Ahead of his appearance Affiliate Leaders Summit, Javier Rodríguez Llorente of Afiliapub discusses how to navigate the changing affiliate landscape.
Affiliate marketing is undergoing one of the biggest transformations in its history. Amid increasingly intense competition and the rise of artificial intelligence, affiliates have shifted their focus from solely generating traffic to prioritising building loyal audiences and long-term relationships with users.
At the same time, content consumption is evolving toward more dynamic formats, forcing operators and affiliates to rethink their acquisition strategies.
In an exclusive interview for SBC Noticias, Affiliate Leaders’ sister title in Latin America, Javier Rodríguez Llorente, head of affiliation and digital marketing manager at Afiliapub, analyses how player habits are changing, the demands of operators, and the opportunities for those who manage to adapt to a constantly evolving digital ecosystem.
The executive explains the main trends that are redefining affiliate marketing, the impact of artificial intelligence on SEO and content creation strategies, the rise of audiovisual formats, and the role that affiliate networks play in attracting players.
In addition, he previews some of the topics he will address in his panel discussion at Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026.
Afiliapub has been operating in the affiliate marketing sector since 2011, covering Spain, Latin America, Brazil and more recently, Africa. How have you seen the affiliate landscape evolve over the past decade, and what do you believe has been the biggest shift in recent years?
When I joined Afiliapub in 2017, affiliate marketing was largely driven by SEO, comparison websites and relatively simple acquisition funnels. Success was often about ranking well and generating volume. Today, the sector is much more sophisticated. Regulation has reshaped many of the markets we operate in, competition has intensified and user journeys have become far less predictable.
I believe the biggest shift in recent years has been the move from traffic acquisition to audience building. Affiliates can no longer rely on attracting a visitor once. They need to create trust, develop a recognisable identity and provide value across multiple touchpoints. The affiliates who invest in long-term relationships with their audience are the ones seeing sustainable growth.
Your network now includes more than 25,000 affiliates. What characteristics distinguish the most successful affiliates today from those who struggle to grow their audience? What are the most important trends you are currently seeing in player acquisition across regulated gambling markets?
Working with thousands of affiliates gives us a unique perspective on how the industry is evolving across different markets.
The most successful affiliates today think like media companies rather than traffic generators. They understand their audience, diversify their acquisition channels and continuously test new content formats instead of depending on a single source of traffic. Those who struggle, often remain overly dependent on one channel, which makes them vulnerable whenever algorithms or regulations change, as we’ve seen happen quite frequently in recent years.
From our position as an affiliate network, we also see a clear shift towards quality over quantity. Operators are increasingly rewarding affiliates that deliver engaged and sustainable players rather than simply higher acquisition volumes.
Many operators are investing heavily in paid acquisition and influencer marketing. Where do affiliate networks fit into today’s customer acquisition strategies, and how has their value proposition changed?
Affiliate networks have evolved from simple acquisition channels into strategic growth partners. Rather than building relationships with hundreds of affiliates and influencers individually, operators gain access to multiple high quality traffic sources through a single partnership.
That means faster scalability into new markets, greater diversification across traffic sources, and improved operational efficiency by simplifying affiliate management.
Working with thousands of affiliates across multiple markets also gives us valuable market insight. We can identify emerging trends, recommend trusted, high-performing partners, help reduce the risk of low-quality or fraudulent traffic, and enable operators to adapt more quickly to changes in regulation, platforms and consumer behaviour.
The real value of an affiliate network isn’t just reach – it’s efficiency, flexibility and the ability to build a stronger, more resilient acquisition strategy.
At Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026, you’ll be talking about content cutting through the noise. From your perspective, why has it become so difficult to capture and maintain users’ attention?
Because we’re no longer competing only against other affiliates, we’re competing against every piece of content users consume every day.
People’s expectations have changed dramatically. They expect information to be immediate, authentic and easy to consume. If content doesn’t deliver value within the first few seconds, they simply move on.
At the same time, AI is making information more accessible than ever, meaning content that merely repeats what’s already available has very little value.
That’s why personality, expertise and trust are becoming just as important as the information itself. Particularly among younger generations, users don’t just want answers – they want content that entertains, feels authentic, reflects an identity they can relate to, and makes them feel involved rather than just informed.
Long-form reviews are gradually losing ground to formats such as short-form video, live streams and creator-led content. Is this a transition you’re already seeing across your affiliate network, or do traditional formats still have an important role?
We’re definitely seeing this shift in Afiliapub. Most of the new affiliates joining today are far more focused on short-form video, live content and creator-led formats.
However, I don’t think this is simply because traditional formats have become less relevant. It’s also because building a successful SEO-driven comparison site from scratch or maintaining strong rankings for an existing one has become significantly more difficult, competitive and resource-intensive than it was. For newcomers, social platforms and creator-led content offer a faster and more accessible way to build an audience.
That doesn’t mean long-form content is disappearing, it means its role is evolving. While short-form formats are excellent for capturing attention and driving discovery, users who are close to making a decision still look for detailed information, comparisons and trustworthy reviews.
SEO has traditionally been the backbone of affiliate marketing. With AI-generated search results and changing search behaviours, how are affiliates adapting their strategies? How is AI changing the way affiliates create content, optimise campaigns and analyse performance?
SEO is evolving from keyword optimisation towards answering genuine user intent. AI is accelerating content production, helping affiliates analyse data more efficiently and identify optimisation opportunities faster than ever.
However, AI also raises the quality threshold. If everyone can generate similar articles in minutes, generic content loses value. The affiliates that will succeed are those who combine AI with genuine expertise, original insights and strong editorial standards. AI should enhance human knowledge, not replace it.
How do you balance the need to create content that performs well in search engines while also being engaging enough to build genuine user loyalty?
Search can generate the first visit, but only trust generates the second. Affiliates should think beyond rankings and create content that people would come back to even if a search engine or an AI generated answer hadn’t sent them there.
Loyalty comes from consistency, transparency and providing information users genuinely find useful, not from chasing algorithms.
In the long run, the affiliates who build an audience will always outperform those who simply optimise for search engines.
What are you most looking forward to discussing at Affiliate Leaders Summit, and what key message do you hope attendees take away from your panel?
I’m looking forward to discussing how quickly audience behaviour is evolving and how affiliates need to rethink their content strategies to stay relevant. It’s an exciting time because there are more channels, formats and technologies than ever before, but also more competition for attention.
My key message is simple, success isn’t about creating more content. It’s about producing content that people genuinely trust, remember and choose to come back to. Audiences today are more open than ever to creativity and originality, so it’s a great opportunity for content creators to differentiate themselves.
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.
Co-located with SBC Summit at Feira Internacional de Lisboa and MEO Arena on 29 September-1 October. Get your tickets here.
