Several major affiliate marketing and SEO courses which used to be highly respected and widely recommended have stopped accepting new students or closed their doors entirely during the past few years - this has shocked many people in this industry.

The situation has created widespread confusion among people who are trying to understand what really happened. Major content creators have decided to shut down their programs but no one understands the real reasons behind this decision.

This page breaks down which courses shut down, why it happened, and what’s changed in the industry so beginners don’t end up buying outdated information or chasing business models that no longer work.

Confirmed Discontinued Affiliate & SEO Courses

The list below shows the major paid courses that have been permanently closed or discontinued. These programs were well-known, high-profile, and widely promoted — which makes their closure especially significant for the affiliate marketing community. I was also a member of 3 of these courses that got shut down and did independent reviews on them as well.

1. Authority Hacker – The Authority Site System (TASS) & Authority Hacker Pro (AHP)

The industry experienced a big shock when Authority Hacker declared they would stop selling their main educational products TASS and Authority Hacker Pro on December 16, 2024.

You can see my original reviews here:

• https://drews-review.com/authority-hacker-pro/
• https://drews-review.com/the-authority-site-system/

From their public explanation:

• The SEO industry has experienced major changes which have reshaped its entire landscape.
• The traditional methods for constructing authority sites fail to deliver steady performance results in present market conditions.
• Core updates, HCU, and rapid algorithm changes created unstable results for students.
• The entire content creation process together with website operations underwent a complete transformation because of artificial intelligence.
• Student expectations shifted toward coaching, faster results, and constant updates.
• The program standards became impossible to maintain at their current level so the team decided to stop selling the product because it failed to match market needs.
• Their focus now is their new software AI Accelerator which helps business scale using AI.

Authority Hacker shutting down was a major signal:
The classic “content site affiliate SEO” model is no longer the safe, reliable path it used to be. 

Now that Authority Hacker has discontinued all their training for new entrepreneurs, their focus is on helping existing businesses with software powered by AI.

2. The Affiliate Lab – Matt Diggity

Matt Diggity also discontinued his flagship SEO program, The Affiliate Lab, marking the end of one of the longest-running niche SEO courses online. It's a course I was a member of since the beginning and you can see my review of the course below.

Here is my review - https://drews-review.com/affiliate-lab/

The following elements played a major role in the situation:

• Google search algorithms started to show extreme changes which became a big problem.
• The process of teaching SEO frameworks which maintain their relevance in the present has become more challenging.
• AI technology produces new methods for creating long-form content and affiliate review content.
• The coaching process now expects more than what it used to provide.
• The course content requires more time and resources to maintain than we actually possess.
• A new business approach replaced Diggity’s existing operational system.
• The course status shows that it has become inactive which means no new students can enroll.

The SEO-based affiliate marketing system underwent a substantial transformation which this indicator demonstrates. Matt closed his course shortly after Authority Hacker closed theirs, citing similar reasons. These two courses were one of the top courses available for affiliates. I learned a lot from them both and I have a lot of respect for their decision to close them.

The reality is, they both lost a lot of money from selling their courses but knew that it would not serve the community well due to the changes.

Matt now puts his focus on his other businesses - "Seach Initiative" and "Diggity Media".

3. Passive Income Geek – Morten Storgaard

Status: Shut down / no longer accepting new students
Website: https://passiveincomegeek.com/

My Review - https://drews-review.com/passive-income-geek/

Morten Storgaard, a well-known niche-site educator, also closed his course.
While he did not publish a detailed announcement, community observations confirm:

• The course is no longer for sale.
• The membership portion became inactive.
• Content updates slowed significantly.
• Website availability and program access changed dramatically.

Morten changed his business approach so he along with other niche-site educators now rejects “build a blog for passive income” as a trustworthy beginner method.

4. Multi-Profit Site – Doug Cunnington

Status: Discontinued
URL: https://courses.nichesiteproject.com/inactive/

Doug officially marked the course as inactive, ending sales and public access.

The reason appears similar to the broader trend:

• Declining reliability of niche SEO
• Difficulty maintaining course updates
• The business operations have shifted to concentrate on podcasting and YouTube content creation and consulting services.
• The need for long-form affiliate site training has decreased.

