Right? I feel like this article was just another way to get publicity and social traffic to his domain. Anyone worth their salt would know he's probably stuck in the "Google Sandbox" https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-sandbox/

It seems to be working. We are all here commenting on a page that's linked to a page, that's linked to his "slightly better than thin" collection of affiliate link loaded articles.

And, despite all the various measurable quality signals, content quality, etc...Google organic rankings still mostly care about links.

It's a good article. There are some quotes in it that galvanize my point. E.g.

"I know for a fact that it’s possible to circumvent these sandbox effects. If a site goes even somewhat viral and is getting a few hundred to a few thousand daily unique visits, some social media mentions each day, and real backlinks, that site will immediately be taken seriously by Google’s algorithms. I’ve seen this happen twice so far with brand new websites, eventually ranking #1 for their top keywords."

My experience has been the same. Except in this case...and it just struck me as strange.

You mean... it was, itself, an attempt at SEO? :P

we see this dark pattern deployedall the time on hn

I'm genuinely surprised that the site hasn't found more traction than it has. Don't get me wrong: I wasn't expecting to set the world on fire or outrank the big players, but I have seen young sites do a lot more with a lot less (including some of my own).