Category: In the News

Curated Performance Marketing News – Consumer and Industry Trends-Affiliate Networks, Business Insights and more.

Amid falling traffic, publishers are investing in engagement, registration and citations

Michael Silberman, evp, media strategy, Piano

As consumer use of AI search accelerates, publishers are seeing precipitous traffic declines. According to Piano’s benchmark data across hundreds of publisher sites, search traffic dropped by 36%, revenue fell by 16% and the overall audience across all sources was down 9%. 

When Google surfaces an AI-generated answer at the top of a search result, most people don’t click through. Organic click-through rates drop 61% on queries where an AI Overview appears. The pages hit hardest are those publishers have historically relied on for volume: weather, horoscopes and service content. Breaking news and hard-news queries are largely exempt from AI Overviews.

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Why retailers like Target and Aerie are moving beyond straight affiliate deals with creators

Retailers from Target to Urban Outfitters and Aerie are trading one-size-fits-all affiliate schemes for hybrid creator programs that mix gamified communities, tiered rewards and performance-based pay. The goal: to fix affiliates’ weak spots like tracking gaps, scaling headaches and creator frustration with flat commissions. 

Target recently scrapped its commission-based creator program in favor of two new programs: the Club Target, a gamified community for “everyday guests and emerging creators,” and Target Ambassadors, an invite-only tier for established creators with “enhanced commissions, performance-based incentives and access to exclusive campaigns,” said Sarah Travis, Target executive vp and chief digital and revenue officer.

Club Target is more in line with the formats of programs recently launched by Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, and Aerie, which engage smaller creators at scale, while Target Ambassadors leverages creator-guided shopping platform LTK to activate bigger creators with more reach.

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