Join GPWA Page 69 Repairing Affiliate Relationships Photo Recaps from Malta & Barcelona The Year of the AI Agent JULY 2026 GPWAtimes.org The affiliate-friendly vertical Prediction Boom
SUBSCRIPTIONS For a FREE subscription to the GPWA Times Magazine, visit GPWAtimes.org ADVERTISING To advertise in the GPWA Times Magazine, please e-mail: sales@gpwa.org Copyright © 2026 by the GPWA. All rights reserved. ISSN 1941-9872 (print) ISSN 2834-2348 (online) Executive Director: Michael Corfman Program Director: Anthony Telesca Program Manager: Nicole Sims Member Services: Richard Bard Nancy Troy Editor-in-Chief: Gary Trask Associate Editor: Dan Ippolito Designers: George Choi Zoran Maksimovic´ LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR This 65th issue of the GPWA Times Magazine will have arrived from the printer just in time for iGB L!VE, taking place in London on 1–2 July. The GPWA team is exhibiting there with a stand and a fresh stack of print copies of the magazine, so if you’re attending, please come find us and say hello. We’d genuinely love to talk shop, hear how your year is going, and put faces to forum names. It’s hard to miss the main theme running through this issue: AI is no longer a side conversation. John Wright from StatsDrone makes the case that 2026 belongs to AI agents, and explains why affiliates using AI only for meta descriptions are barely scratching the surface. Our From the Forums department captures a lively GPWA thread on when AI content actually works for SEO and when it quietly falls apart. But this issue goes well beyond AI. Emily Haruko of Saroca looks at why affiliate relationships break down and what real repair takes. Erica Anderson of Income Access examines prediction markets in our cover story, explaining why this fast-growing vertical may be the most affiliate-friendly product in iGaming right now. We also feature affiliate Q&As with Nicolás Erramuspe of Betizen.org and Sonja Popovic of WYN Global Media, plus an Affiliate Program Interview with Miruna Pandele of Rainbet. As always, you’ll find our photo galleries, recapping a record-breaking ICE and iGB Affiliate Barcelona and a standout SBC Summit Malta, along with the latest inductee to the APCW Wall of Shame. Thank you for being part of the GPWA community and for making the magazine part of your reading. Your feedback and conversations are a big part of what makes this worthwhile. Enjoy the issue, and if our paths cross in London, I hope you stop by and say hello. Sincerely, Michael Corfman P.S. Subscriptions to the GPWA Times Magazine are FREE! Don’t miss an issue. Sign up today at GPWAtimes.org/subscribe/. London’s Calling (Again) Photo by Sven Hansche/Shutterstock GPWAtimes.org 4
Departments 4 Letter from the Director • 8 By the Numbers • 10 Quotables • 12 GPWA Poll 14 From the Forums • 52 Affiliate Interview Series • 62 GPWA Sponsors 64 Affiliate Program Interview • 68 APCW Wall of Shame • 70 Event Calendar 44 TABLE OF CONTENTS 18 Prediction Markets and the Affiliate Advantage An emerging and controversial vertical is changing how operators reach younger players, and affiliates may be the channel best placed to educate users and scale it. Photo Galleries: iGB Affiliate Barcelona & SBC Summit Malta From a record-breaking return to Barcelona to Malta's largest edition yet, we capture the crowds, dealmaking, and moments that defined two standout weeks. 34 The Year of the AI Agent 2025 was about generating content faster. 2026 is about agents that take a goal, figure out the steps, and run the work while you sleep. A practical look at what affiliates can actually build today. 28 Trust Isn't a Feeling, It's a Discipline Affiliate partnerships eventually break down. What separates those who recover is a real framework for naming the breakdown and rebuilding trust across six clear domains. 22 GPWAtimes.org 6
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BY THE NUMBERS $1.2 billion The amount Londonbased Genius Sports paid to acquire Legend, the digital sports and gaming media network behind Covers.com, Casino.org, and Casino Guru, marking the largest acquisition in the history of the gaming affiliate space. $10.74 billion Total iGaming revenue in the U.S. in 2025, a 36.9% year-over-year increase. 83% The percentage of operators in the U.S. online gambling market operating offshore outside domestic regulatory frameworks. GPWAtimes.org 8 20% The percentage of sports bettors in Ontario and Alberta who are men under 30, according to research from Toronto Metropolitan University, raising concerns about the impact of betting ads on young Canadians. €337.6 million The record online sports betting and gaming revenue in Portugal set in Q4 2025, surpassing the previous high of €323 million set in Q4 2024. €24.8 million The record fine issued by the Kansspelautoriteit, the Netherlands’ gambling regulator, against Novatech for offering illegal gambling to Dutch players after a prior warning.
