A Very Cynical Opinion of Affiliate Marketing
A disclaimer here: you're about to read a bit of a rant. I'm sure that somewhere, out there in the world, there's a company exclusively using affiliate ...
A disclaimer here: you're about to read a bit of a rant. I'm sure that somewhere, out there in the world, there's a company exclusively using affiliate marketing that isn't taking advantage of people…but I haven't found it yet.
The Pitch Sounds Too Good
If I told you that there was an opportunity to sell a product with $5+ EPCs, an AOV of $210, and default commissions of 75%…and there was NO RISK…would you be open to hearing about it?
That's right, there's no need to develop a product, get it through regulatory approval/testing, produce it at scale, and run an entire company around it…all YOU have to do is run some simple ads to a custom landing page and BOOM, you're in the money!
UGH, I feel dirty just writing all of that. But it's what many companies promise people. You create traffic for our proven product and you'll be in charge of your own financial destiny!
I'm not even kidding, here's a screenshot (company/product info redacted) from one such company:
Ask the Obvious Question
Sounds amazing, but here's a question: if your product is SO GOOD, and your margin is SO GOOD…why are you giving away your profits?
Here's the dirty little secret that scammy companies like these don't want you to think about: they can't advertise these products. They'll get their ad accounts shut down. These types of products are all "miracle elixirs" that have completely unsubstantiated claims and are advertised using mysterious "true stories" about people who don't exist.
Post enough ads like these to landing pages full of garbage content and you'll get your ad account shut down.
What They Really Want: Your Clean Ad Account
That's why these companies are so "generous." They need what you have: a clean record. A pristine ad account.
And they don't care if you get shut down. They don't care how much you poured into ad spend before you got flagged for repeated TOS violations. They give zero F's. They're on to the next product (New name, same powder? Possibly!) and luring in a new network of optimistic self-starters with unsubstantiated claims of financial largesse.
You know the old adage: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is? For me, that's the affiliate marketing game in a nutshell.
TL;DR — Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk… please be skeptical of miracle cures and miracle earning opportunities.
P.S. - There are completely legitimate companies that include affiliate programs as part of a well-rounded client acquisition strategy. In case it isn't contextually already clear, this rant does not apply to them.
Frequently Asked Questions
They're not being generous—they're using you for your clean ad account. These companies can't advertise their own products without getting shut down for unsubstantiated claims and TOS violations, so they need affiliates with pristine records to run ads for them. They don't care if you get flagged and banned in the process.
You'll likely get your ad account shut down for repeated TOS violations. These products typically make unsubstantiated claims and use garbage content that violates platform policies. The company doesn't care how much you've spent on ads before getting flagged—they'll just move on to the next affiliate.
No. Ken explicitly notes that there are completely legitimate companies that include affiliate programs as part of a well-rounded client acquisition strategy. His rant is specifically about the "miracle elixir" companies making unsubstantiated claims and promising unrealistic earnings—not legitimate affiliate programs.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Ask yourself: if their product and margins are so good, why are they giving away their profits instead of advertising it themselves? The answer is usually that they can't advertise without getting banned.
