The airdrop work is quite extensive. Nowadays, as far as I know, there are many ways in which the project reaches out to the community.
I think airdrops are also a way for the team to attract more investors. Some people tend to associate legitimacy to those projects who give off if benefits for free. However some you might find that the airdrops they are willing to give are so huge so we still must stay alert at all times. Airdrops are a good source of money but don’t be too blinded that you don’t see carlos anymore.
It's just that new airdrops - from the end of last year until now - are more often than not disappointing for many participants. I can give examples of Starknet, SmartLayer, QnA3; angry discussions are already beginning on Wormhole in the DC. Modern airdrops require financial investment (staking and delegation), even daily clicks require payment to the fee's. Of course, there are still some projects that reward their users free of charge, but these are becoming fewer and fewer.