9 GPWAtimes.org €468,350 The amount the Lithuanian Gaming Supervisory Authority fined UAB Baltic Bet, which manages the Optibet trademark, for improperly verifying the origin of client funds. DKK 500,000 The amount bwin was fined in Denmark for marketing a campaign that claimed players could bet risk-free, despite the financial risk involved. 242 The number of betting and gambling websites blocked by the Indian government in January, pushing the total number of illegal platforms taken offline to roughly 7,800. 65% The percentage of bettors in the U.K. who said they would refuse to provide personal financial documents if required to continue placing bets, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council. 250 The number of suspected online scam centers shut down in Cambodia over the last year, in addition to 91 casinos accused of serving as fronts for fraud operations. $158,400 The penalty issued to Tabcorp after an Australian Communications and Media Authority investigation found the company accepted 426 inplay bets across 32 tennis matches between February 2024 and June 2025, in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
QUOTABLES QUOTABLES “If we were to blindly issue a license simply because a bill was passed last year while disregarding other external factors, that would be irresponsible.” —Alice Mak Mei-kuen, Hong Kong Home and Youth Affairs Minister, after suspending the rollout of legal basketball betting amid shifting regulatory approaches to global prediction markets. “Less than 3% of active customer accounts would trigger any steps by an operator under these proposals. Of these 3% that would undergo an assessment, the pilot showed 97% would have a frictionless assessment process. This is far better than what government estimated when they published the White Paper, which was that 80% of assessments would be frictionless.” —Helen Rhodes, Director of Major Policy Projects and Evaluation at the U.K. Gambling Commission, on the post-pilot analysis of financial risk assessments in the U.K. “These practices may increase the risk of gambling harm by blurring the line between entertainment and marketing, and by exposing at-risk groups to persuasive promotional content.” —Tarek Barakat, New South Wales Deputy Secretary of Hospitality and Racing, after the regulator stepped up its scrutiny of operators’ relationships with social media influencers in 2026. “If it were up to me, we close them. I am deeply worried about the indebtedness of the Brazilian people. If these platforms cause harm, why don’t we end them? We are discussing this very seriously.” —Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in an interview with ICL Noticias, regarding a proposed nationwide ban on online betting platforms. GPWAtimes.org 10
SEPTEMBER 28–OCTOBER 1, 2026 THE VENETIAN EXPO, LAS VEGAS THE FUTURE OF GAMING STARTS HERE GLOBALGAMINGEXPO.COM G2E brings the global gaming community together in Las Vegas—the undisputed capital of the industry—to showcase innovation, foster meaningful connections, and explore the trends, pressures, and opportunities redefining the gaming landscape.
How Do You Communicate with Affiliate Managers? Ask an affiliate how they talk to their program managers, and you’ll rarely get one answer. Since Skype was retired last year, communication has splintered across half a dozen platforms, and based on our latest poll, members are still working out which ones actually deserve their attention. We asked GPWA members to check every channel they use. Almost everyone selected more than one option, which says something in itself. The comments made the reasoning clear: some platforms work for quick questions and casual chats, others are reserved for anything involving money or contracts, and more than a few members are still openly missing Skype. For more details regarding this poll and to view all of the feedback and comments we received, visit gpwa.org/497. 69% 17% 61% 8% 39% 8% 4% 4% E-Mail WhatsApp Telegram Google Chat / Google Meet Teams Tradeshow Meetings Phone Calls Zoom Comments from GPWA members Mattbar PRIVATE MEMBER “Email and Teams, but for anything official, like confirming a deal, I insist it be done over email. Only one AM have I ever allowed a WhatsApp contact. I see that as more personal.” artem10x PUBLIC MEMBER “I’m fine with Telegram or Teams for everyday stuff, but if something affects money, I want it in email. If the rate changes, a promo gets extended, or the deal is updated, that should be confirmed in writing.” Kwblue PRIVATE MEMBER “Generally, Telegram, but I prefer email. I search through it on occasion when my old brain doesn’t remember something. But Telegram is nice, and most managers seem to have it.” GPWA MEMBER POLL GPWAtimes.org 12
Few topics divide affiliate marketers as much as the use of AI content. Some swear by it. Others won’t touch it. And plenty sit somewhere in the middle, using it as a tool while staying cautious about how much they lean on it. The question keeps coming up: Is AI content still risky for SEO, or has the landscape shifted? A recent GPWA forum thread brought together a wide range of views. Several members agreed that AI content is neither a silver bullet nor an automatic penalty. What seems to matter most is how it’s used, what kind of content it’s producing, and whether a human is involved in shaping the final piece. Topics that rely on first-hand experience, like casino reviews, were widely seen as poor fits for fully AI-generated text. Factual, data-driven articles were considered fair game. The takeaway: AI content isn’t the SEO killer it was once made out to be, but it’s not a shortcut either. Excerpts of the thread are below, but to view the thread in its entirety, visit gpwa.org/496. To read thousands of other forum posts like this one, plus industry news and complete archives of our weekly GPWA newsletters and GPWA Times Magazine, please visit GPWA.org. *This thread was edited for clarity and length. When (And When It Doesn’t) AI Content Works FROM THE FORUMS Illustrations by inspiring.team/Shutterstock; Invision Frame/Shutterstock. 14 GPWAtimes.org
