Well they have been useless from the beginning, just that they have gotten even more useless this time around and anyone who is relying on faucets is wasting their precious time cause they don't work. Back then there was a time when I saw a faucet that was paying pretty fine, but they later killed the site and I no longer see it again.
They are actually useful depending on when you have used them to claim your satoshis. If you used faucets several years ago and HODLED the BTC till now, you probably would have made a significant amount which is the only way to earn big money through faucets : Long-term HODLING!