AC - Selected Upfront Payments - Few Questions

So after going about some suggestions here, I have made a few bucks with AC. Nothing crazy although I have not been rejected for a C4C article yet. I have done about 8.

Here is my question:
I have written 2 separate articles; One on Cooking (a recipe) and the other on a Video Game Niche. After submission, even though they did choose to pay me, it said the following:

Please note that AC does not generally offer Upfront Payment for video game content.

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Please note that we generally do not offer Upfront Payment for recipes.

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How long does this generally go on for? Should I completely write off the idea of writing articles in these niches?

I am a little confused as to which articles ,that are not C4C, will pay upfront.

I like the whole concept of upfront payment, although I do not see a large benefit if I choose to write articles that are paid dependent on the number of views. Wouldn't it just be in my best interest if I were to just set up my own blog within a certain niche and monetize it?



Any help would be appreciated, thanks

I'd also like to hear the answer to this as well. Like, if I were to outsource the articles and give people topics, what topics would I tell them to write about in order to get upfront payment?

I am not sure about recipes, but video game stuff, tv reviews, etc. typically fall under the performance-only payments (as in page view payments). A good way to get a feel for what will/will not get an up front payment is to click the assignments on the assignment desk to see what those are paying. From my limited experience anything they assign that's tv show or video game related never seems to get an up front payment.

I don't really want to say the exact thing I am writing for AC, just yet. But they make money off of advertising, So they want search engine traffic. I would suggest doing how-to articles. Before you decide what topic your going to do, search AC an check if other people have already written about it. AC pays more if they do not have articles on what you are writing about. New content will get you more money, and remember to use proper SEO and choose a good title. Learn and Adapt.