Betandeal’s Laura Gago speaks to Affiliate Leaders about the challenges around data, technology and the constantly shifting sands of marketing today.
Data and having the right tech stack is becoming an essential part of an affiliate business’ infrastructure. It’s key to ensure measurement and attribution accuracy.
But in a marketing ecosystem where the sands are constantly shifting, keeping on top of the tech stack can become quite challenging, which is why affiliates should continually be “evolving, developing and implementing new technology solutions”, says Laura Gago, chief operating officer, Betandeal.
Gago sat down with Affiliate Leaders just as Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026 kicked off to discus the impact this is having on the role of a modern affiliate.
With tightening browser privacy settings and the decline of third-party cookies, how can marketers keep their tracking infrastructure up-to-date to ensure attribution accuracy for operators?
The industry needs to move towards more first-party data and server-side tracking. For us, the key is reducing dependency on third-party environments and having greater control over the entire user journey. Accurate attribution is ultimately about building an infrastructure where data can be tracked consistently from the traffic source to the operator.
Where is AI making the biggest practical impact on your daily tech stack today – is it automated campaign optimisation, fraud detection, predictive player LTV modelling or anything else?
For me, the biggest impact today is not one single use case, but the ability to make teams faster and more data-driven. We are using AI to automate processes, analyse large amounts of information and improve decision-making.
But we are also working on different AI tools that go beyond internal use. We want to put this technology in the hands of our creators, developing solutions that can help them optimise their content, generate more traffic and, most importantly, improve conversion.
I think we are still at an early stage, and the real transformation will come when AI is fully integrated both into our internal processes and into the tools we provide to our partners.
Younger audiences search for content on social platforms rather than traditional web browsers. How are you integrating tracking and tech solutions to seamlessly convert social/ messaging traffic (Telegram, TikTok, Instagram) without losing attribution quality?
We have been working with social media traffic for almost 10 years, so we have had a lot of time to understand and optimise the user journey from content discovery to conversion.
For us, the key is reducing friction throughout that process while maintaining strong measurement and attribution capabilities. At the same time, we are constantly evolving, developing and implementing new technology solutions that allow us to adapt to changing user behaviour and continuously improve conversion.
Betandeal manages extensive networks of sports forecasters and creators. What customised backend tools or dashboards have you built to help these non-traditional affiliates monitor their performance in real time?
We have invested heavily in proprietary technology because creators and traditional affiliates have very different needs. We develop dashboards and tools that simplify performance data, tracking and campaign management, allowing our partners to better understand their results and make more data-driven decisions.
At the same time, we are also developing tools specifically for operators, with the goal of providing greater visibility and transparency into the results and performance of the promotions we run with them.
Pure CPA and revenue share models are evolving into dynamic hybrid structures. How are advanced analytics enabling you to create customised, performance-tiered payout deals that align operator profitability with affiliate risk?
Better data allows us to look far beyond volume. We can analyse traffic quality, conversion, performance and consistency over time, which gives us a much better understanding of the real value generated by each partner.
From there, we can build more personalised and dynamic agreements, always looking for a model that better aligns the interests of the operator, the affiliate and the creator.
With odds shifting continuously in live sports betting, how can affiliate marketers integrate real-time operator data feeds (APIs) into content creation to boost instant conversions?
Speed and accuracy of information are critical in sports betting. Our goal with APIs, combined with the use of AI, is to keep the information we provide as up to date as possible and minimise any friction throughout the user journey.
We want to create as much consistency as possible between the information users receive through our channels and what they find when they reach the operator. The more seamless and consistent that transition is, the better the user experience and the greater the potential for conversion.
Betandeal maintains a dedicated internal software development team. What was the main motivation to build proprietary tools in-house rather than relying entirely on third-party affiliate software platforms?
Proprietary technology has been part of Betandeal since the beginning. We have always understood that, in order to grow and adapt quickly, we needed control and flexibility over our own tools.
Having our own development team allows us to build around the real needs of the business, integrate directly with our partners and evolve our products at the same pace as the industry. For us, technology is not simply an operational tool; it is a fundamental part of our competitive advantage.
And how does your tech stack and marketing strategy now go beyond just the traditional affiliate model and to the broader performance marketing ecosystem?
We increasingly see affiliation as part of a much broader ecosystem. Today, we combine creators, communities, paid media, technology, data and our own products.
The objective is no longer simply to send traffic to an operator. It is about understanding how to acquire, engage and convert users across multiple channels and markets.
With regulatory bodies imposing strict rules around advertising disclosures, how can marketers leverage tech automation to audit affiliate content and ensure total compliance at scale?
When you operate across multiple markets, technology becomes essential to scaling compliance. In our case, having our own development team has allowed us to build tools that can geolocate users and automatically adapt their experience to the market they are accessing from.
This allows us to show users only the operators that can be promoted in their market, while also adapting the necessary compliance messages, disclaimers and requirements according to each country or region. For us, technology is key to growing internationally while maintaining control over how and where our promotions are displayed.
As traffic acquisition models become more sophisticated, affiliate fraud remains a challenge. How are tech-driven fraud prevention tools changing the way you audit traffic quality before delivering it to operators?
The biggest change is that we can evaluate quality much earlier. Instead of looking only at conversions, technology allows us to analyse patterns across traffic sources, campaigns and user behaviour and identify anomalies faster.
For an affiliate network, protecting traffic quality is essential because long-term relationships with operators depend on trust.
Looking ahead to the next few years, which single tech innovation (such as deep AI personalisation, integrated wallet connections, programmatic media buying) do you think will define the next generation of top-tier affiliate networks?
AI-driven personalisation. Until now, much of affiliate marketing has focused on optimising campaigns, channels and traffic sources. I think the next step will be optimising the journey at an individual user level.
Technology will increasingly allow us to understand which content, product, operator or experience is most relevant to each user at that specific moment. Moving from optimising traffic to optimising individual experiences can completely change the way we think about affiliation.
The Affiliate Leaders Summit is the global home of performance and affiliate marketing. Across three days, affiliates, operators, media companies and technology providers come together to discuss traffic generation, conversion optimisation, SEO, paid media and the commercial strategies shaping the future of affiliate marketing.
To read the highlights of this year’s event, check out our round-up.