Doug was one of the early voices in niche site SEO which demonstrates how the industry has changed through this shutdown.

Why Are So Many Affiliate Marketing Courses Shutting Down?

This section explains the key reasons behind the shutdown of major affiliate marketing courses and highlights the industry-wide changes that contributed to these decisions.

1. Google’s Algorithm Updates Made SEO-Based Affiliate Sites Unstable

Core updates, Helpful Content Updates (HCUs), and rapid changes in search intent have:

• Wiped out entire portfolios overnight
• The way search engines interpret and rank long-tail keywords has become more difficult to forecast.
• The method of creating review sites for search engine ranking no longer works as an effective strategy for beginners.
• Google has made YMYL/EEAT topics more complex to handle because they now require experts to handle them.
• The strategy of developing courses through “helpful content” production has lost its ability to generate dependable results.

2. AI Changed Content Economics Forever

Creators in both reference files specifically mentioned AI’s impact:

• AI technology has made it easier for people to enter markets which results in more competitors in various sectors.
• AI technology has made content creation costs more affordable but content quality has not improved.
• AI technology needed content creators to build new training materials from scratch.
• Students no longer saw value in old keyword/content frameworks
• The creation of an “evergreen” affiliate course has become too difficult to accomplish.

3. Students Expect Coaching, Not Static Courses

In both Authority Hacker’s and Diggity’s explanations:

• People need to receive immediate feedback.
• Students want community + accountability
• Beginners want done-with-you instead of “watch 80 videos and figure it out”
• The traditional “one-time payment” course model became unworkable because of this change.

4. The Affiliate Marketing Landscape Has Evolved

The following marketing strategies have become the primary tools of affiliate marketers during the present day:

• YouTube
• Email funnels
• Paid traffic
• Social platforms
• Community-driven branding
• Multi-channel content

The traditional method of launching a niche site followed by waiting twelve months has shifted into a less frequent practice than it used to be.

5. Maintaining a High-Quality Course Became Too Hard

Every creator expressed the same message through various ways:

“We can’t maintain this program at the standard it deserves.”

The practice of continuing to sell outdated course materials seems less honest compared to stopping the course altogether.

What Does This Mean for Beginners in 2026?

Here’s the good news:

Affiliate marketing continues to exist but the traditional methods of promoting products have become outdated.

What’s changed:

• The standalone use of SEO as a strategy has become unreliable for success.
• AI technology has made competition between businesses more intense.
• You need to build a brand, not just a blog
• Short-form content and YouTube videos have the ability to convert audiences at a much faster rate than other content types.
• Modern businesses require multiple sources of website traffic.
• Businesses that protect their operations from algorithms tend to perform better than those which focus on specific market sectors.

What hasn’t changed:

• The platform still provides users with money-making opportunities.
• The platform maintains its status as a platform for building long-term business ventures.
• But you need updated training, not old SEO models

What to Do Instead — Recommended Alternatives

All currently active, up-to-date affiliate courses and programs I recommend are listed here:

👉 https://drews-review.com/best-affiliate-marketing-course/

The list below shows the programs that remain active and maintained and relevant for 2025 and adapted to the new affiliate marketing environment.

If you’re considering affiliate training, start there.

Why I Created This Page

A lot of blogs — including very high-authority ones — still recommend courses that:

• No longer exist
• No longer accept students
• Redirect to random pages
• Teach outdated SEO models

People need information about current practices to stop their spending based on obsolete recommendations.

This page also supports editors and content creators who want to:

• Update their “best course” lists
• Remove outdated links
• Provide accurate, trustworthy information for their readers

If you manage content about SEO, affiliate marketing, or course reviews and need updated info, feel free to reach out.

Final Thoughts

The affiliate marketing industry has experienced a major transformation because Authority Hacker and Affiliate Lab educational programs have stopped operations but this change does not indicate the complete disappearance of the industry.

Affiliate marketing continues to operate as a business model.

The concept of affiliate marketing has undergone a complete transformation since its original inception.

Training partnerships with appropriate guidance systems have become essential for reaching current business goals.

For currently active, up-to-date courses, check out:

👉 https://drews-review.com/best-affiliate-marketing-course/

I hope you found this useful and by all means reach out to me if you have any questions!