#1 Jalleje 14 February 2026, 12:24 p.m. Private Member I am curious to hear what people think about AI content these days. Do you still see it as an SEO killer, or has Google relaxed a bit lately? Seems like more sites are getting away with it, interested to hear your experience. “ Reply With Quote #2 PaulEchere 16 February 2026, 4:47 a.m. Private Member AI-generated content is neither an SEO killer nor a solution to every problem. I’d recommend looking at it from a common-sense perspective. It mostly comes down to how you use it and exactly what content is AI-generated. Some content you (may need to) create is content that requires expertise, experience, and some level of authority on a given topic. In this case, you want to give as much proof as possible to show that: 1. The person (in this case, person) who wrote this actually exists. 2. The person who wrote this has first-hand experience in this specific issue/topic. 3. That the person who wrote this has wider domain-specific experience. This may apply to topics like “anti-acne skin care routines for people over 50.” You may use AI to look up information; you may use AI to consolidate information, and there is no harm in explicitly stating that you did (there may be benefits to doing that). But you absolutely want to show first-hand experience and expertise in the topic you are covering. In other words, you want to show that the person writing this is a professional in the field. I’d say this applies to trivial iGaming stuff like a casino review, which should, in theory, be written by someone who actually tried out the product and is sharing their opinion, which is not something an AI agent can practically do the way a human would. On the other hand, there are topics where most of the above doesn’t matter at all, and all that matters is accurate information and facts. Take, for instance, something like “Highest paid tennis players of 2025.” This can be purely AI-generated content as long as you are comfortable with how it works and make sure it uses reliable sources. For me, many such articles are performing extremely well despite being 100% AI-generated (some of them I didn’t even bother to proofread). Players’ salaries are just a matter of fact, which doesn’t change based on your personal experience and/or expertise. “ Reply With Quote #3 casinobonusguy 16 February 2026, 9:49 a.m. Private Member I am using AI to assist me with some coding and content. They are mainly game review pages right now. I am also using AI to rewrite some content that I wrote 15 years ago on some sites. The pages are indexed, but IMO they had poor on-site SEO and outdated information (some payment options no longer exist, etc.). I won’t build a site from scratch with AI or use it on any of my current high-ranking pages. “ Reply With Quote #4 wonderpunter 17 February 2026, 2:00 p.m. Private Member AI can be good as long as it’s not slop, which is what 99% of people are using it for, and very successfully. I think it will come to an end soon, as the algorithm can already understand a lot. They just need to do something about it. “ Reply With Quote #5 fonzi1022 18 February 2026, 10:04 a.m. Private Member AI is a great tool to use for gathering up-to-date information, but I wouldn’t use it to write my content. AI + human works well. We’re already seeing many changes from Google in how they treat AI content. “ Reply With Quote GPWAtimes.org 15
FROM THE FORUMS #6 NoDepositCasinos 18 February 2026, 1:31 p.m. Public Member I don’t see it as sites “getting away with it.” I see it more as the tools getting better, the outputs becoming more refined, and users understanding that it’s not about writing a prompt, copying the answer, and publishing it as-is. In that sense, I’d say it’s being used more effectively now. At the end of the day, whether something is fully or partially created by AI matters less than whether the content is useful, accurate, and sounds genuine (even if it is not). “ Reply With Quote #7 Poker Inc 19 February 2026, 1:18 a.m. Private Member I think AI content isn’t inherently an SEO killer, but it’s not a magic solution either. From what I’ve seen, it can work well when it’s used thoughtfully and combined with real expertise, editing, and unique insights. On the other hand, mass-produced, low-value AI content still tends to struggle. It really depends on quality, intent, and the effort put into making it genuinely useful for users. “ Reply With Quote #8 Karri 19 February 2026, 5:25 p.m. Public Member I’ve heard it works well in link farms and similar projects, though that may also be because Google has largely abandoned this area. It’s a helpful tool in localization/translation when you need to spin ideas, but it does a horrible job on its own. Sliding scale depending on how important the content is, or how much it needs to stand out. One of the issues is that, rather than saving money/time overall, you save money/time on writing content and spend it on fixing/prompting/ engineering AI content. “ Reply With Quote #9 Poker Inc 20 February 2026, 12:50 a.m. Private Member We mostly use AI to generate content for lower-cost outreach and crowd links, where speed and scale matter more than uniqueness. For higher-impact projects, though, we still rely on manual work and deeper editing to make sure the content actually stands out. “ Reply With Quote #10 SweetJackpots 26 February 2026, 4:11 a.m. Private Member I’ve tested fully AI-generated pages vs. AI-assisted pages with heavily edited content. The difference in indexing stability and ranking longevity is noticeable. Pure AI content often ranks fast, then disappears just as fast. Hybrid content (AI + human editing + original data/opinion) sticks much better. “ Reply With Quote AI is just a tool - it’s all about how you use it. Oneprompt articles are an instant giveaway. What actually works: detailed prompts with clear instructions, verified facts fed into the prompt, and proper structure defined upfront. Put in the work on the prompt side, and the output is solid. 16 GPWAtimes.org
