Affiliate Roundup: Affiliate Tech Era Emerges, Holiday eCommerce Driven by AI, Industry Divided on AI’s Impact, & More

This week in FMTC’s Affiliate Roundup: Affiliate marketing’s tech era is here, turning the channel into a smarter, data-driven growth engine. Holiday 2025 eCommerce growth will be driven by mobile, AI, and buy-now-pay-later trends. The affiliate industry is split on AI’s impact, with two-thirds already adopting AI tools while concerns rise over zero-click commerce and lost attribution.

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• The tech era of affiliate marketing has arrived—positioning affiliate channels as the smartest growth lever most brands still haven’t fully tapped.

• Holiday shopping forecasts for 2025 suggest steady online growth despite macro-headwinds, with mobile devices, AI adoption, and buy-now-pay-later options poised to play major roles.

• The PMA’s Compliance Council is stepping into the spotlight, driving new conversations around regulation, best practices, and ethical standards shaping the future of performance marketing.

• Bending Spoons is acquiring AOL from Yahoo for roughly $2.8 billion in debt financing, signaling a strategic push by the European app developer into legacy media as it bets on the iconic brand’s enduring value and potential.

• Affiliate marketing is evolving from a niche last-click tactic into a transparent, data-driven growth engine used by major brands—and yet it still remains underrecognized at the boardroom level.

• The Performance Marketing Association (PMA) has unveiled its 2026 Board of Directors nominees and reminds member companies to vote between November 3 and November 30 to ensure one vote per company.

• A new report by the Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (APMA) shows the affiliate industry evenly split on AI’s impact—with 67% already using AI yet many concerned about “zero-click” commerce sidelining traditional affiliate models.