For content affiliates trying to make a living on Google SERPs, the prospect appears more dire day by day. With relentless SEO updates hurling strategies into disarray, and now the dreaded AI Overviews dominating search results, many are complaining that their traffic has all but dried up.

A quick browse through the ‘SEO’ subreddit will show you plenty of posts lamenting the end of affiliate sites. “I once owned 20+ affiliate sites, but it's just not worth it anymore,” says one user

Over on the ‘Affiliate Marketing’ subreddit, a recent post entitled, ‘Is it worth starting in the affiliate market today?’ received a couple of cheerful responses, stating it's best to use newsletters or videos. However, the majority of comments are sternly cautioning the OP against going anywhere near Google to start up an affiliate programme:

“Do not start a blog and expect Google traffic. They will not allow you to make any money… They've been dumpstering affiliates for a while now, but from what I understand this last update was basically an extinction level event for small blogs.”

“SEO is dead for affiliates and small blogs… Google will not rank your stuff anymore no matter how good the quality is.”

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