The quick version:
The global affiliate market crossed $17 billion in 2025 and is on track for $20.07 billion by the end of 2026.
US affiliate spend is set to hit $13.20 billion, a 10.1% jump from $11.99 billion in 2025.
Brands now earn an average of $15 for every $1 spent, a 1,400% return.
What the report found
We released our inaugural 2026 State of Affiliate Marketing Report this week, pulling data from eMarketer, Statista, Rakuten, Awin, and our own monitoring of 50-plus networks. The headline is simple.
Affiliate has gone from a side channel to core revenue, growing nearly twice as fast as overall digital ad spend. Today 81% of brands and 84% of publishers run affiliate programs, and top brands now pull 5% to 25% of online sales through the channel.
The numbers that matter
Amazon Associates still dominates with a 46.64% global market share, ahead of Rakuten at 7.70% and Awin at 6.88%. The richest niches by average monthly revenue are eLearning at $15,551, travel at $13,847, and beauty at $12,475. SaaS programs keep paying the most generous commissions, from 20% to 70%.
The AI twist
The biggest story is AI search. Google's AI Overviews are linked to a 25% drop in publisher referral traffic, yet visitors who arrive from AI search convert at roughly 14%, versus 2.8% from traditional Google.
That is nearly a 5x conversion premium. The takeaway we keep repeating on X is that fewer AI clicks can still beat more blue-link clicks if you are the source the AI trusts.
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