business paradigm shifts aside, the Internet is just a more convenient method by which to separate fools from their money.
Just like in the great California gold rush, the majority of the people who got rich never found any gold, but got rich selling $5 eggs and $10 whores, that kind of thing.
Now, with an endless supply of useless affiliate programs and ads to pimp, even with meager and dwindling click through rates, there are still enough desperate idiots online that these "bidnesses" still generate profits.
The more things change the more they stay the same.