I understand that we've all got to eat, but having an affiliate link in such a praiseful article kind of demolished one's credibility - even if your name is Giles Bowkett.
Considering the number of cranks and scams surrounding this topic, if you want people to take your advice on such matters seriously, at least post a plain link.
I tend to realize when something is a sunk cost, so regardless of what I've put into it, if I'm not motivated to continue, I don't.
http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2009/12/blogs-are-godless-c...
He's not concerned with credibility. He's mocking the system, mocking its methods, but using them to build his own traffic and generate money via affiliate marketing.
It's a parody. I'd say the original post and all the followups he's doing along the same lines are incredibly effective at demonstrating his point.
I thought that too at first, but he is also taking money from people. If the whole thing really is a joke, I would think one of those people would inevitably sue him (or at the very least issue a chargeback and tell the world).
Anyway, as far as your other question, there are tons of people making money hand over fist in affiliate marketing. I hate to be a dick but if you want to make money in affiliate marketing, you shouldn't just build some random complicated system in the hopes that maybe it might work, you should PAY FOR ADVICE. Just buy a couple ebooks on affiliate marketing and figure out which systems work. Even if you buy a bad book, you learn a little about how to spot bullshit. $35 or $97 on an ebook costs a lot less than several weeks or months of programmer time at a startup. I mean that's just crazy.
The main difference here (from watching the video) is that the service he's promoting is from a medical doctor and based on results published in medical journals. That's a pretty high bar of evidence, and I doubt that it would be anywhere close to a "scam".
So many forms of reviews are completely worthless because this system has got out of hand. Amateur video game reviewers get the games for free, but if they really rip a game, the publisher cuts them off in the future. Wonder why almost no game gets rated less than 70%? And on, and on, and on. If you want the worst of it, the incestuous world of affiliate marketing is where to look. Say you want to buy a program to learn how to start... ok, you heard of one, now you look it up on google to see if it's legit. EVERY SINGLE RESULT FOR 100 PAGES will be some guy pretending to review it, but really just promoting it. They even use titles like this "Affiliate marketing scam," and the article says, "Is it a scam? Let's investigate... no. Sign up here <aff link>" Basically, within that world, it is impossible for a beginner to separate the wheat from the chaff. Outside of AM, it's not as bad, but it's getting there.