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EMARKETER

Affiliate Marketing 2025

As AI Disruption Looms, Affiliate Looks to Muscle Into a More Prominent Role

Report by Max Willens  |  Sep 15, 2025
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Affiliate marketing is on the verge of a profound, AI-powered disruption
Advertisers will spend more than $12 billion on affiliate marketing in 2025
Value-seeking consumers have helped conversions off the mat after a tough 2024
Subchannel highlights: Content is (closer to being) king
GenAI is about to disrupt affiliate marketing’s core
Recommendations for affiliate advertisers
Recommendations for affiliate publishers
EMARKETER Interviews
Sources
Media Gallery
About This Report
Affiliate marketing publishers benefited from jittery consumers buying to get ahead of tariff-induced price increases. But consumers’ increasing reliance on genAI for shopping help has alarmed affiliate publishers and advertisers.
Topics
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
United States
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Affiliate marketing is on the verge of a profound, AI-powered disruption
Advertisers will spend more than $12 billion on affiliate marketing in 2025
Value-seeking consumers have helped conversions off the mat after a tough 2024
Subchannel highlights: Content is (closer to being) king
GenAI is about to disrupt affiliate marketing’s core
Recommendations for affiliate advertisers
Recommendations for affiliate publishers
EMARKETER Interviews
Sources
Media Gallery

Affiliate marketing ad spend will continue to grow as long as retail ecommerce activity keeps increasing. But the rise of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots is about to thrust affiliate marketing into a position of prominence that its proponents have craved for decades.

Key Question: How is affiliate marketing adapting to the changes wrought by genAI?

Key Stat: Affiliate marketing will drive more than $210 billion in US ecommerce sales this year.

Affiliate Marketing Will Drive More Than a Quarter-Trillion Dollars in Spending in 2027, (billions in US affiliate marketing-driven ecommerce sales, % change, and % of total retail ecommerce sales, 2024-2028)
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Clients can find the full version of this chart later in this report.

Here’s what’s in the full report

2files

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10charts

Reliable data in simple displays for presentations and quick decision making.

16expert perspectives

Insights from industry and company leaders.

    Table of Contents

    1. Executive Summary
    2. Affiliate marketing is on the verge of a profound, AI-powered disruption
    3. Advertisers will spend more than $12 billion on affiliate marketing in 2025
    4. Value-seeking consumers have helped conversions off the mat after a tough 2024
    1. Subchannel highlights: Content is (closer to being) king
    2. GenAI is about to disrupt affiliate marketing’s core
    3. Recommendations for affiliate advertisers
    4. Recommendations for affiliate publishers
    1. EMARKETER Interviews
    2. Sources
    3. Media Gallery

    Charts in This Report

    Affiliate Marketing Will Drive More Than a Quarter-Trillion Dollars in Spending in 2027, (billions in US affiliate marketing-driven ecommerce sales, % change, and % of total retail ecommerce sales, 2024-2028)Shopping Has Gained More Share of Mobile ChatGPT Queries Than Any Other Topic Tracked
    US Affiliate Marketing Spending Will Exceed $12 Billion in 2025, (billions in US affiliate marketing spending and % change, 2024-2028)Affiliate Marketing Will Drive More Than a Quarter-Trillion Dollars in Spending in 2027, (billions in US affiliate marketing-driven ecommerce sales, % change, and % of total retail ecommerce sales, 2024-2028)
    Publisher Conversion Rates Have Rebounded Since Q4 2024Content Claimed the Second-Largest Share of Affiliate Marketing Spending Last Year
    Creators Gained More Market Share Than Any Other Affiliate Publisher Type on Awin's Network7 of the 10 Largest Affiliate Publisher Types Relied More on Coupons to Drive Sales in H1 2025
    AI Is Helping Users Through the Same Shopping Journey Steps That Affiliate Content DoesMore Than One-Quarter of OpenAI's Content Partners Play Big Roles in Affiliate Commerce Content, (% of OpenAI partnerships worldwide, 2021–2025)

    Interviewed for This Report

    Tristan Barnum
    Wildfire Systems
    CMO
    Interviewed August 6, 2025
    Wendy Bergh
    Rakuten Rewards
    CMO
    Interviewed September 3, 2025
    Ben Cox
    Rakuten Advertising
    Vice President, AI Strategy and Operations
    Interviewed September 3, 2025
    Tye DeGrange
    Round Barn Labs
    CEO
    Interviewed August 29, 2025
    Alexandra Forsch
    Performance Marketing Collab
    Founder
    Interviewed August 6, 2025
    Jake Fuller
    JEBCommerce
    CEO
    Interviewed August 22, 2025
    Matt Gilbert
    Partnerize
    CEO
    Interviewed August 22, 2025
    Ashley Hill
    New Engen
    Vice President, Affiliate
    Interviewed August 28, 2025
    Mike Jaconi
    Button
    Co-Founder and CEO
    Interviewed August 7, 2025
    Mike Malazzo
    PayPal
    Director, Honey
    Interviewed August 28, 2025
    Jade Mayberry
    Dentsu International
    Head of Affiliate and Performance Partnerships Marketing, North America
    Interviewed August 26, 2025
    Kristina Nolan
    DMi Partners
    Vice President, Media Services
    Interviewed August 8, 2025
    Marshall Nyman
    NYMO & Co.
    Founder and CEO
    Interviewed August 6, 2025
    Santi Pierini
    CJ
    CEO
    Interviewed August 13, 2025
    Laura Press
    Press Forward Partnerships
    Principal Consultant
    Interviewed August 5, 2025
    Adam Weiss
    Awin Global
    President, North America
    Interviewed August 20, 2025

    authors

    Max Willens

    Contributors

    Rahul Chadha
    Director, Report Editing
    Penelope Lin
    Director, Data Visualization
    Emma Noyes
    Graphic Designer, Data Visualization
    Sakina Thanawala
    Copy Editor
    Matt Torpey
    Senior Chart Editor
    Emman Velasco
    Chart Editor
    Yoram Wurmser
    Principal Analyst
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