📈The AI Affiliate Winners Are Emerging

Welcome to another Affiliate Pulse!

I hope those of you who had a day off yesterday enjoyed yourselves. On my side, the sun has finally graced Bristol, and I’ve decided I’d prefer a happy medium between torrential rain and blazing heat 🤷🏻‍♀️.

This week, we’ve got a newsletter packed with tech updates, new industry research and hot takes. 

We hear from Julian Henrichs on the AI winners (for now, at least), dive into the new Reddit app updates, share Cardlytics research on financial loyalty, and give you the rundown on the recent controversy around affiliate commission rates. 

We’ve also got insights from Alexandra Gogalniceanu on why the boring campaigns can often provide you with the data and insights you need to grow. 

Now, let’s dive in.

In today's newsletter:

• Pick of the day: As the New AI Reality Bites, Affiliate’s Winners Are Already Emerging
• Trending: Affiliates Face Financial Shock as Amazon’s Associates Programme Cuts Commission Rates
• Industry Insight: Performance Marketing Isn’t Just About Finding Winners.

Pick of the day

As the New AI Reality Bites, Affiliate’s Winners Are Already Emerging

This week, in Off The Beat, Julian Henrichs says that cashback and coupon affiliates might be the few winners of AI Overviews. 

Amidst the AI shakeup, Julian says cashback and loyalty publishers still have one advantage: that users have to visit their platforms to activate rewards before purchasing. 

“The click survives, and so does affiliate attribution.”

In this piece, Julian also dives into the turnaround plan for the wider ecosystem, weighs the options each affiliate branch faces and questions what’s ahead for cashback.

Trending

What's hot on Hello Partner right now

Reddit Unveils App Ad Updates Focused on Performance Transparency

The new features include dual attribution, Max campaigns for app campaigns and App Event Optimization.

Personalised Rewards Can Incentivise Financial Loyalty, New Research Suggests

Financial value is emerging as a key driver of both switching banks and retention, according to new Cardlytics data.

Destination 2026 - Cracking the Code of Gen Z Travel Habits

Following the annual UNiDAYS Travel Survey 2026, this session analyses what drives Gen Z when they travel.

Affiliates Face Financial Shock as Amazon’s Associates Programme Cuts Commission Rates

Affiliates are also experiencing reduced performance visibility due to reporting system changes.

Industry Insight

Stay at the top of your game

This week, we're sharing an industry insight from Alexandra Gogalniceanu, who says that performance marketing isn’t just about finding winners, but also building systems and pattern recognition over time.

According to Alexandra, while it’s true that a very small percentage of campaigns generate most of the revenue, so-called “middle” campaigns deserve more respect.

What does she mean here? Well, while the explosive campaigns might generate discussion and screenshots, the stable ones carry a lot of weight. 

These are the campaigns that consistently convert, survive optimisation rounds, remain profitable and don’t offer up nasty surprises in your tracker. 

And they can be a valuable teacher, she says, particularly when testing at scale, because of the intelligence that they can generate while remaining reliable.

So, whether that’s placements that continue to convert, targeting combinations, user behaviour insights across verticals or signals that repeat across campaigns later. 

Alexandra says it’s this that provides you with the tools to improve optimisation logic, testing frameworks, placement intelligence, and, quite crucially, emotional stability.

“Some campaigns don’t become breakout winners. But they quietly build your future playbook. And the longer a campaign survives, the more trustworthy its data usually becomes too.”

Amusing Affiliates

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Until next time,

Madaline Dunn Community Editor Email me Connect with me on LinkedIn