Originally Posted by ajrocks

First off don't consider the payout rate as part of the equation. The amount per lead paid is very affected by many factors that you won't hear about unless you ask specific questions. What are you getting paid X amount on, which countries, what age, what sex, there are many questions. Generally you will find that the higher per lead rates are just marketing tactics to get affiliates in the door. You'll earn much less than you expect.

The next issue you need to address is finding a site that is unique and fresh. Having new "marketing tours" won't help most affiliates. The average affiliate should move his traffic around and test all the options first.

Why do programs pay less for mobile sales, that answer varies but it's largely due affiliate programs that haven't properly monetized for mobile traffic and generally the rebill value of people on mobile devices is lower.