Well, I think before we blame people who share or spread referral links without writing a proper and honest review of the platform they are promoting, lets first and foremost find out how many people out there have the time to read this days.
There are still people who like reading, and others who don't are forced to read the article if they got intrigued by the title of the article. I think whether an article can be read or not depends on its title and if it is the trending topic of the day. This is also one huge reason why many writer exaggerate their title. To pique the interest of the readers.
The above is actually based on my experience with sharing referral links, I've had instances where I sat down to write a good and honest review of a platform I've used and have come to trust, and then at the end, include my referral link for any one who wished to join the same platform, but at the end of the day, I still discover that the post perform really badly simply because, most people on the internet are so lazy to read this days..
I think we don't need to write articles in order to get referrals. All we need is to have a proper audience to be able to get referrals. So this comes to where we put our referral banners.
I personally believe the only way to record some success in the referral business, is to have a huge followership in any or all social platforms where you operate, could be Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc.
I agree, activities on social media will help greatly in the number of target referrals especially when the person is actively making streams about gambling platforms.