Some Facts, Updates, & Opinions...
1. Affiliate payout is always restructured unless it's revshare. Usually programs will move us from PPS to revshare when a discount is provided. We've taken less revshare sometimes (50% instead of 60%), but it just depends on the situation.
2. We never ask for anything exclusive. If a program decides they do want to offer our users a better price, then they're free to do the same to any other affiliates they choose. They have the power, not us.
3. I totally understand programs who don't want to offer us this privelege. But lower membership prices have proven to be effective, and it would be a mistake if we let that opportunity fly by. Eventually I believe another review site would have beat us to the punch if we did nothing.
4. Karups mentioned us being more clear to our users should be better informed about our discounts and the affect is has to our rankings. I've added an
announcement to our site, and added an answer to our
faqs. The discounts are not meant to mislead anyone.
5. If any affiliate programs felt we were hard-selling or pressuring them into offerring such a deal, I apologize. I hope nobody felt this way though. I want this to be an option for programs, nothing more than that.
6. This industry is an ever-changing business. Review sites or any resource trying to offer something unique and of high value to surfers must adapt to their needs. OUR users are smart, experienced, and value price more than any other traffic demographic I've seen. When we have our #1 site that costs $10/mo dominating the ranks (of most review sites), partner programs start to take notice and make changes. It won't be our discounts that ultimately decide if prices drops across the board, it's simple economics.