Voices

„Great - an excellent, informative, and enriching engagement with our industry from entirely new perspectives and with unprecedented depth!"

Andreas Sasnovskis
Oliro GmbH · Director Strategy & Partnerships

Page 6

“Affiliate Marketing was the first structured form of this development. Partner Marketing is its consistent implementation. Only as a biotope can an ecosystem fill all niches of a market. Centralized systems of the past fail due to the complexity and sheer diversity of the internet-centered economy.”

Joachim Graf
HighText Verlag · Futurist

Page 19

„Legal regulations and changes, as well as rapid technological developments, have made it clear how quickly the industry can not only adapt but also become an important co-designer due to its agility."

Andreas Sasnovskis
Oliro GmbH · Director Strategy & Partnerships

Page 26

“The creator economy is increasingly merging with affiliate technology. This is currently giving rise to a new performance model for the channel.”

Sebastian Menken
M2L Agency GmbH · Managing Director

Page 31

„Partner Marketing has ensured that win-win relationships that deliver real results receive significantly more attention in the marketing world. In a world dominated by Google and Meta - where one must play by their rules and where they always win - Partner Marketing has created an alternative path."

Matt Wool
Acceleration Partners · CEO

Page 46

“The central change is that Affiliate and Partner Marketing has increasingly evolved from 'rented' paid traffic to its own partner ecosystems - partner relationships are becoming a real asset, clicks a commodity.”

Marcel Schöne
uppr GmbH · Owner & Managing Director

Page 47

“The biggest change is the emancipation of the channel to the strategic 'Swiss Army knife'. In a time full of black-box algorithms, Partner Marketing offers crisis-proof, purely success-based planning.”

Johannes Rauner
Projecter GmbH · Head of Partner Management, SEO & Web Analytics

Page 53

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing has become the external sales team for brands rather than just a discount channel. Instead of continually purchasing more media, companies are building real partner structures that sell, not just deliver reach.”

Sebastian Menken
M2L Agency GmbH · Managing Director

Page 57

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing has evolved in recent years from a heavily characterized lower-funnel sales channel to a strategic full-funnel instrument. Today, diverse partner models are emerging along the entire customer journey from awareness to conversion. The result is a multitude of relevant touchpoints. Many of these are characterized by authentic content with high credibility, which enables sustainable growth in online marketing based on efficient, performance-oriented compensation.”

Julian Weiß
MAI xpose360 · Head of Affiliate Marketing & Cooperations

Page 57

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing has evolved from a marketing channel to a commerce infrastructure. Purchase decisions often occur today before the shop page - in platforms or value-added models like cashback.”

Nadine Herrmann
mycashbacks GmbH · CEO

Page 62

“Affiliate Marketing is the hidden champion in Performance Marketing. For me, affiliates are all partners, including those beyond the classic affiliate channels: cashback/bonus/couponing, price comparison, content. Influencers and CSS have gained importance in recent years.”

Torsten Leidloff
ARTEFACT · Onboarding Manager AI/Data/PM + Senior Specialist Affiliate Marketing

Page 71

„Cooperations from affiliate and partner marketing have had a significant impact on the area of content & social media in recent years. Bloggers have become influencers, and these, in turn, have become brand ambassadors."

Daniel Kocher
MAI xpose360 · Teamlead Affiliate Marketing

Page 81

„Which development will shape the partner economy the most in the next five years? Multi-touch attribution, where agentic AI also wants to earn? Or predictive attribution, where the effects of a budget shift are already known in advance?"

Hakan Özal
Executive Consulting · Managing Director

Page 95

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing make marketing economically manageable. In uncertain times, transparency and ROI determine budgets - and this is precisely where the strength of this channel lies.”

Annalena Bauer
digitAL consultancy · CEO & Founder

Page 111

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing has shifted budgets from ‘buying reach’ to ‘paying for results’ and democratized growth: It is not the largest budgets that win, but partners with proven impact.”

Bosko Todorovic
THE.AMAZING.NEW GROUP · Managing Partner

Page 116

“The central change is the shift from reach to measurable performance and genuine distribution partnerships. Affiliate and Partner Marketing has made budgets more predictable and less risky.”

Oliver Dannenberg
finanzvergleich.com GmbH · Managing Director

Page 116

“The future of the partner economy is data-driven and AI-supported. Budgets are shifting from traditional media channels to measurable partner ecosystems.”

Annalena Bauer
digitAL consultancy · CEO & Founder

Page 117

„Partnerships are managed like a performance sales channel - through incrementality, LTV, and fraud prevention - no longer just through last click."

