Rather than simply asking, “What’s going to be popular in 2025?” We aim to speak about the challenges faced and inspire fresh ideas to help the affiliate industry. As the industry faces yet another year of transformation, scaling affiliate revenue is no longer an easy task while the landscape is becoming increasingly competitive, and data-driven shaped by automation, AI, and greater transparency.
Google’s Updated Spam Policy and Its Impact on the Coupon Industry
Coupons continue to hold significant sway over consumer behavior, with 90% of U.S. shoppers reporting they use coupons and 62% actively searching for promo codes when shopping online. While many coupon sites remain unaffected by Google’s spam policy, it is critical for coupon publishers to optimize their strategies to stay competitive.
Optimized Strategies for Coupon Publishers to stay competitive:
First-Party Coupon Curation–Why it matters:
RetailMeNot shifted its focus to exclusive direct partnerships with brands, securing unique promo codes that are not available elsewhere, and boosting its SEO rankings.
Google favors websites that generate and manage their own coupon content rather than relying on syndicated third-party feeds.
AI-Powered Personalization and Dynamic Pricing:
Slickdeals leverages community voting to highlight the most valuable coupons, ensuring users find the best deals quickly.
AI-driven personalization tailors coupon recommendations based on user behavior, increasing engagement.
- Enhancing Content Beyond Coupons
Google prioritizes value-driven content over plain coupon listings, favoring comprehensive shopping guides and deal comparisons.TechRadar blends buying guides with exclusive discount codes, ensuring users engage beyond just grabbing a promo code.
Secure and Optimize Your Affiliate Program
To succeed in affiliate marketing, it’s crucial to choose and manage affiliate programs that resonate with your audience’s interests while maintaining transparency and rewarding fairness, fostering long-term trust and partnership.
For example, challenges like those posed by Honey, a browser extension that overrides influencers’ affiliate cookies during checkout and claims commissions through cashback incentives, highlight the importance of safeguarding your program. Such practices can redirect commission credit, depriving genuine affiliates of their deserved rewards and causing businesses to lose revenue.
Here are actionable steps to protect your affiliate program, support your affiliates, and retain control over your revenue:
- Implement Server-Side Tracking (S2S)
Shift from client-side cookie tracking to server-side tracking (S2S), making it harder for extensions to manipulate or replace affiliate cookies.Top retailers are using S2S tracking through platforms like Impact and Rakuten Advertising to ensure commissions are attributed correctly without interference from browser extensions.
Block Known Extensions Using JavaScript:
E-commerce sites have started to implement scripts, also, there are ready apps like Veeper, CleanCART that detect browser extensions like Honey and Capital One Shopping and block checkout if these extensions are active, prompting users to disable them.
Regularly review traffic sources to identify traffic leaks and address unethical practices by using JavaScripts or ready apps.
- Adjust Commission Attribution Rules and Transparency:
Ensure all DSPs in your network comply with ethical and transparent business practices. Networks should proactively communicate with brands about stand-down tools, attribution models, and auditing options to foster trust. Additionally, publishers should champion split commissioning or other fair solutions to ensure equitable credit distribution among all affiliates in the conversion funnel.
- Leverage Affiliate Networks and Subnetworks for Security:
It’s always great to foster direct collaborations but partnering with well-established affiliate networks such as Impact, Rakuten, Awin, CJ, and ShareASale, as well as subnetworks like SitePlug, that help secure tracking and protect against fraudulent commission takeovers.Networks like CJ Affiliate and Rakuten Advertising offer fraud detection tools that enable brands to monitor and prevent suspicious commission attributions, securing earnings from interference by browser extensions.
AI is Transforming the Role of Affiliate Partnerships and Publisher Operations
Account managers the linchpins of the publisher’s operations play a crucial role.
By enhancing link efficiency and tracking link effectiveness on their discovery platform in exchange for commissions, all aspects of affiliate management. Advanced AI-driven tools and SaaS platforms help publishers identify high-performing advertisers, eliminating the need to manually analyze multiple dashboards and data sources.
For example, NucleusLinks streamlines affiliate revenue management by automating commission tracking and prioritizing top-performing networks for every advertiser. It also detects broken links, expired offers, and outdated content, ensuring a seamless user experience while preventing revenue loss.
By integrating AI, affiliate managers can optimize their strategies, access various monetization channels, reduce manual workloads, and drive greater success in their campaigns.
The Rise of AI Search and Its Impact on Ad Revenue
As artificial intelligence reshapes online search, traditional advertising models face new challenges. In the United States alone, 13 Million adults have already adopted generative AI as their primary search tool—a number expected to exceed 90 million by 2027.
Unlike traditional search engines that rely on keyword matching, AI-powered search delivers comprehensive answers directly within the platform. Users can now explore, analyze, and retrieve information without needing to click through to external websites. Advertisers and publishers will need to explore new ad formats, native AI integrations, and strategic partnerships to maintain visibility and revenue streams.
Tech players and emerging platforms—including Brave Search, Andi Search, Perplexity AI, ARC Search, and Microsoft Copilot—are rapidly integrating AI to improve search capabilities. Those who adapt early to AI-enhanced search ecosystems will be best positioned to thrive in this evolving digital era.
The Shift Toward “Zero-Click” Searches
With AI-generated responses providing complete answers upfront, users may no longer need to visit third-party websites, significantly reducing ad impressions and website visits. This consolidation of traffic within AI platforms is reshaping the search ad-revenue ecosystem, leaving advertisers searching for new ways to reach their audience.
To adapt, brands are exploring alternative strategies such as sponsored “zero-click” searches. An example would be the Site Suggest solution where the brand appears as a direct recommendation within the search suggestions on the browser’s URL bar, before the user lands on the SERP where AI summaries, SEM/organic results from competing brands distract the user. Similarly, ad-tech solutions like Site Direct help advertisers reach high-intent users by redirecting those who mistype domain names, preventing them from encountering error pages or being directed to competitor websites.
Every challenge presents an opportunity for innovation. In this article, we’ve explored industry’s keypain points and shared practical strategies to navigate them ethically. By embracing AI responsibly and leveraging the right tools, solutions and platforms, businesses can drive sustainable growth and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape. The future belongs to those who adapt—let’s move forward with purpose and innovation.
Sources:
Google update details | Coupon shoppers | First Part Coupon Curation–Retail me not | Slickdeals leverages community voting | Honey scam | Block known extensions using JavaScripts and Apps | Adjust Commission Attribution Rules and Transparency | Data of AI usage in the United States
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