For years, publishers helped shape affiliate marketing in a sustainable income flow. By combining product recommendations with SEO expertise, they changed trade content into conversion engines. That model still drives a meaningful income, but it is now confronted with serious structural headwind, according to interviews with eight affiliate marketing experts.
The rise of AI-driven answer engines threatens the visibility of publishers in search results-the life blood of their affiliated programs and marketers test new affiliated channels next to them.
While publishers are struggling with changes in the way public products discover, makers capture a growing part of the incremental budget, according to Jamie Hamerly, director of the market at Levanta.
“Spending from publishers is not taken,” she said, “but a new budget goes to makers.”
Publishers are confronted with platform and price pressure
According to Alison Rinaldi, Affiliate Group Director at Assembly Global.
But because platforms such as Google experiment with AI entertainment and zero click results, the pipeline from traffic starts to erode to commerce articles.
“The threat is that AI will summarize information directly and link a link to the purchase, completely circumventing the publisher,” said Rinaldi.
Commission rates have also fallen. Amazon, still the largest player in space, now offers most publishers only 2-3% committee, compared to double digits in previous years, according to Rinaldi.
The tariff changes of Amazon go beyond the tariff reductions, according to Nilla Ali, co -founder of the agency, creative.
Firstly, Amazon has shifted to “sellers funded” affiliation models, where brands, instead of the platform, pay extra committees. Amazon also pays a higher baseline rate to makers than publishers. Makers receive 10% to 15% basic line rates compared to 2% of publishers up to 3%, Ali said. Tools such as the Creator Connections program from Amazon make it easier for brands to make bonus brainers directly, so that the acceptance of the maker is accelerated.
The publisher’s partner space is also full of “best of” lists and superfluous recommendations, Rinaldi said, resulting in decreasing returns for marketers. Many publishers now expect fixed costs or minimal expenses, which do not always match the Pay-For-Performance Standard of Affiliate.