<b>The networks profit most from the affiliates they publicly disown</b>

<b>The networks profit most from the affiliates they publicly disown</b>

Hot take: ad networks don't actually want gray affiliates gone. They want them deniable.

The aggressive verticals fund the auctions, lift the CPMs, and stress-test the very enforcement that the network then markets as proof of safety. You're not a bug in their system — you're a revenue line they're contractually obligated to pretend they're fighting. The ban wave isn't a purge. It's a quarterly cleansing ritual that lets them keep the inventory and the halo.

They need a villain. They cast you and cash the check.

Agree? Fight me in the comments.