People have always been willing to put up a lot of money, time, and effort to publish and propagate falsehoods. There are bales and warehouses full of this stuff. Dressed up, people still pay full price for it, recycled or newly made up.
It is much cheaper to publish now, so there is more of it being produced than ever before. Quality has not increased.
Mostly internet advertisers pay for production and propagation, nowadays.
I'd say it's far more effective. Most people I know seem to have surrendered to it, given up on critical thinking, truth, and reason; and embrace post-truth misinformation and disinformation. They don't even ask or discuss if something is factual.
A large fraction of the country has fully embraced a disinformation campaign, seemingly not caring whether they believe it or not, just using its power.