Affiliate Marketing Trends for 2026 | Apps, AI, eCommerce & iGaming.

Why 2026 Is a Turning Point for Performance Marketing

For the last couple of years, we have heard a lot of noise about AI and how it will conquer various niches and transform different industries (which indeed is happening to an extent). Whether we want it or not, AI and related products will evolve and take place in different product niches, development, social relations, content creation, and analytics. Personally, I’d love to be less optimistic about AI in general and wait till the hysteria will calm down to see the bottom line of it.

Anyways – let us dive into the year as we already see some lines drawn and can clearly understand the patterns of where some trends are gonna lead us in 2026!

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George shares practical trend analysis, market shifts, and monetization angles across apps, eCommerce, AI, travel, and iGaming.

If you’re serious about staying competitive in 2026 — you should be on this list.

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First of all, let me highlight the main trends of the year, which, in my humble opinion, are worth focusing your attention on if you are an affiliate marketer, a mediabuyer, a product owner, or even an investor.

Those will be:

Applications market growth – which is kinda by default here, until the lads stop using their mobile devices;
e-Commerce brands (large online marketplaces) expansion – stable and predictable growth, with deeper penetration YoY;
e-Travel (booking and ticket services) coming outta shade – it’s not something new to the game, but e-Travel was always behind the larger and higher-margin market niches like iGaming and eComm, but regulations and restrictions shifted tides, and more stable and predictable niches started to drag attention
AI-based entertainment services – regardless of what I think or believe on this, I must be honest – AI is a real trend, and its penetration into the entertainment niche is obvious
iGaming market tighter regulation and heavy shift towards crypto – many markets (LATAM, EU, SEA) presented their new regulation standards, higher taxes and marketing restrictions, basically forcing iGaming brands to slow their growth, diverse approaches for the users, and eventually lean towards crypto as an alternative way to operate

1. Applications market growth

The mobile app market in 2026 will undergo not only structural changes but also a shift in revenue inflows, since even now there is an observed decline of more than 10% in the purchasing power of Android users compared to iOS users. At the same time, iOS user acquisition (UA) is projected to grow by 35%.

Organic community-led acquisition outperforms paid, with creator marketing delivering measurable ROI through UGC loops. AI shifts budgets to video creatives, capturing 30% of ad spend, while on-device OEM partnerships enable system-level discovery. Consolidation favors 5-10 dominant apps per category, demanding LTV focus over volume. It also seems like influencers are doubling down on affiliates in terms of the brand’s investment into promotion.

Trend	Key Evidence	Implications
Multi-Channel UA	Spread across social, search, creators; 13% global UA spend growth.	Integrate virality, referrals for cost efficiency.
Creator and UGC Focus	50% budgets to influencers; measurable via MRR tracking.	Prioritize advocacy over paid promotion.
AI in Video Ads	30% budget waste reduction; voice/multimodal interfaces.	Scale personalized creatives for mobile-first.
OEM and On-Device Growth	Hardware integration for discovery.	Partner for pre-install visibility.

If you plan to diversify your advertising portfolio with some app campaigns, you can start off with install boosts (CPI), or if you have the right traffic sources and a proven record with similar products, go for a deeper flow based on Trials (CPT), RevShare, or Hybrid deals.

App verticals to look at in 2026 – VPNs, Social and entertainment apps, Games, Social Casino \ Betting apps.

2. e-Commerce brands expansion

Once you register your account in any of your local or international shopping apps, whether it’s all-sell brands like Shopee or AliExpress, OZON or Amazon, Shein or Sephora, you are stuck there for good! I mean, what would be your first place for you to check out new season outfits? Definitely your favorite shopping app! Thinking about a new watch or a mobile device – here you go, you’re just a couple of clicks away from purchasing it. Growth for large eComms is not even in dispute; the only question is how deep their expansion is going to be for new markets.

A great example was shown by Shopee and their entry in Brazil, where competition with Mercado Livre, Amazon BR, Magazine Luiza, and Americanas is extremely high.

So what should we expect from this vertical in 2026?

Trend	Key Evidence	Implications
Hyper-Personalization	AI tailors itineraries; 20% voice search.	Use predictive data for intent capture.
Deeper focus on the user \ data management	Native payments for local markets, better CS, deeper buying data analysis	Embed shopping in feeds, local payments integrations, native language CS.
Social commerce evolving, User Generated Content over affiliation	Deeper penetration to social media platforms, influencer marketing increasing.	Build trust to the whole brand, through different product presentations using local influencers .
Deeper personalization of loyalty programs	Users are tend to buy based on the experience and previous interactions	Narrow and personalized offers thru push, email, in-app

e-Com is probably one of the easiest and least picky verticals in terms of traffic sources. As long as you have organic and live traffic, this can and will go well! Just keep all your ad activity in the scope of sales seasons, occasional deals, and coupons.

Brands to look at in 2026 – Shopee, TikTok Shop, Amazon, AliExpress, Mercado Livre, OZON.

3. e-Travel coming outta shade

In fact, they’ve done it half a decade ago (some earlier), when the largest online booking platforms started to realize that a slight shift from the agency-distribution model to affiliation can cost less and be more efficient.

Lads will always travel for work, holidays, and vacations to far or close locations, so why not earn some coin with that?

In 2026, I’d say we ain’t gonna see anything revolutionary here, but a good growth when more and more affiliates and agencies will find out that e-Travel is no less profitable than loan, home-improvement, e-Comm, or any other white and clean vertical out there.

