> I can't shake the idea anymore that we all fell for clever marketing, here, instead of that we're presumed to be looking at an aspiring, young developer's plea for recognition

Marketing play is doubtless; whether the age is genuine or not is a coin toss—as tends to be with affiliate sites, developers go out of their way to avoid referencing a real persona.

It’s entirely possible that it was built by a teenager, but then a stronger accomplishment to advertise would’ve been “I have developed an affiliate marketing site at 15 years old”.