You all have no idea what affiliate marketing is.

When an internet company (for example an online poker site) advertises on the internet, it gives everyone a unique code. This way they can track their profit or loss on the campaign.

Most of the time, they give the advertiser a percentage of the purchase (i.e % of the rake) or a payment for a lead.

If the website insists on a flat payment, the internet company still tracks the profit/loss on the campaign to make sure it has a decent roi (i.e. I pay $1000 flat for the campaign each month, but I need to make sure I make at least $4000 a month in sales).

Rakeback affiliates basically use this process to give the rake back. Instead of an advertising payment, they just give the payment to the player. This is because they do not do any actual advertising because the player already knows about the site.

So if you hate on "non-rakeback" affiliates, you are really just hating on anyone that advertises internet gambling, which includes 2+2.