Coupon strategy vs content strategy: who you actually steal from

Coupon strategy vs content strategy: who you actually steal from
Hot reminder: coupon affiliates and content affiliates aren't competitors with the vendor, they're competitors with each other.

Coupon sites intercept buyers at checkout, claim last-click, and harvest commissions on sales other people warmed up. Cheap to run, brutal margins, zero brand.

Content sites build the demand but get robbed at the last step by, yes, the coupon site.

The tradeoff:
— Coupons: fast revenue, total dependence on last-click survival, no defensible asset.
— Content: slow, defensible, but leaks credit to coupon and extension bots.

Browser extensions like Honey turned this into open warfare. The content creator does the work; the extension flips the cookie at checkout.

Verdict: pick a lane and protect it. If you build demand, fight for first-click or you're farming for the coupon guys.