If you got screwed by any business deal you made, you just did bad business and used poor judgement. I’m not saying any kind of deal is good or bad, only that its not the deal that is the problem. Deals are entirely a people issue, not structure issue. Two honest people can structure all sorts of elaborate deals. One honest person and one crook will never be able to stucture anything that isn’t poisonous.
Personally I have no clue what this pre-paid CPA stuff is supposed to accomplish. Either pay for advertising or pay CPA, mixing the two is peculiar because they aren’t related concepts. But still these deals aren’t the problem, it is the choice of business partner in the deal.
In other words, if honorable people did smart business with other honorable people, all of them would make more money and all aspects of the business would be stronger. But if you make deals with sleazebags, what do you expect? A kiss on the lips when they are done with you? Don’t blame a deal structure because you had the poor judgment to work with a sleazebag.