I think it is perfectly acceptable to use referral links, or affiliate codes, as long as site does not endanger the user. Linking people to phishing sites, or other shady ones is entirely different than a content creator trying to make money on the content he or she creates.
They shouldn't mislead the user however.
But regardless of individual people's opinions, certain individuals will downvote based on their own personal feelings, and some of them will even use a bot to enforce their own personal feelings on the site as well.
Sort: Trending