YouTube Affiliate Marketing Booms as Disclosure Standards Continue to Lag, New Research Finds

Affiliate marketing has become more important for YouTube creators than we may have realised, but new academic research suggests transparency around those commercial relationships still has significant room for improvement.

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Iowa and UC Davis analysed more than two million YouTube videos published by approximately 540,000 creators between 2015 and 2024. The research examined affiliate links placed within video descriptions as well as products featured through YouTube's shopping functionality, providing one of the most comprehensive snapshots of affiliate marketing activity on the platform to date.

According to the study, the proportion of videos containing affiliate links increased significantly over the ten years analysed. Affiliate-linked content rose from 5.3% of videos during the 2015-2018 period to 8.5% between 2018 and 2024.

Growth was particularly notable among small and mid-sized creators. Channels with fewer than 100,000 subscribers saw their affiliate content rate almost double, rising from 3.22% to 6.38%. Meanwhile, channels with between 100,000 and one million subscribers increased from 8.66% to 12.73%.

These results aren’t a huge shock especially with what we know about the polarising creator economy, as unpacked in our creator pay rates report in 2025. This comes as brands seek performance-driven influencer marketing models that can be directly tied to measurable outcomes.

The question of disclosure

While disclosure rates improved over time, the research suggests compliance remains inconsistent.

Researchers found that 45.52% of affiliate videos included some form of disclosure. However, only 12.2% contained disclosures that met the study's interpretation of regulatory expectations around clearly communicating both compensation and the commercial relationship involved.

Encouragingly, disclosure standards improved over the period examined, with compliant disclosures increasing from 5.5% to 14.5% across all channels. Interestingly, creators with more than one million subscribers showed the smallest increase in compliance levels compared with other channel sizes.

The findings highlight an ongoing challenge for influencer marketing as regulators like the ASA and IMTB continue to emphasise the importance of transparency in paid and commission-based partnerships.

What do the findings mean?

The research highlights a growing need for stronger collaboration between platforms, affiliate networks and regulators.

Their recommendations included wider adoption of integrated disclosure tools alongside improved monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. All in all, the study serves as a reminder that transparency remains one of our sector's most persistent challenges.