This is an anecdote which clearly does not cover all cases. I think the presumption is that cooking sites are nothing but spam, but the fact that so many high-profile cooks complained about this perviously shows that this is not the case and that their livelihoods would be affected by apps like these.

Agree. Their business model isn't a business model. A recipe to the audience we're talking about is worth...nothing. So you're building a business model on something that has near-zero value. And try to still get some value out of it regardless:

"Essays meanwhile allow bloggers to make money off search engine optimization (or SEO, which scans the essays for keywords and relevant search terms) and ads allow the blog to remain free for readers."

So here they openly admit to the hack. This entire fraud is one app or google algorithm tweak away from being annihilated.

It should be seen as a side job with expectation zero, any money is a bonus, not something you do to "feed your family". I mean, read this rant:

https://www.eater.com/2020/3/31/21201374/why-are-free-online...

Delusional.

The original tweet https://twitter.com/redman/status/1366137187117506560