What sponsors actually know about the niches of their sites?

[Ms Naughty]

Yep, the language used is usually a big giveaway. I know of one supposed "for women" site that assumes the surfer is male (or assumes the female surfer doesn't even know what it's like to be a woman and speaks to her as if she's a man).

I'm biased of course, but smaller companies that concentrate on one or two niches often have a much better product than a cookie-cutter site from a major sponsor. It comes down to quality vs. quantity. You may not get a huge amount up front, but you know the rebills will be golden because the specialty sites know how to keep customers coming back.