#11 Nextwin 12 March 2026, 4:23 a.m. Private Member Running affiliate sites and using AI content has been part of our workflow for a while now. Honestly, the bigger ranking factors are E-E-A-T signals and backlinks, not whether a human or AI wrote the copy. Of course, you need to check it and read it by yourself before you publish it. “ Reply With Quote #12 mrksgrnt 17 March 2026, 9:46 a.m. Private Member AI is just a tool - it’s all about how you use it. One-prompt articles are an instant giveaway. What actually works: detailed prompts with clear instructions, verified facts fed into the prompt, and proper structure defined upfront. Put in the work on the prompt side, and the output is solid. “ Reply With Quote #13 Slot777 23 March 2026, 8:31 p.m. Public Member In the end, Google is not against the use of AI as long as the content is reliable and kind of unique. Citing other articles should give extra credibility. “ Reply With Quote #14 QuantumNomad 24 March 2026, 4:52 a.m. Public Member I treat AI-generated content pretty much the same way I treat auto-generated backlinks. You might get a short-term boost, but long-term it usually doesn’t hold up. If an article is properly edited, improved, and genuinely useful to the reader, it stops being “AI content” for me and becomes author-driven content. Those are the pieces that actually perform for me - they get picked up in Google’s AI results, show up in ChatGPT/Perplexity citations, or at least drive traffic. #15 Emiliana Rostowicz 24 March 2026, 7:47 a.m. Private Member Google has made it pretty clear that they care more about the value of the content than how it was made. In my experience, if the AI text is actually helpful and fact-checked, it ranks okay. But if you just dump raw AI spam on a site, you’re asking for trouble during the next big core update. End of Thread I don’t see it as sites “getting away with it.” I see it more as the tools getting better, the outputs becoming more refined, and users understanding that it’s not about writing a prompt, copying the answer, and publishing it as-is. Pure AI articles (even when I try to craft solid prompts to make them well-structured and comprehensive) tend to drop out of the Google index over time. And even if they stay indexed, Google often just doesn’t surface them in search results - so I don’t see much real value there. So my view hasn’t really changed now - if you want to build a high-quality project, you still can’t avoid manual work. “ Reply With Quote GPWAtimes.org 17
By Erica Anderson Why this emerging and controversial vertical may be the most affiliatefriendly product in iGaming today and the Prediction Affiliate Markets Advantage GPWAtimes.org 18
rediction markets have steadily gained relevance in iGaming, evolving from a niche concept into a product vertical that operators are increasingly exploring alongside traditional sportsbook and casino offerings. Built around simplicity, speed, and engagement, prediction markets offer a different way for users to interact with real-world events and have begun to attract meaningful player interest across several regulated markets. As adoption grows, both established operators and newer brands are exploring how prediction markets can support acquisition and retention strategies. Affiliates, long recognized as a cornerstone of iGaming growth, have played an important role in this expansion by helping to educate users, build trust, and direct qualified traffic toward emerging prediction market products. In this article, we’ll examine the role prediction markets now play in iGaming and how affiliates are supporting operators as this vertical continues to develop. G Pa W n a re h i dn d a W i i t n c A ht g i r y o Te nA r arMce t aTi orhnke ?ey t s Prediction markets allow users to forecast real-world outcomes in sports, politics, and entertainment by trading on simple, event-driven propositions. These are often structured as “yes” or “no” contracts, making them easy to understand and quick to engage with. Unlike traditional sportsbooks, prediction markets prioritize simplicity, low friction, and community interaction over complex odds or betting mechanics. The growth of prediction markets has coincided with a broader shift toward interactive, real-time play in the wagering industry. In mature sports betting markets, more than half of all wagers are now placed in-play, underscoring user demand for faster decision cycles that prediction markets mirror closely. Prediction markets also closely align with modern consumer behavior. Mobile-first ecosystems now dominate online gambling, with Statista reporting that mobile devices account for most online gambling activity globally, exceeding two-thirds of total usage in mature markets. Their streamlined user experience has made prediction markets particularly appealing to Gen Z and younger millennials, who tend to favor instant, social, and mobile-driven forms of engagement. HE no twe rMi nagj oPrr ieGdai cmt iionng MB raarnkde st sA r e Large iGaming operators are moving decisively into prediction markets as part of broader efforts to attract younger audiences and extend user engagement beyond traditional sportsbooks. In late 2025, both FanDuel and DraftKings launched prediction market products, a move widely viewed as a strategic shift signaling growing