A little in defense of the affiliate program… After costs, at 25% a microgaming casino is lucky to make 15c on every $1, and that reduces to 5c at 35%. Affiliates make more money than the casino – ask any operator 
the branding is a spin off and a benefit of advertising no matter how you look at it – we can analyze till we are blue in the face on this one!
Running an affiliate program is not cheap and the casino does not make piles of loot – this is a misconception. That said, the casino relies on volumes of affiliates – I would rather have 20 smaller affiliates who I can work with and help build up, who bring in 1 or 2 players each, than one affiliate that brings in 30-40 players (more expensive too) – of course having all the bigger affiliates really helps!
Also – some of us (reputable programs) will set cookies to award the affiliate for type-in traffic if the player visited an affiliate site prior to coming back as type in – I set this up when at referback (have no idea if the rule is still in place). The idea being that the last affiliate (seen as the person that convinced the player and introduced them to our product) would be awarded even if the player did not become a player immediately – VERY advantageous for the affiliate. It would be interesting to see which programs actually award affiliates for type-in traffic and for how long the cookies are set.
A well balanced association works well for both parties – those wanting to make a quick buck fall out just as fast. You need to decide if you want to stay in this industry for life – if so, great – we will go a long way and make each other very happy