Very good points all around.
Imagine these two scenarios:
Scenario 1: Over the course of 1 year, you send most of your traffic to various Fortune Lounge casinos. Assume that, on average, you make $5,000 per month by doing this.
Scenario 2: Over the course of 1 year, you send most of your traffic to — oh I don’t know — Vegas Affiliates properties, for the sake of discussion. Here again, you make $5,000 per month.
Now also assume that your players are somewhat loyal to the casinos you send them to. Since you have a lifetime partnership with the affiliate program, you enjoy a nice residual income for many years to come. The casino keeps the bulk of the profits, of course, but you still enjoy the 25% or 35% that you are rightly entitled to based on the agreed-upon terms and conditions.
Now imagine this. Fortune Affiliates goes belly up and shuts everything down. Then what? What has just happened to your income stream? Or let’s say that they don’t exactly go out of business — let’s say that they once again retroactively change the terms and conditions… what if all of a sudden they inform you that you’re only going to get to 10% of the profits from all of the previous players you ever referred to them?
Meanwhile, Vegas Affiliates (from Scenario 2) is still doing well, still honoring their terms and conditions, still running a decent operation and paying out 30% (or whatever it is).
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to promote Vegas Affiliates (or any other halfway decent program, for that matter) instead of Fortune Lounge?
Of course, nobody can see into the future — we can only make educated guesses about what might happen. It’s entirely possible that VA or any other program could pull a fast one, like FL and VP have. However, since we already know that FL and VP are dishonest, untrustworthy programs, why not cut your losses (as bb1 suggested) and promote some other program?
Personally, I would rather take a chance with the programs that haven’t pulled any stunts, or that aren’t in financial trouble. By continuing to promote questionable programs, I would be putting my future income at risk — and I’m simply not willing to take risks like that. Knowing what I know now, it would be downright reckless of me to continue promoting the FL and VP properties.