confidence in this emerging vertical. Rather than treating prediction markets as an experimental add-on, major brands are increasingly positioning them as a core component of their engagement strategy. One of the primary drivers of this expansion is the acquisition of a younger audience. Operators are placing greater emphasis on 18 to 34-year-olds, a demographic heavily represented in mobile and online gambling and that typically favors simplified, interactive experiences. Prediction markets also support retention by offering short, frequent engagement opportunities between major sporting events. These “micro touchpoints” encourage regular platform visits and sustained interaction. In addition, low-cost or free prediction markets provide effective entry points that can funnel users into higher-value sportsbook and casino products over time. To support this shift, large operators are deploying several key strategies: BUILDING PROPRIETARY PREDICTION PRODUCTS FanDuel and DraftKings have invested directly in prediction markets to diversify their platforms and maintain control over product development. MEDIA AND CONTENT PARTNERSHIPS Operators are forming alliances with media brands to position prediction markets as mainstream, entertainment-driven products. AI AND PERSONALIZATION LAYERS Advanced personalization tools are used to tailor prediction content to user behavior, improving relevance and engagement. Taken together, these developments show how major operators are approaching prediction markets with the same level of planning and resourcing applied to other core products. Large iGaming operators are moving decisively into prediction markets as part of broader efforts to attract younger audiences and extend user engagement beyond traditional sportsbooks. Illustrations by ivector/Shutterstock; pets scouts/Shutterstock; Krumani/Shutterstock. 19 GPWAtimes.org
HP roewd iScmt i oanl l eMr aBrrkaentds s L e v e r a g e Smaller brands, startups, and niche operators are increasingly using prediction markets as an entry point into the broader iGaming space. For these operators, prediction markets offer a way to launch and scale products without the cost and operational complexity of traditional sportsbook platforms. Affiliates often serve as the primary distribution channel, helping smaller brands reach targeted audiences efficiently and at scale. Prediction markets are especially attractive to emerging operators because they enable faster execution and clearer differentiation. Without the need for extensive odds-trading teams or large marketing budgets, smaller brands can focus on building products tailored to specific audiences or themes while staying flexible enough to adapt quickly to user feedback. To support this approach, smaller brands typically focus on three core strategies: • LAUNCHING WITH LOWER DEVELOPMENT OVERHEAD AND FASTER TIME TO MARKET Prediction market products are generally less resource-intensive than full sportsbook offerings, allowing smaller operators to deploy, test, and refine products more quickly. • TARGETING NICHE AUDIENCES AND VERTICALS Many emerging brands focus on areas such as political forecasting, esports, or crypto-themed prediction markets to build highly-engaged communities centered on specific interests. • USING AFFILIATES AS PRIMARY ACQUISITION AND EDUCATION PARTNERS Affiliates play a central role in introducing users to prediction markets, explaining how they work and directing qualified traffic without requiring significant paid media investment. This combination of speed, specialization, and affiliate-driven growth enables smaller operators to establish a foothold in competitive iGaming markets while continuing to iterate and scale. STchael iPnigv oPtraeldRi oc lt ei oonf MA f af irlki aettess i n Across operators of all sizes, the affiliate channel continues to serve as a central acquisition engine within iGaming. As affiliate marketing grows in parallel with the online gambling industry — which Grand View Research projects will reach roughly $153.6 billion globally by 2030 — affiliates are becoming increasingly influential in driving awareness and adoption of emerging products like prediction markets. PREDICTION MARKETS AND THE AFFILIATE ADVANTAGE As affiliate marketing grows in parallel with the online gambling industry, affiliates are becoming increasingly influential in driving awareness and adoption of emerging products like prediction markets. GPWAtimes.org 20
For prediction markets in particular, affiliates play a crucial role in shaping awareness, education and engagement. PREDICTION MARKETS ARE CONTENT HEAVY Prediction markets generate ongoing content opportunities, where affiliates excel. Using SEO articles, reviews, trend coverage, and analysis, they support prediction products. These markets produce daily headlines, trending stories, sentiment shifts, and data-driven narratives, allowing timely content that matches user interests. This creates a continuous content cycle for both acquisition and retention. AFFILIATES DRIVE HIGH-INTENT CURIOSITY TRAFFIC Unlike traditional betting products, prediction markets often attract users who are not actively looking to place a wager. Instead, they are seeking answers to questions such as “Will this team win tonight?” or “What are the odds of this outcome?” Affiliates capture this curiosity-driven traffic and present prediction markets as a straightforward entry point, lowering the barrier to participation for new or casual users. AFFILIATES ENABLE SCALABLE MARKET EXPANSION Affiliates also offer a scalable route to market across geographies and niches. SEO-led comparison sites, influencers and streamers hosting live predictions, social media creators leveraging trending content, and niche affiliates focused on areas such as politics, crypto, or esports all help