He didn't say all mods are shills, just that there are mods who are shills. You gave two examples yourself. Admins take action when there's irrefutable evidence.
Shills and "spammers" (self-promotion/marketing) are two completely different things. Someone pushing links to their own websites/articles are not shills.
I don't know why people conflate the two when they're not remotely the same.
I don't know why people conflate the two when they're not remotely the same.