A critical gap exists between dashboard metrics showing gross profit and the actual P&L reality that often reveals net losses. The economics are broken into three realms: generation (publishers creating leads), distribution (brokers managing inventory and capital flow), and buying (end clients calculating lifetime value). The foundational equation is simple - if your cost per lead is lower than your sell price, you have a business; if not, you don't. Everything else is optimization around this equation. Current benchmarks reveal Google Ads average CPC at $4.66 (up 10% YoY) with average CPL around $70, while Facebook offers 68% cheaper leads at $22-28 CPL but with fundamentally different user intent. Vertical selection dictates fate more than optimization skills - legal services pay $130+ CPL because case values justify it, while local services operate at $30 CPL. Operators often focus on revenue and volume while ignoring hidden costs like returns, bad debt, and working capital float that destroy paper profits.