expand reach. By turning predictions into conversations, affiliates help convert interest into measurable user activity for operators. Looking Ahead Prediction markets are becoming a practical extension of the iGaming product mix, adopted by large operators to drive engagement and by smaller brands as a route to market. While approaches vary by operator size, one element remains consistent across the space: the role of affiliates. By educating users, capturing intent-driven searches, and driving discovery at scale, affiliates play a central role in how prediction markets are introduced and adopted. As this vertical continues to develop, the affiliate channel will remain a key mechanism for sustainable growth and market expansion. Erica Anderson is VP Marketing & Product, Income Access at Paysafe. Her role includes a focus on developing the marketing and product strategy for the Income Access brand. With over 15 years of industry experience, Anderson also oversees Income Access’ in-house affiliate management team, product team and its suite of digital marketing services. Prediction markets are growing fast, and while the controversy is global, the loudest fights are in the U.S. Two could shape the future of the category, and affiliates should watch both closely.STORM ONE The Regulatory Fight Are prediction markets derivatives or gambling? The federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) says derivatives. State gaming regulators say gambling. In April, the CFTC sued Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois to claim exclusive federal jurisdiction over event contracts. With the Trump administration’s backing, it has pressed federal preemption, and a federal appeals court recently ruled in Kalshi’s favor in a similar New Jersey case. States aren’t backing down. American Indian tribes have filed suits too, with California and Wisconsin tribes arguing prediction markets violate tribal gaming rights. More than a dozen federal cases are in motion, and the disputes could reach the Supreme Court. STORM TWO The Integrity Question In April, a U.S. Special Forces soldier was indicted for allegedly using classified intelligence about the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to buy contracts on Polymarket’s offshore exchange. He reportedly cleared more than $400,000. Suspicious trading also surfaced around military operations involving Iran in February. The CFTC has already issued an advisory citing two earlier cases: a political candidate who traded on his own race, and a YouTube-affiliated trader who profited from videos before they were released. At least three federal bills are pending to ban insider trading on prediction markets and bar federal officials from profiting on contracts tied to government action. Sports leagues want safeguards too. The NBA has asked the CFTC to require league sign-off on new contracts, raise the trading age to 21, and ban athletes and personnel from trading. The NFL has flagged markets it sees as easy to manipulate, like missed field goals. TwtooWBaattct lhe s BEHIND THE BOOM By Gary Trask 21 GPWAtimes.org
Trust Isn’t a Feeling, It’s a Discipline Why affiliate relationships break down, and how to build the kind of trust that actually repairs et’s be honest about something, the iGaming affiliate industry tends to dance around: trust is not built in onboarding decks, NDAs, or welcome dinners at a conference. Trust is built slowly and steadily. It compounds over time and in the moments that don’t go according to plan. It lives in how you communicate when a commission model changes. How you show up when a campaign underperforms. Whether you pick up the phone when things get uncomfortable. In affiliate marketing, the relationships are the engine. And occasionally, or dare I say eventually, engines break down. The question isn’t if a breakdown will happen; it will. The bigger question is whether you have the framework to repair it. That’s what this article is about. By Emily Haruko GPWAtimes.org 22
Illustrations by VectorMine/Shutterstock; armo.rs/Shutterstock. 23 GPWAtimes.org
T hCeoBmr ema ikt md oewn nt BTehhai tnHd aI ts a Here’s a distinction that changes how you see every difficult conversation you’ll ever have in this industry. A problem is just a problem. It sits there, inconvenient and unresolved. Problems don’t have energy behind them. They don’t demand a response because there’s no commitment at stake. A breakdown is different. A breakdown only exists because there’s a commitment in place. You only experience a breakdown around something you actually care about, something you’ve agreed to, promised, or built toward. And here’s the thing about breakdowns: they’re the only place where a breakthrough becomes possible. A breakdown is not a failure of the relationship. It’s evidence that the relationship has something at stake. Think about what this means for affiliate partnerships. When an affiliate manager goes dark for three weeks after a traffic dispute, that’s not just an operational hiccup. That’s a breakdown. And it’s a breakdown because there was a relationship, a commitment, and a shared commercial goal. The breakdown is, counterintuitively, proof that something is worth protecting. TRUST ISN’T A FEELING, IT’S A DISCIPLINE Repair is not an apology email. It's not a bonus commission to smooth things over. It's not a call that starts with "let's just move forward." Repair is a structural recalibration of how trust gets built between two parties. GPWAtimes.org 24