Bosko Todorovic
THE.AMAZING.NEW GROUP · Managing Partner

Page 118

„Personalization based on real user signals will become more important than pure attribution. Partners will no longer be compensated just because they are at the end of the journey, but because they actively influence decisions."

Nadine Herrmann
mycashbacks GmbH · CEO

Page 118

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing has developed into a central, performance-based growth channel of the digital economy. Start-ups and corporations today manage marketing budgets significantly more efficiently and with lower risk.”

Marc Majewski
advanced store GmbH · Founder & Managing Director

Page 119

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing has enabled every company that sells a product or service online to use advertising in a scalable and low-risk manner through a pay-for-performance model. The concept of a marketing partnership based on results has been central to the growth of e-commerce.”

Anthony Clements
impact.com · Country Manager

Page 127

“From my perspective, the added value of Affiliate and Partner Marketing for consumers is the most important factor, as it directly influences the economy and brands. This added value lies in a seamless user experience without disruptions.”

Sjef Kerkhofs
Franke Media / European Affiliate Awards · CEO

Page 149

“The most important turning point: Affiliate and Partner Marketing has long organized purchasing decisions through trust and curated recommendations. Creators, communities, and specialized media replace interruptive advertising with guidance.”

Marcel Schöne
uppr GmbH · Owner & Managing Director

Page 151

“Affiliate Marketing helps consumers navigate the multitude of options safely. By making credible third-party voices visible - from experts to everyday users - it informs people in a more trustworthy way about brands.”

Helen Southgate
Acceleration Partners · Chief Strategy Officer

Page 152

„As AI-infused content floods the internet, human trust will become the most exclusive resource. Consumers are turning away from traditional advertising and are almost exclusively following the curated recommendations of their trusted communities."

Marcel Schöne
uppr GmbH · Owner & Managing Director

Page 160

“The affiliate models on which our industry is built are fundamentally tools that empower consumers. Whether product discovery, reviews, direct savings, or rewards - they have significantly contributed to people making better purchasing decisions.”

Kevin Edwards
APMA · Founder

Page 164

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing enables reach through diverse publisher structures. This not only leads to more efficient lead generation but also to greater pluralism in opinion formation.”

Dimitrios Haratsis
Consultant

Page 165

„In the influencer sector, Partner Marketing has brought about a fundamental democratization of distribution and brand communication. Even small creators and nano-influencers can become real revenue drivers without traditional advertising budgets or trade structures."

Jeanette Okwu
beyondINFLUENCE · CEO

Page 166

“Authentic content and personal communication are becoming more relevant and valuable in the age of AI.”

Torsten Latussek
COUPONS.DE · Founder & Managing Director

Page 170

“The impact of Affiliate Marketing also has a more serious dimension. For the publishing industry, which faced existential economic challenges in the last decade, the channel has been a crucial source of revenue - it finances journalism and our news industry.”

Kevin Edwards
APMA · Founder

Page 186

“Commerce content has evolved in Affiliate Marketing over the past years from a complementary discipline to a defining component of digital value creation. For professional publishers, this shift not only opens up new, comparatively resilient revenue sources.”

Georg Wolf
IU International University · Lecturer, Consultant, Founder

Page 186

„With the rise of AI-based large language models, the logic of the internet is increasingly shifting: from an oligopolistic search economy to a multilateral 'answer economy', where concrete answers, contextualization, and curated expertise gain importance."

Georg Wolf
IU International University · Lecturer, Consultant, Founder

Page 214

“Affiliate Marketing provides quality assurance for AI models: publishers like Kaufkompass or MyDealz deliver structured, consumer protection-oriented content that LLMs need for precise recommendations.”

Hakan Özal
Executive Consulting · Managing Director

Page 215

„Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence, including all potential marketing opportunities, must be mentioned here. There is much speculation about whether and how AI will influence user purchasing behavior, but we will probably not get around conversational commerce."

Daniel Kocher
MAI xpose360 · Teamlead Affiliate Marketing

Page 219

„Partner Marketing today is under massive structural pressure: declining visibility, changing platform mechanics, and scarce resources are altering not only individual programs but entire setups. We too had to significantly streamline and realign our partner strategy."

Kimberley Bechinie
Teufel · Head of E-Commerce Project Management

Page 231

“The central change in recent years is the emancipation of Affiliate Marketing: away from mere click delivery, towards a strategic trust infrastructure. Only those who focus on genuine, long-term partnerships rather than transactional mass create real added value for consumers.”