Trend	Key Evidence	Implications
AI assists implementation into trip planning	50% adoption; zero-touch automation.	Build adaptive commerce, AI agents implementation
Voice/Visual Search	20% regular use; AR guides.	Enable multimodal inputs.
More affiliation	Many well-known brands are now visible for dozens of networks and thousands of affiliates WW	Different offers and cooperation models (CPA, RS, Hybrid, Leadgen), new distribution channels
Omnichannel Personalization	Mobile-first; contactless efficiency.	Integrate apps with social.

Not yet running ads for e-Travel – missing a lot! Like I already mentioned, this is just pure gold, and the only thing you need to take care of is the right creatives and the right season to place ads! A small buyer’s market research can heavily benefit you, when it comes down to e-Travel. It’s as easy as knowing when the rainy season is in Bali; what are the top 10 destinations to travel from the US during summer holidays; where do German retirees travel the most; holiday plans for Chinese tourists in 2026 – and you’re golden!

Brands to look at in 2026 – Booking.com, Trip.com, Hotels.com

4. AI-based entertainment services

The era of fake everything that you see on the screen is just around the corner! We already have AI agents, AI girlfriends, AI mainstream and adult-oriented products, all the rest – you just name it!

Trend	Key Evidence	Implications
Agentic AI	Fast script-learned and cheap AI agents built in for basic support tasks	Automate strategies end-to-end.
Hyper-Personalization	Based on the UX and preferences – AI models learning to provide personalized service or visual assistance	Use LTV-focused predictions.
AI-based personas	Deeper user analysis towards better UX	Balance with human creativity.
Zero-Click Visibility	25% search to AI; GEO essential.	Optimize for citations.

Basically, you are either in it or not – AI entertainment is still grabbing its portion of attention and revenue from users . Additionally, a strong shift from live relationships to fake \ fantasy \ artificial is somewhere changing the whole narrative of online entertainment.

5. iGaming market has tighter regulation and a heavy shift towards crypto

iGaming was and is a bread and butter for thousands of affiliates, agencies, and mediabuyers all over the globe. Traditionally, the EU was a strong and stable market, but since heavy regulation was taking place, we saw a fast and strong strive towards LATAM and SEA markets. But the window of opportunity wasn’t as wide as we thought, and in the last 2 years, the whole LATAM faced a regulatory storm. Obviously, in this type of environment, brands prefer some sort of stability over their digital marketing channels.

What I see for 2026 confronts a convergence of forces: regulatory tightening enforces ad restrictions and compliance mandates, escalating taxes compress budgets and demand ROI precision, and crypto shifts introduce both opportunities for payment innovation and heightened scrutiny as high-risk assets. Evidence from industry reports indicates a pivot from broad-reach advertising to retention-focused strategies, AI-driven personalization, and compliant affiliate models. Operators ignoring these adaptations risk market exclusion; those optimizing for Generative Engine Optimization and first-party data achieve 20-30% efficiency gains. Global market projections: $169B by 2030 (CAGR 10.44%), but survival hinges on navigating fiscal pressures and tech integration without bias toward unregulated paths.

Global Trend	Key Evidence	Implications for Digital Marketing
Ad Restrictions and Compliance	UK bans bonuses >10x wagering; Netherlands full sponsorship ban; global fines up to $120K for non-compliance. BR restriction influencers from RMG promotion etc.	Shift to in-app personalization (50% adoption), content marketing, and regulated affiliates; avoid celebrity/influencer endorsements.
Tax Escalation	Brazil 18% GGR; Colombia 19% VAT on deposits (including crypto); Romania 27% online tax, etc	Budget reallocation to high-ROI channels (e.g., SEO/GEO over PPC); focus on LTV metrics to offset 20-40% cost hikes.
Crypto Integration	MiCA full enforcement (EU July 2026) requires CASP authorization; labeled high-risk with enhanced KYC/AML. Large iGaming holdings backing business up with one or several crypto-brands in portfolio	Market crypto as secure/anonymous where allowed, but integrate auditable logs; avoid in banned markets (e.g., Brazil payments). Have a related promotion channels where you have both iGaming and crypto-related audience.
AI penetration	AI usage in data collecting and interpretation, metrics analysis and prediction models; real-time retention tools.	Hyper-targeted campaigns via AI agents; 30% budget to video/creators for engagement amid ad limits.
Market Selection	Severe consolidation; marketing as survival strategy (top priority for 2026).	Diversify to emerging regions; emphasize trust/transparency in campaigns to counter black-market risks.

While the whole globe is turning from black’n’white to rather grey-ish with many iGaming brands trying to find a way around tight regulations and constantly growing tax appetites. Crypto-based casinos\betting accepting the call as a solid portion of market players accepting and adopting it alongside with fiat or just flat coin-based.

If you’re in it as an advertiser (media branch of product owners), an agency, or affiliate, the best way here is to diversify your ad channels with some focus on crypto-related sources – a combination of ludo-entertainment-crypto thing, which can definitely deliver a fresh air to the source stack.

Brands to look at (or benchmark from) – Stake, MelBet, Bet365, Betano, BCGame

Final Thoughts: What These Trends Mean for 2026 and Beyond

Love it or hate it – AI is here for good! Even those who can barely utilize it (due to the product incompatibilities or just a lack of internal resources) will still shove it somewhere to be in line with a trend. Some niches are indeed way more AI-friendly, like entertainment, for example, and you can even build a full product on the back of AI, while others can just use AI as an assisting tool or analytical power.

The bottom line is this: lads will entertain themselves (with and without AI), buy stuff online, travel occasionally, play games, and bet on winners (or at least try to). If you’re not monetizing this, someone else is gonna do it – so you can just take some of these insights and work around the data and your internal approaches, or leave it as it is and pray for better outcomes.