reasons,” affiliates don’t trust the rationale because no rationale is being shared. Transparent reasoning, even when the news is unwelcome, keeps trust in the domain of logic intact. Capacity People trust your time management. If your affiliate manager is handling 200 accounts and can’t respond within a reasonable timeframe, the message you receive is: you’re not a priority. Capacity isn’t just a resourcing issue. It’s a trust issue. From Breakdown to Breakthrough: What Repair Actually Looks Like Repair is not an apology email. It’s not a bonus commission to smooth things over. It’s not a call that starts with “let’s just move forward.” Repair is a structural recalibration of how trust gets built between two parties. It starts with clearly naming the breakdown, without drama or defensiveness. “We missed the payment deadline twice. That’s a reliability breach. Here’s what was happening internally, and here’s what changes are going forward.” That is not a weakness. That is leadership. The distinction between intention and commitment matters enormously here. Intention lives in mindset and aspiration. Commitment lives in behavior, decisions, and follow-through. An affiliate program that says “we really value our affiliate partners” is operating with intention. A program that calls an affiliate proactively when a campaign is underperforming, before the affiliate notices, is operating from commitment. A commitment is pursuing the result long after the mood in which you made the commitment has left. Repair requires commitment. Not the feeling of wanting things to be better. The behavior of making them better. In practice, repair in affiliate relationships looks like this: name the breakdown without spin, take clear ownership of what was within your control, communicate what is changing and why, and then follow through visibly so the other party can update their trust model based on evidence rather than hope. This is also where structured assessment tools, like the Saroca Index featured in the sidebar, help create measurable change. Teams that work through the assessment understand precisely which pillar is driving their breakdowns. They stop guessing and start building with intention and, more importantly, with commitment. The Cost of Not Repairing Here is what the affiliate industry rarely says out loud: the cost of unrepaired trust is not just the loss of the relationship. It’s the referrals that never happen, the review that goes the other way, T hdeoqyuoeusdt ioo nwiist h: wi th?a t Most people in this industry do one of two things. They either escalate immediately into blame and legal threat, or they go quiet and let the relationship slowly decay. Neither is repair. Repair requires something different. It requires a framework for trust. The Six Domains of Trust Trust isn’t one thing; it’s not binary. It operates across six distinct domains, and the way trust breaks down tells you exactly which domain you’ve neglected. Authenticity People trust you to be yourself. When affiliate managers put on a different face during the pitch than in the account management phase, people notice. The shift from “we’re so excited to work with you” to a response that takes five business days feels like a bait-and-switch, because it is. Trust in authenticity breaks when the person you negotiated with disappears after signing. Capability People trust you are able. Nothing erodes trust faster than discovering that the team managing your affiliate program doesn’t actually understand how traffic attribution works, or that the reporting tool they promised is six months from launch. Competence is not optional; it’s currency. Empathy People trust you’re not just in it for yourself. This is the big one in affiliate relationships. Affiliates are acutely sensitive to whether an operator is treating them as a partner or a vendor. The “we not me” principle is not a soft leadership philosophy. It’s the difference between partners who will go to bat for your brand and partners who will quietly shift volume to a competitor the moment a better offer arrives. Reliability People trust your word. You do what you say you’re going to do. And when you can’t, you communicate before the deadline, not after. This is where partnerships most visibly collapse. Late commission payments, retroactively changed terms, unilateral pauses on campaigns with no warning. Every one of these is a breach of reliability. Every breach withdraws from a trust account that took months to build.Logic People trust your ideas. Logic means you communicate your decisions in a way people can follow. When an affiliate program changes to a CPA model and the explanation is “strategic business 25 GPWAtimes.org
the Telegram message in a private affiliate group that quietly shapes how your brand is perceived by other potential partners. The affiliate industry is a relationship economy wrapped in performance-marketing language, and the word-of-mouth layer beneath the tracking links is where brands are made and quietly unmade. The operators and affiliate programs that understand this invest in their internal culture the same way they invest in their commission structures. They measure their trust domains. They take breakdowns seriously instead of treating them as inconveniences. They repair visibly, not just internally. They build what lasts. What Else Is Possible? If there’s one question worth sitting with after reading this, it’s that one. What else is possible when trust is built on a real framework instead of a handshake and a hope? For affiliate managers, it might mean proactive communication that gets out ahead of problems before they become breakdowns. For operators, it might mean running a diagnostic like the Saroca Index (see sidebar) and discovering that high churn in their affiliate program has nothing to do with the CPA and everything to do with a culture issue that’s been quietly building for two years. For the industry as a whole, it means treating the relationships that power performance marketing with the same strategic seriousness as the media buying and the compliance frameworks. Trust is currency. Invest accordingly. Emily Haruko