I got started in this niche - except I put some actual content in behind those lockers. I got taken out by legal threats before Google but you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Google had it with the niche and it's tougher, but not impossible.
Not something I'm into these days but if you take a look at
app rankings like this you can find high-traffic keywords and trends that won't be as moderated or competitive as some of the bigger evergreen ones.
Watch these SERPS and you'll see people making money - almost always with parasites.
Look at this one for example. "Among Us cheats" which is likely a pretty competitive keyword and
this shit went up a few hours ago ranking in the top 3. No, it won't last long but it doesn't need to.
Just in general, if you ever want to see some interesting blackhat SEO going on these are good keywords to look at.
You'd be surprised. Even if conversion rates have dropped over the years there's a ton of demand for this kind of stuff. If you're throwing enough traffic at it, it's still going to convert.