We've been around the affiliate marketing business for the past 10+ years and have seen countless times people say "_____ is too hard now" however, in reality, it means that you failed to adapt to the changing game. I love the classic phrase "Adapt Or Die" and believe its very true. Sure Facebook was super easy 10yrs ago to spam and make 20K per day with two-step nutra trials and yeah they have totally cracked down on it to the point you dont really even see Dr Oz ads anymore. Times have changed, advertisers have adapted.
Naturally, IG is harder today than it was yesterday, but guess what, it's easier today than it will be tomorrow. And tomorrow there will still be a ton of people making huge profits from IG marketing. It didn't die, you did.
The changing game weeds out the lazy affiliates, which sadly is a pretty big percent. People think you can buy a $10 proxy, load up a bunch of gmails you bought and create 100K accounts overnight and get another 100K followers with just a few clicks of the mouse using cheap pre-built automation bots. Lots of us are just too lazy to actually think outside the box. Dont follow the rules, dont do the same thing that was invented 3yrs ago and already abused to death.
The affiliates that profit the most are the ones that come up with NEW AND UNIQUE angles & methods. They innovate, test, optimize, test some more, spending 15hrs per day on this. Then when they find something that works, they dont just sit around and wait for their angle/method to get patched, they are already thinking 5 steps ahead. That's what makes a real player in this game versus a $5/day affiliate.
I don't want to get accused of just shamelessly trying to self-promote in this comment but so many people think that buying the cheapest proxies they can find will solve all their problems and make them rich. What do you think happens when you get 200 users on a single location proxy provider in India trying to make 10,000 accounts per day per person? Do you think their IP subnets will get fried sooner than later? Of course, they will. Sometimes, actually many times, cheaper ends up costing you more in the long run. Think about that before trying to save $5.
Last few years has weeded out a ton of noobies from the game. Still plenty of room for new affiliates, but its not for the lazy minded people.