Tier (levels) of countries

In dealing with website promotion, traffic mining (arbitrage, SEO) countries are traditionally divided into four categories - Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4. This classification is based on economic indicators, audience purchasing power, traffic costs and legislative features. Although the system is not official, it is widely used by marketers to optimize advertising campaigns.

Tier 1 - High Yield Markets

Characteristics:

• High standard of living and solvency of the population
• Developed culture of online purchases and subscriptions
• Expensive but quality traffic
• Stiff competition and demanding audience
• Stable legal environment for advertising

Examples: USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore.

Tier 2 - Middle Income Markets with Growth Potential

Characteristics:

• Middle income level, audience is price sensitive but ready to buy
• Emerging digital infrastructure
• Moderate competition in niches
• Affordable traffic with a good return on investment

Examples: Russia, Poland, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa.

Tier 3 - Emerging markets with low competition

Characteristics:

• Low income, but high involvement
• Cheap traffic but low conversion to paying users
• The audience is less sophisticated and easily reacts to aggressive advertising formats
• Possible difficulties with payments due to regulatory restrictions

Examples: India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Kazakhstan.

Tier 4 - High risk and volatile markets

Characteristics:

• Very low paying capacity of the audience
• Political and economic instability
• Limited number of offers due to high risks
• Problems with payments, fraud and ad blockers
• Often banned on most ad networks

Examples: Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Yemen.

Important clarifications

1. The boundaries between dashes are blurred - For example, some CIS countries may be either Tier 2 or Tier 3.

2. Dynamics of changes - due to crises or economic growth, a country may move from one tier to another (e.g. Turkey from Tier 2 to Tier 3).

3. Vertical differences - in gambling and fintech, Tier 3 may be more profitable than in commodities.

This classification helps arbitrageurs to choose strategies: Tier 1 - for high-margin offerings, Tier 3-4 - to scale with a low budget.