Payout means nothing if payments arrive 30 days late, your account gets flagged on weak pretexts, or AM response time is measured in days rather than hours.
The actual checklist before signing with a network:
- Payment terms: Net7, Net15, Net30, or on-demand? What's the minimum threshold?
- Hold policy: how many days do they hold commissions for new affiliates?
- Approval criteria: do they approve sources you actually use (display, push, in-app)?
- Cap structure: are caps set per offer or per affiliate account?
- Scrub history: ask affiliates in forums, not the network itself
A network with $2 lower EPCs but weekly payments and a responsive AM will outperform the "highest payout" network every time. Liquidity matters when you're buying traffic today and need to float costs.
Vet the business relationship before you vet the offer catalog.
Network Vitals
@NetworkVitals
Most affiliates evaluate CPA networks by their payout rates. That's the wrong starting point.
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