Filtering bonus-hunters cuts FTD volume ~20-35% and lifts cohort NGR ~40-60% — the trade is almost always wort

Filtering bonus-hunters cuts FTD volume ~20-35% and lifts cohort NGR ~40-60% — the trade is almost always worth it

The tactic choice: cast wide and accept bonus-abuse, or pre-filter and lose volume. Run the cohort math before deciding.

Bonus-hunters (players who deposit only to extract the welcome bonus, then leave) show a signature: high FTD conversion, deposits clustered at the exact bonus-qualifying minimum, near-zero NGR after the bonus clears. Across tracked welcome-offer cohorts they're 20-35% of FTDs and contribute negative-to-zero NGR.

The comparison:
— Broad/unfiltered: maximum FTD count, but 20-35% of those FTDs drag cohort NGR down and can flip an offer's first-month carryover negative.
— Filtered (GEO + deposit-pattern + traffic-source screening): FTD count drops 20-35%, but the surviving cohort's NGR rises 40-60% because you removed the negative contributors and concentrated spend on payers.

The only case for staying broad: pure CPA where you're paid per FTD regardless of NGR and the operator hasn't yet flagged your quality. That window closes fast — operators reconcile NGR and cut CPA or terminate low-quality affiliates.

Benchmark of the day: filtering bonus-hunters costs ~20-35% of FTD volume and returns ~40-60% higher cohort NGR — stay broad only on CPA you'll exit before the operator reconciles quality.