[koolba]

> Could someone explain the hate for affiliate links? Maybe I'm just being naive, but as long as there's no suspicion of ratings bias, I'm fine with them.

> Ex: I've used thewirecutter.com recommendations for home supplies--and I'm happy to give the creators a kickback for their effort (at no cost to me).

Wirecutter is an example of affiliate links working well. The site itself adds value by providing deep reviews of each product set and presents options, even at different price points.

The vast majority of sites that include affiliate links are nothing more than listicles with the bare min amount of content to get included in search engine indexes.

They're also notorious for not being maintained so whatever the "best, more curated, bespoke, ..." content was of 201X becomes the only recommendation ever presented.