You are like a digital salesman for any manner of companies and products.
The cool thing about it is the scale that is possible. For example, in the one year I ran ads, my ads were displayed over 640 million times around the world.
I got so many clicks in Columbia that 20% of the male users in Columbia on Facebook clicked one of my ads.
OK. Got to get back to work now!
But Hipmunk is another example of a site largely supported by travel-affiliate revenue, and they do it by actually providing a significant value-add service.
They provide a useful service for some (here's how to use your frequent flier miles), but the affiliate links in nearly every post are rumored to be worth up to several hundred dollars per credit card signup.
Very true. I've been speaking at marketing conferences for several years, and one of my core messages to affiliates is "don't build a site or campaign, build a business". If no one would miss your site if it was gone, you're not building value.