For the guys here that have been doing CPA for more than 1 year, let me ask you a question:
ARE YOU SURPRIZED?
I mean seriously, being as how popular it has become to "Defraud the networks" and "make quick money by sending BH traffic" over the past 1 to 1 year and a half, did you think that maybe this was coming?
Common sense would tell you that if they don't keep there advertisers happy, they will leave and go to other networks. If they keep inviting noobs who subscribe to the "get quick overnight BH technique" ebooks and posts, and thousands of those noobs in turn keep chipping away at advertisers budgets while the advertisers themselfs see NO RETURN OF INVESTMENT, well, what do you think was gonna happen? Remember, all of these "methods" and "quick money techniques" takes advantage of somebody. So Do ya honestly think there are gonna make the same mistake that put them into bankruptcy in the first place?
Why do you think you never hear anything about Azoogle, yet you always hear other would be BH aff. say "stay away" whenever someone mentions them? Its because of precisely the fact that they are so strict that they are still around, because of the general type of "marketer" they attract. If they catch ANY, and I mean ANY, wind of BH traffic, they will ban without question. Yet, they are, more then likely, the top, if not the #1, CPA network out there!
Hydra got hit hard with the "noob protrol" and had to clean up in order to please there advertisers as well as set themselves up to attract more investors and high-profile affiliates. If they didn't, they would have went out of business in a blink of an eye, thanks to the popularity of BH and those "how do I get into CPA network" threads across the net (though the FTC ruling is also part of it as well, but again, only "part" of the reason, next to mismanagement of funds and quality control of traffic).
I seen this coming a while back, so surface to say, I'm not surprised. Even though Azoogle is my top network (no BH with them unless you don't want to get paid), I, strangely, agree with them setting the standard so high. Its a smart move for there restructuring, and now since CPA is almost a house-net hold name, they had no choice.
Expect other big networks to follow suit.
Cause and Effect guys! Remember BHW, DP, WF and the like is no longer the "best kepted secret" on the net anymore. Coincidence?
BTW, Hydra is now in constant communication with there advertisers, and are now more strictly looking over incoming traffic. Just to let you know. The fantasy is gone!