Ali Lektif
Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG · Senior Affiliate Manager

Page 246

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing has evolved from a technical performance channel to a strategic trust ecosystem. In the past, it was primarily about reach, tracking, and commissions. Today, it is about relationships, credibility, and context.”

Sven Bergmann
Douglas · Head of Affiliate & App Acquisition

Page 247

„Consumers discover products today through content, platforms, and people they trust, rather than through direct brand communication. This renaissance of partnership value creation will gain further importance in a fragmented digital world."

Yvette Tilly
Acceleration Partners · Senior Publisher Development Manager

Page 247

“Thanks to Affiliate Marketing, stakeholders communicate more intensively and often build a trusting, personal relationship with each other. This way, economic goals can be achieved together, benefiting all parties involved.”

Torsten Latussek
COUPONS.DE · Founder & Managing Director

Page 249

“The existing partner segments will consolidate and pave the way for new, transparent, and increasingly data-driven collaborations. And yet, direct dialogue with and between people will make the decisive difference in the long run.”

Oliver Dannenberg
finanzvergleich.com GmbH · Managing Director

Page 249

“The economy will radically detach from expensive paid auction mechanisms and will no longer 'rent' growth, but will own it through its own partner ecosystems as a stable corporate asset.”

Marcel Schöne
uppr GmbH · Owner & Managing Director

Page 250

“The decisive factor will be the shift from short-term campaigns to stable partnerships. Brands will need to build a balanced mix of 'audience owners' and 'audience borrowers' in the future.”

Yvette Tilly
Acceleration Partners · Senior Publisher Development Manager

Page 254

„In the next five years, the partner economy will be characterized mainly by stronger professionalization and consolidation - with fewer, but strategically more relevant partnerships. At the same time, data quality, transparency, and fraud prevention will become central competitive factors."

Dimitrios Haratsis
Consultant

Page 257

„In the coming five years, the partner economy will be primarily shaped by the profound use of AI and data-driven platform models. It will be crucial how well partner relationships can be integrated into AI-based customer journeys and new search and commerce interfaces."

Markus Kellermann
MAI xpose360 · CEO

Page 265

“The future of the partner economy lies in the transition from individual campaigns to lasting, success-based collaborations. Growth is increasingly generated through robust partner networks rather than short-term reach.”

Yvette Tilly
Acceleration Partners · Senior Publisher Development Manager

Page 273

“Affiliate and Partner Marketing have evolved in recent years from a pure sales channel to a strategic growth and efficiency lever for companies.”

Markus Kellermann
MAI xpose360 · CEO

Page 277

“Affiliate Marketing as an ecosystem is diverse and intricate - and in my view, this is both its greatest strength and weakness. Ultimately, this way of working reflects a functioning and, in the best sense, democratic market economy.”

Robert Förster
Projecter GmbH · Strategist Affiliate Marketing

Page 277

„After AI, entertainment determines relevance. AI changes how information is processed - attention, however, arises through entertainment. Those who intelligently combine both will monetize the partner economy of the coming years."

Marc Majewski
advanced store GmbH · Founder & Managing Director

Page 276

“On one hand, there is always the urge of the major players in interconnected systems to dominate their respective biotope. On the other hand, new developments constantly arise from the sheer number of participants. The next five years will determine whether partner economy evolves towards dominant monopoly systems or towards multipolar biotopes.”

Joachim Graf
HighText Verlag · Futurist

Page 276

„As AI changes how people search, compare, and decide, product discovery will shift away from brand-driven messages towards trusted recommendations. This will increase the value of affiliates as credible third-party voices."

Helen Southgate
Acceleration Partners · Chief Strategy Officer

Page 276

„AI and LLM search will transform the partner economy. They are both an existential threat and an enormous opportunity."

Matt Wool
Acceleration Partners · CEO

Page 276

„Influencer affiliate marketing is becoming increasingly important because performance measurement and authenticity are merging more closely. Brands want demonstrable ROI, and creators deliver just that."

Jeanette Okwu
beyondINFLUENCE · CEO

Page 276

“The way consumers use and browse the internet has always been fundamental to Partner Marketing. The way we find and discover things on the internet is rapidly changing, driven by AI adoption. In five years, more than half of the sales attributed to Partner Marketing will originate from LLMs.”

Anthony Clements
impact.com · Country Manager

Page 277

„AI will help further democratize our media landscape by opening up new channels and market access for small businesses that have previously been denied to them in competition with large brands."

Kevin Edwards
APMA · Founder

Page 277