In recent months, Better Collective's substantial acquisition of Action Network emerged as a significant moment for the affiliate sector. This deal marks the largest transaction in the affiliate space to date and highlights an increasing interest among affiliates in the merging worlds of media and sports betting in the United States. While it remains uncertain if other affiliates will pursue similar strategies, it is evident that competitors are actively engaging in mergers and acquisitions. A prime example is Catena Media, a long-established leader in the US market, which recently acquired Lineups.com.
The impact of these acquisitions on market share among the leading companies will be worth watching. Better Collective surged to a leading position in the fourth quarter of last year but was surpassed by Catena Media again in the first quarter of 2021.
In addition to these deals, affiliates are increasingly focused on content quality. Many have been negatively impacted by changes in Google's algorithms, prompting several major players to overhaul their content strategies in an attempt to regain favorable rankings in search results.
Others are shifting towards a greater reliance on paid media strategies as a buffer against future changes in organic search performance. However, the analysis indicates that this shift might be adversely affecting profit margins.
