Traffic arbitrage is when you buy traffic (ads) in one place, send it to an offer, and earn on the gap between what you spend on ads and what you get paid for conversions. In plain terms: you paid $0.30 for a click, got a lead worth $1 — you made $0.70.
How the funnel works
- Traffic source — Facebook, Google, TikTok, push networks.
- Creative — the ad (video/image) that grabs attention.
- White page — a clean page for moderation (what it is).
- Prelander — "warms up" the user (details).
- Offer — the money page where the conversion happens.
- Affiliate program (CPA network) — pays you for every lead/sale.
How much money you need to start
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Landers (5-10, AI-generated) | $15-40 |
| Domains (3-5) | $30-60 |
| Hosting (Cloudflare Pages) | $0 |
| Accounts + cloaking | $80-150 |
| Test traffic budget | $200-500 |
| Total to start | $325-750 |
The full breakdown is in the article how much it costs to launch a campaign.
A step-by-step roadmap for beginners
- Pick a vertical — nutra, dating, gambling, crypto (overview of verticals).
- Sign up with a CPA network and pick an offer for your geo.
- Prepare your white pages — generate them or grab ready-made ones from the pool.
- Buy domains and deploy your landers (how to choose a domain).
- Set up cloaking so moderation only sees the white page.
- Run a test on a small budget and collect data.
- Scale what works, kill what doesn't.
The main beginner mistakes
- Running traffic without a white page → instant account ban.
- One lander across all campaigns → cluster ban by footprint.
- Dumping your whole budget into one untested bundle.
- Expecting profit on day one — realistically it's 1-3 months of learning.
How much you can earn
Honestly: the first months are often in the red — that's the price of learning. Those who stick it out for 3-6 months reach a steady $2-10K/month, and top teams hit $100K+. This isn't a "free money" button — it's a business with risk and skills involved.
Conclusion
Traffic arbitrage from scratch = vertical + white pages + cloaking + test budget + patience. Start small, test a lot, don't blow it all at once. Grab white pages for your launch from the pool (from $4) or generate your own.