I really dont care how the sponsor side or the billing processor count the traffic and calculate ratios. Or what other affiliate makes. In the end its your own bank account that tells you if you doing the right thing or not. And if it grows (or fall) you can analyze your own traffic to make it better.
Its very complex, and you cant really say 200k traffic would give you twice as much money as 100k, because it depends on the traffic quality too.
Make it a rule, to set partial goals and then try to reach those. First is to find what 'relative' $$-ratios that fits you. If you want to earn 2 cent per visitor that click
out from your site, you send traffic for a while, then analyze it. It takes no mathematic skills, to understand that those sponsors not giving over 2 cent per visitor, reduce the average. Get rid of them, focus on the better ones, and try new ones. After a while you get better averages, and you go through the same cycle, setting higher goals.
It take some patient and some extra hours, but those hours are the best paid.
