AffiliateBooster Releases 2026 State of Affiliate Marketing Report
AffiliateBooster.com, an independent affiliate‑marketing news outlet founded by Jitendra Vaswani, issued its inaugural 2026 State of Affiliate Marketing Report on 19 June 2026 in New Delhi. The report, compiled from Business Research Insights, Statista, eMarketer, Grand View Research, Hostinger, Authority Hacker, Rakuten, Awin, Datanyze, Nielsen, Digital Content Next and AffiliateBooster’s own survey of more than 50 affiliate networks, shows the global affiliate‑marketing market valued at between $17 billion and $18.5 billion in 2025 and projected to reach $20.07 billion by the end of 2026, with a long‑term outlook of $82.64 billion by 2035 representing a CAGR of roughly 17 percent.
U.S. affiliate‑marketing spend is forecast to hit $13.20 billion in 2026, a 10.1 percent year‑over‑year increase from $11.99 billion in 2025, marking the first time U.S. spend has surpassed the $10 billion threshold. By 2028, U.S. spend is expected to climb to $15.80 billion, a 65 percent rise from 2023 levels.
Brand participation is now near‑universal, with 81 percent of brands and 84 percent of publishers operating affiliate programmes. Moreover, 57 percent of marketers indicated they are actively increasing affiliate budgets in 2026. Top‑earning verticals by average monthly affiliate revenue are eLearning ($15,551), travel ($13,847), beauty ($12,475), personal finance ($9,296) and health & wellness ($7,194). Affiliate programmes deliver an average return on investment of $15 for every $1 spent, equivalent to a 1,400 percent return, and top brands generate 5 percent to 25 percent of online sales through affiliates.
Revenue from affiliate‑marketing platforms alone is projected to rise from $22.58 billion in 2025 to $35.70 billion by 2033. Network market‑share data for 2025 show Amazon Associates holding 46.64 percent globally, followed by Rakuten Advertising (7.70 percent), Awin (6.88 percent), ShareASale (6.27 percent) and CJ Affiliate (6.03 percent).
The report highlights AI‑driven search as a disruptive force. Google’s AI Overviews were linked to a 25 percent decline in referral traffic for publishers in 2025, while visitors arriving from AI search engines convert at approximately 14 percent, compared with 2.8 percent for search, a nearly five‑fold conversion premium. Consequently, 79.3 percent of affiliate marketers have adopted AI‑generated content creation, and the report predicts that 2026 will see a decisive shift from pure SEO to “Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO) targeting citation by large language models such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google’s AI Mode.
Channel and behaviour trends indicate mobile now accounts for over 50 percent of affiliate traffic. SEO remains the dominant traffic source at 69 percent, followed by social media (67 percent) and content (65 percent). Among social platforms, Facebook leads with 64 percent adoption, Instagram 58 percent, YouTube 57 percent and TikTok 42 percent. Consumer trust remains high, with 88 percent of shoppers saying influencers have inspired an affiliate purchase and 90 percent relying on product reviews before buying.
Methodologically, the report synthesises data from the aforementioned research firms and incorporates AffiliateBooster’s editorial monitoring of affiliate networks throughout 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. The full report is available free of charge at the AffiliateBooster website.
AffiliateBooster.com was originally launched as a WordPress conversion‑blocks plugin, acquired by Mike Filsaime in late 2025, and relaunched as a full‑time editorial operation serving readers in more than 80 countries.
Media contact: Jitendra Vaswani, Founder, AffiliateBooster.com, Contact@affiliatebooster.com.