StackAdapt research shows top marketers are pulling ahead by unifying tools, channels and AI.
Marketers are four times more likely to modernise or streamline more than half of their tech stack by 2027, according to a new study.
StackAdapt’s State of Programmatic Advertising 2026 report points to a clear trend: the marketers seeing the strongest year‑on‑year gains are not expanding their toolkits – they’re consolidating them.
For affiliates, who increasingly operate as full‑funnel performance partners rather than pure traffic drivers, the findings land at a critical moment. With budgets tightening across retail, finance, travel and gaming, advertisers are scrutinising every channel for efficiency. Fragmented workflows and duplicated tools are becoming harder to justify.
StackAdapt chief technology officer and co‑founder Yang Han said the shift reflects a broader inflection point in programmatic.
“Marketers seeing the strongest gains aren’t adding more tools – they’re consolidating around platforms that connect channels, data and AI in one system,” he said. “That shift is unlocking faster learning, stronger performance and more efficient growth.”
Affiliates face the same fragmentation challenge
While the report focuses on brand‑side marketers, the underlying dynamics mirror what many affiliate publishers are experiencing.
- Siloed execution wastes budget: two-thirds (66%) of marketers say fragmentation wastes up to 30% of their programmatic spend. Affiliates relying on multiple ad servers, analytics tools and optimisation layers face similar inefficiencies.
- Unified data drives higher ROI: top performers are 22 percentage points more likely to credit consolidated platforms for improved ROI. For affiliates, unified data pipelines mean clearer attribution, stronger partner reporting and more predictable revenue.
- AI only works when systems are connected: the report shows AI delivers the biggest gains when creative, data and optimisation sit in one environment. Affiliates running disconnected stacks struggle to benefit from AI‑driven bidding, contextual targeting or dynamic creative.
Why consolidation matters now for affiliate publishers
As budgets tighten and advertisers scrutinise every pound of performance spend, affiliates are being pulled into the same efficiency conversation shaping the broader programmatic market.
StackAdapt’s 2026 report makes it clear that brands are prioritising cleaner, more transparent supply paths, and that expectation now extends to publishers and affiliate partners.
At the same time, AI‑driven optimisation is reshaping how budgets are allocated. The report shows that advertisers using first‑party data or AI‑based contextual targeting are seeing up to double the return on adspend. But AI only works when the underlying data is unified.
For affiliates, that means consolidating analytics, audience insights and monetisation tools so they can plug directly into the AI‑powered buying strategies brands increasingly rely on. Fragmented stacks make it harder to benefit from these shifts, and easier for advertisers to favour partners with cleaner, more integrated infrastructure.
The pressure is also rising as multi‑channel performance becomes the norm. Top‑tier marketers are now running five or more channels in parallel, and they expect their partners to support that level of sophistication.
Affiliates expanding into connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home (DOOH), retail media or in‑app environments need measurement and reporting systems that can keep pace.
All of this lands at a moment when many affiliate teams are operating leaner than ever. Reducing tool duplication frees up time for the work that actually drives revenue: content, partnerships, SEO, commerce strategy.
In a market where efficiency is becoming a competitive advantage, affiliates who simplify their stacks will be better positioned to win budgets, prove value and stay aligned with the way top marketers are evolving.
The maturity gap is widening
StackAdapt’s research highlights a growing divide between marketers who can operationalise omnichannel ambitions and those who can’t. While 75% claim to run omnichannel campaigns, most lack the infrastructure to act on cross‑channel insights.
For affiliates, the same gap is emerging. Publishers who consolidate and unify their tech stacks will be better equipped to:
- Deliver cleaner attribution;
- Integrate with advertiser first‑party data;
- Support AI‑driven buying;
- Prove incremental value; and
- Compete for premium budgets.
Han summed up the shift: “In 2026, the advantage will belong to marketers who turn visibility into action – using AI to accelerate what’s slow, unify what’s fragmented, and elevate what already works.”
