;
  • TikTok is growing rapidly, especially among young people;
  • Google Ads and YouTube work in tandem with betting and subscriptions;
  • local networks and communities in messengers help obtain cheap leads.


A distinctive feature of the region is that users spend more time on social networks than the global average. This makes Facebook and TikTok key channels but also accelerates creative burnout: you’ll have to refresh them more often.

The key to conversions is emotion in creatives

For campaigns to land, creatives should evoke emotion and trust:

  • use real stories and authentic faces;
  • emphasize the social aspect—family, friends, sports;
  • add elements of urgency, but without aggression.


Storytelling works best in LATAM. Users readily respond to stories about “a person whom the product helped.” Dry benefits like “20% off” are perceived more weakly than an emotional presentation.

The financial question

Here it’s important to consider that not everyone has cards. In Brazil and Mexico, local methods dominate: Pix and Boleto Bancário in Brazil, OXXO in Mexico. Cash on delivery remains popular in many countries.

In essence, adapting payment solutions isn’t a nice-to-have, but a requirement. If the product can’t be paid for in the familiar way, users simply leave, and even a good combo stops working.

Local nuances

The region offers broad opportunities, but there are risks:

  • the audience is sensitive to deception: promises that are too flashy trigger distrust;
  • a high share of returns in e-commerce: users actively exercise the right to return goods;
  • uneven infrastructure development: fast internet isn’t everywhere;
  • legal restrictions: gambling and finance are strictly regulated in a number of countries.


Bottom line: LATAM is a market where honest and localized offers, emotional creatives, and willingness to adapt to local payment habits win.

MENA: A Region of High Stakes and Strict Rules

These are the countries of the Middle East and North Africa—for example, the UAE, Egypt, and Morocco. The region is interesting because the audience is young, active, and increasingly moving online. But here you also have the strictest restrictions, which must be considered in advance.

Working verticals

The directions related to entertainment and finance come to the fore:

  • betting and gambling, where this is permitted;
  • communication and dating apps;
  • fintech and mobile wallets;
  • e-commerce with everyday-demand goods.


A distinctive feature of the region is the high interest in sports, especially football. This is a strong basis for campaigns in betting and sports apps.

But it’s important to remember: in a number of countries gambling is prohibited, and such offers are far from legal everywhere.

Traffic sources

The main channels are similar to other regions, but with their own emphases:

  • Facebook and Instagram are traditionally strong;
  • TikTok is growing rapidly (especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE);
  • Google and YouTube remain important sources in search and video;
  • local news portals and messengers are also popular. They can provide more targeted traffic.


It’s important to keep in mind that not everyone in MENA has internet access. In the UAE and Saudi Arabia it is certainly widespread. But in Egypt and Morocco not everyone has access. Factor this in when scaling combos.

Approaches to creatives

Adapting creatives is a key factor:

  • exclude images or themes that may offend religious sensibilities;
  • emphasize status, success, and family—these are important cultural codes;
  • use local languages: Arabic is a must; English works in the UAE and in countries with expats.


Hard-pressure creatives are poorly received here.

There are many cultural restrictions for creatives, but they can still be bright and even funny

It’s better to present the product as a way to improve life, highlighting reliability and alignment with family or societal values.

Payment solution specifics

Bank cards are highly developed in the region, but local methods are no less important. In Egypt and Morocco, payments via mobile wallets are popular; in the Gulf countries—cards and local fintech solutions (for example, Mada in Saudi Arabia). Cash on delivery is relevant for e-commerce.

What to keep in mind

When working in MENA, arbitrageurs most often face the following problems:

  • religious and cultural prohibitions: you can’t use images related to alcohol, revealing clothing, and gambling in countries where it is banned;
  • different levels of market development: the gap in purchasing power and digital infrastructure between the UAE and, for example, Algeria is huge;
  • legislative restrictions: certain offers may be completely prohibited, and violations lead to blocks and fines;
  • the audience values trust and brand: “gray” schemes and overly aggressive creatives die quickly.


In MENA, those who work cleanly, respect traditions, and can build trust-based communications win.

The Future of Arbitrage—New Markets

Expansion into new regions has ceased to be an experiment—it’s now a working strategy. SEA delivers fast mobile conversions, LATAM is built on emotion and trust, and MENA opens access to a young and solvent audience—provided cultural and legal restrictions are taken into account. Each region requires adaptation of offers, creatives, and payment solutions; otherwise, even a strong combo will burn out quickly.

To make testing more stable, it’s important to think through the technical part in advance. For example, to work with local platforms and ad accounts, it’s better to use mobile proxies. KeyProxy has solutions that make it possible to emulate traffic from the required GEO and avoid blocking. Such a tool helps you focus on tests and combos rather than on technical limitations.