Not sure I agree Lee. I think an invite only is a way for the sponsor to work better with the few to make the sales than to just open the door and let all the flies inside. A nice screen door helps keep them at bay and given too that it appears the prudes are going ot go after affiliates, gives the sponsor more control.

Yes the sponsor has the obligation of closing the sale, though its the affiliate who makes the contact and gets the customer inside. So for me, I'd rather have 10 or 20 good salesmen than every Tom Dick & Max running around stealing content, scamming people with unwanted emails and just generally giving my site a shit name.

But affiliates are also responsible for some of the things that frustrate Internet users. Because competition is fierce and affiliates get paid only when they get a user to click through to a porn site, affiliates often use aggressive tactics. Some have been behind massive spam campaigns, while others design Web sites that "trap" visitors with a never-ending stream of popup windows. Many porn sellers have policies officially prohibiting things like spamming, though enforcement is difficult. (source)
When everyone has access to the same product, its market viability suffers which reflects in lower individual sales. I would think that if you had 100 affiliates who each sent you 1 sale you would be happy but if you had 10 who each sent you 11 sales, it would not only be more economic, but easier too. You have 10 to work with instead of 100 so can better promote your work and concentrate on doing the closing.

It also costs you less. Less cheques to sent out, less stats to keep track of, I mean the list is endless. Sure shit traffic won't mean crap, but if you have 10 qualified sellers, the traffic they send isn't going to be 404 traffic, but eager buyers.. making the sponsor job a lot easier to convert.

my 2 cents :coffee: