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There was a time when I would have thought that this industry had become quite stable and it would just continue along on a fairly even keel. I realize now I was probably having a very prolonged blonde moment at that stage because the fact is that no industry ... whether it's online or offline ... really does remain completely stable.

The factors that might impact on any industry are always changing and quite often the biggest changes can be influenced by factors that many people within the industry don't even recognize at first. A few years ago very few Webmasters would have realized what a major impact the changing exchange rates of international currency that lay ahead would have on this industry.

Back then the United States dollar ... the currency that 99% of adult transactions are conducted in ... was relatively stable and many of us were more than happy to be paid in nice juicy greenbacks. But then the Iraqi war came along and the United States government began spending billions of dollars that it didn't really have and eventually the juicy greenback became considerably less juicy.

Of course if you lived in the United States a dollar was still worth a dollar and you're bottom line was still quite sweet. But to the rest of us out here in the real world ... where a dollar had once been worth almost two dollars ...the value of a dollar began to plummet and in some places these days a dollar just isn't worth even a dollar anymore.

Too bad ... so sad ... it sucks to be us ... and if you're sitting there in the United States and thinking what I've just articulated then that's cool. We certainly did have it way too good for way too long and if we've been silly enough to build a business based on something as ephemeral as the exchange rate then that's our problem.

And undoubtedly some of us did build our business based on the exchange rate ... but some of us didn't only look at the exchange rate as a way to make money. Some overseas webmasters looked beyond mere affiliate marketing and looked at other ways of making money in this industry. Years ago I wrote about the princes in this industry as those who controlled the traffic and now that seems to have been almost prophetic.

Some overseas webmasters actually dared to take control of the true coin of the adult marketing realm ... traffic ... and now those guys are beginning to flex their muscles and US based sponsors - like the rest of us - are beginning to feel the pain of the sinking US dollar.

I guess the impact of that sinking dollar did have to impact on the affiliate marketing side of the industry sooner or later. Most overseas content providers have slowly been increasing their charges for quite some time but overseas affiliates have just been taking the body blows ... but not any more.

Now there are some affiliates ... those who control large amounts of traffic and have some real power to wield ... who are putting some pressure on sponsors to raise their payouts to compensate the big affiliates for the falling dollar. FreeOnes.com is the affiliate who has really hit the headlines as they've sought a better deal for the traffic they send and they've been causing quite a stir.

Last week FreeOnes began writing to a number of their rev-share sponsors suggesting that the 60 percent rev-share that they were being paid should now be raised to 70 percent if the sponsors still wanted to keep getting the traffic that FreeOnes had been sending. If you've ever run a paysite you'll understand why 70 percent rev-share puts the pain back on the sponsor ... it's a lot of money and with the high cost of content etc. being left with just 30 percent of every sale is not something that any sponsor would find appealing.

On the other hand though, not getting the traffic that FreeOnes can send is not going to appeal to sponsors either and I'm sure that some sponsors felt that they were being held to ransom. There were certainly some negative comments around the boards but really, what can you expect?

Many sponsors have left the matter of traffic development to others and now they're going to find out just what a valuable resource they've allowed others to take control of.

This whole situation could really change the way this industry operates because I'm sure that FreeOnes will not be the only source of big traffic numbers that will seek a better deal for the traffic they send to a sponsor. If more of those who control large amounts of traffic do look for a better return then will we begin to see marginal sponsors drop out of the industry because they can't afford the traffic?

And if the industry does contract will the demand for traffic drop and so put pressure back on those who control it?

Yes, the times are definitely beginning to get a whole lot more interesting.