[justinator]

It's very hard to figure out as in many instances the affiliate link part of a link is stripped out before clicked.

There's a browser extension for that too.

[Joel_Mckay]

It was very similar to the classic banner substitution malware/adware from the early internet.

Most media people have gone back to unique affiliate discount-coupon-codes instead of clickable URL parameters to track lead referrals.

Unfortunately, this also leads to sampling bias, and campaigns spelunking spam statistics. I'd guess on YT irritating people drives engagement in some twisted way. lol =3