In just two and a half years since its launch, the Affiliate and Partner Marketing Association (APMA) has gained significant ground.
With a growing number of members, including some of the biggest names in the channel, the APMA’s momentum reflects a community thirst for collaboration and knowledge-sharing.
And from the beginning, research has been a priority.
“A core part of our output was always going to be research and insights,” explained Edwards, who noted that going into 2026, the APMA is going more granular.
Indeed, the upcoming State of Affiliate Nation report, launching in April, aims to demystify industry data across both the micro and macro.
Industry growth
The next report follows two years of industry growth.
According to Edwards, from 2022 to 2023, the industry witnessed a 17% year-on-year rise, and off the back of that, a 9% year-on-year increase in the year to 2024.
“Double-digit growth is always amazing,” commented Edwards, who added that, looking ahead, there’s still confidence around projected growth — although perhaps not as high as 9%.
“We’re working against pretty tough economic conditions. I think certain brands are cutting marketing budgets; so the challenge we have is to make sure that our chunk of that isn't chopped,” said Edwards.
Historically, retail has been the industry’s biggest investor, but Edwards said that last year, the biggest growth came from finance.
Here, he pointed to the success of digital-native fintech companies in the UK, like Monzo, Starling, Revolut and Zilch, who he said are “very predisposed” to using affiliate.
Compliance and best practice
Alongside this shift is the rising adoption of AI, the effects of which are now penetrating the channel.
Amidst rapid innovation, questions around compliance and best practice, and mixed feelings about the technology’s risks, the APMA aims to provide the industry with the tools to navigate this transformation.
That’s the drive behind the APMA’s AI Taskforce launch, led by James Bentley and Alex Springer.
“We will be focusing quite strongly on how we assess the impact on traffic and clicks, and therefore conversions as well — that's probably where the biggest existential issue is,” said Edwards, noting that the taskforce aims to take on measurement and attribution in the second half of the year.
Alongside the AI Taskforce, the APMA is rolling out two other taskforces: one focused on industry reputation and advocacy, and another centred on compliance.
“We're taking a much more multilateral approach to our roadmap this year,” said Edwards.
For the latter, a focal point will be on non-transparent, non-compliant subnetworks, due to the industry reputational risk they pose.
“We're seeing an influx of these subnetworks: there are dozens and dozens and dozens of them,” said Edwards. “It almost feels a little bit like whack-a-mole, in that, once you remove a problem from over here, another one crops up over there.”
A balancing act
Edwards noted that the compliance taskforce, led by Red Star’s Red Barrington, is bringing together companies at the “sharp end” of identifying non-compliance and rogue activity, including Marcode, Rightlander and AdPolice.
“It’s a balancing act, because for some of these companies, it’s not that they’ve necessarily willingly allowed the activity to go on, but once it exists, to then remove it means removing revenue from the channel,” Edwards explained.
According to Edwards, there needs to be a “mature conversation” about how removing revenue might contribute to a smaller channel.
This compliance piece will be accompanied by the creation of a new reporting function, which will see the APMA act as a “facilitator” to help share issues that crop up.
But as the APMA cracks down on compliance, Edwards stressed that ultimately it’s aiming for a balanced approach.
"If we focus on what good looks like and best practice, we point people towards it and we're very explicit about what to look for, the questions to ask, how to measure it, the good stuff, then that becomes habitual within brands; anybody that can't answer those questions or be accountable for those things becomes delisted or falls out of favour with brands,” said Edwards.
“We're never going to be a regulator, but we can push people towards good.”
