I signed an exclusive deal for a "+15% payout bump" and it cost me 40% of my revenue.

I signed an exclusive deal for a "+15% payout bump" and it cost me 40% of my revenue.
The bump took $40 to $46 per lead. Sounded great until conversions tanked — the exclusive landing page converted at 6.1% vs the rotation I was forced to drop at 9.8%. Net per visitor fell from $3.92 to $2.81. The bump was real; the page behind it was a graveyard.
Why do you keep trading optimization freedom for a shiny rate?
Agree or fight me 👇