there are likely many more programs they signed up to promote than there are ones they actually do promote successfully.
This is very true. And because we all have a different look and feel to our sites, and we all have our own secret sauce for getting traffic, we don’t all do well with the same programs. Different people like different casinos and the art is in picking the ones your visitors will like, presenting them with the info your players are looking for, and keeping them fresh if you have a lot of repeat visitors.
Also, some programs have policies that are more favorable for affiliates than others. And, last not least, some are always helpful and there for you. If a program won’t answer your mails, it’s a bad sign.