Hi Cyclops,
Amazon pages are getting hit? I heard some of the big affiliate gurus and their followers got their sites delisted awhile back too. (Won't mention any names.)
One thing to keep in mind is these are guideline for "human editors". They can't have that many can they? I wonder what tips editors off that they need to review a site?
As long as I have been in this business there has always been some new algo or obstacle that seems super threatening to the industry at the time, but then end up not being as damaging as people originally thought. I hope this turns out to be not as bad as some fear.
Now I'm not a total pollyanna (well maybe kinda) so if I were an affiliate I would always be looking for ways to generate traffic outside the SE. Give enough unique content that people want to bookmark and keep coming back, build community, generate compatible link swap partnerships, not just for PR but for real targeted traffic. I would try to diversify my traffic sources, as well as my merchants and networks to some degree so I didn't have all my eggs in one basket.
OK, putting my rose colored glasses back on: 
If we were farmers we would have challenges like floods, insects eating our crops, draught! Every industry has challenges and that's all that changing algos and everything else are. The successful affiliates just learn to overcome and survive.
Not sure how much impact this Google thing will have. But I can guarantee that affiliates that can stay positive, work harder and smarter and learn to go around, jump over or dig under any obstacles that get in their way in this business - will be MUCH more successful.