Rakuten Advertising, a global leader in affiliate marketing, has announced significant updates to its product offerings and organizational structure as part of its ongoing Affiliate Intelligence initiative. This initiative leverages data and AI to enhance human intelligence, fostering stronger relationships between advertisers and publishers and driving exceptional campaign performance.
- Affiliate Intelligence Vision:
- Rakuten Advertising’s Affiliate Intelligence initiative aims to transform innovation, products, and partnerships in the affiliate marketing industry.
- The initiative focuses on leveraging technology to enhance the human aspects of affiliate marketing, creating robust relationships between advertisers and publishers.
- Product Enhancements:
- Audience Engine:
- Performance Reporting and API upgrades enhance automation, campaign transparency, and analytics.
- New APIs for publishers facilitate the integration and monitoring of commissioning offers and alerts.
- Integration of big-name publishers such as YouTube, Rakuten Rewards, Capital One Shopping, with upcoming additions like RetailMeNot, Klarna, Vox, and New York Magazine.
- Affiliate Conversion Journey:
- Paid Placement Overlays and Promo Code Overlays provide insights into the impact of placements and promotions on purchasing touchpoints.
- Enhanced customization of publisher categorization capabilities.
- Comparative analysis of Average Order Value (AOV) by conversion journey.
- Partnership Discovery:
- New ‘Top Categories’ offer advertisers recommendations based on commission and revenue potential.
- AI-driven product feed gap tools identify missed opportunities and recommend suitable publisher partners.
- Expanded AI-driven search capabilities for brand and audience queries beyond category and product searches.
- Audience Engine:
- AI Integration and Capabilities:
- Predictive analytics, personalized matchmaking, and real-time compliance monitoring integrated throughout Rakuten’s product suite.
- Upcoming AI capabilities include automated anomaly detection and resolution, and chat-based generative AI reporting tools.
- Continued investment in AI to deliver innovative products and capabilities that redefine affiliate marketing.
- Leadership and Strategic Direction:
- Ben Cox appointed as Vice President of AI Strategy & Operations, collaborating with Vice President of Data Science Justin Smith.
- Cox will guide clients and partners in leveraging AI tools and oversee the company’s AI adoption and usage.
- Cox’s expertise includes founding AI strategy firm Ragnarok Research and authoring Responsible Machine Learning.
- CEO Insights:
- Nick Stamos, CEO of Rakuten Advertising, emphasizes the role of AI in driving innovation and the company’s commitment to investing in AI to enhance affiliate marketing.
- Affiliate Intelligence aims to build on the human side of the business by leveraging technology to create stronger advertiser-publisher relationships.
Rakuten Advertising’s Affiliate Intelligence initiative marks a significant step forward in the evolution of affiliate marketing. By integrating advanced AI capabilities and enhancing its product suite, Rakuten Advertising is poised to deliver industry-altering solutions that drive growth and strengthen relationships between advertisers and publishers.