Yes, they update via RSS Feeds. All you have to do is visit a URL (which I will give you instructions about) and click a button
You could also go a step further and setup a cronjob to auto visit the url. However, I do not have the knowledge to do this, so I couldn't do it for you.
Cheers all.
As for Rorys question - you'd make money from these just like you'd make money from any other site. It's no different. So CPC networks, CPA, CPM - whatever.