is the founder and CEO of Saroca. She is also an executive and leadership coach with over a decade of experience in corporate transformation. She works at the intersection of organizational performance, leadership development, and culture change, helping individuals, teams, and organizations see differently so they can act differently and produce results that matter. Emily launched her first business at 19, building a career spanning direct sales, advertising, and media production, which gave her a grounded understanding of what it actually takes to lead in complex, fast-moving organizations. In 2023, she founded Saroca, a transformational coaching and L&D firm serving clients in iGaming, cybersecurity, healthcare, and SaaS. TRUST ISN’T A FEELING, IT’S A DISCIPLINE The Saroca Index is a newly launched culture and trust diagnostic that measures perception against behavior across six pillars: Safety, Alignment, Resilience, Optimization, Camaraderie, and Accountability. Each pillar corresponds to a specific domain of trust, which makes the Index useful for predicting where partnerships are likely to break down. A low Accountability score often signals coming commission disputes. A low Safety score means problems are going unreported until they become crises. A low Camaraderie score predicts affiliate churn unrelated to commercial terms. For iGaming operators and affiliate teams, the Index turns culture from a soft concept into something measurable, making the breakdowns that cost money preventable rather than reactive. The Saroca Index is free during its beta period through 30 September 2026. S aI nr osci da eI nt hdee x Learn more at saroca.co A problem is just a problem. It sits there, inconvenient and unresolved. Problems don't have energy behind them. They don't demand a response because there's no commitment at stake. GPWAtimes.org 26
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2025 was about vibe coding and generating content faster. 2026 is about having a junior employee who never sleeps. Agent The Year of the AI built a full affiliate site in one day last week. Design, build, deploy. A year ago, that would have required design, programming, and patience, and would have taken me weeks to complete. If you’re an affiliate or running a program and you’re still only using AI to rewrite meta descriptions, you’re taking advantage of maybe 2% of what these tools can do right now. This article is about the other 98%. Actually, many people don’t know it yet, but it is never too late to improve your skills and turn your Claude or ChatGPT subscription into something more valuable than Q&A. The affiliates who win over the next 18 months won’t be the ones with the biggest sites or the best backlink profiles. They will be the ones who figured out how to operate at 10x speed with the same headcount. The tools are here. The question is whether you’re going to use them. By John Wright Illustrations by Macrovector/Shutterstock; Edge Creative/Shutterstock 29 GPWAtimes.org
THE YEAR OF THE AI AGENT From Tool to Coworker The old model of AI mainly used ChatGPT for things like generating content ideas, creating and rewriting page titles, and creating and rewriting content. It worked for some SEOs, but most people eventually gave up on it. Today’s model is totally new. AI isn’t just for content. It can help with all aspects of your business. That is, of course, taking into consideration that Google isn’t what it used to be. A year ago, I would have told you AI was interesting but not essential. Then Claude Code and OpenAI Codex got good at programming, and the ground moved. What used to take me weeks or months now takes under 30 minutes. Not a rough draft. A real, working, designed page. I used to build custom-designed and programmed websites with WordPress. I don’t think I’ll go back. The combination of AI-built static sites, agents that can manage pages, and modern hosting has made the WordPress overhead feel like dead weight. What’s coming soon, and I suspect a few teams are already building it, are agents that can create, update, and delete pages on your behalf. Maybe WordPress survives if it becomes more of a CMS where agents have an easier time controlling. I’m a self-taught designer. I built affiliate sites in Photoshop, then moved to Sketch, and finally to Figma. Each jump felt like a leap. Then Lovable.dev showed up, and prototyping changed. Then Stitch from Google. Then Claude Design, which I don’t think anything will beat for a while. If you haven’t tried any of these tools yet, that’s the first homework after you finish this article. What AI Is Actually Good At BUILDING FASTER THAN EVER • Websites, landing pages, tools • Internal tools (SEO analyzers, scrapers, dashboards) • Custom CMS/data pipelines SEO & CONTENT SYSTEMS (NOT JUST ARTICLES) • Programmatic SEO • Structuring content clusters • Data enrichment ANALYTICS & DATA WORK • Cleaning, structuring, and interpreting data • Building custom reporting instead of relying on platforms • Especially relevant for tracking revenue leaks/performance gaps Speaking of SEO, AI is an absolute machine. The people with the best skills and marketing minds will benefit the most. You can ask LLMs to help you with strategies for your affiliate business, you can build agents that score and potentially can improve your site, and you can build the coolest SEO tools to monitor it all. AI Agents: Your Tireless Junior Employee If 2025 was the year of vibe coding, 2026 is the year of agents. The space is moving fast, and the names are getting weirder by the month, but the underlying idea is simple. An agent is a piece of AI that can take a goal, figure out the steps, and execute them without you babysitting every move. Right now, most people lump everything into “AI agents,” but there are really two distinct modes: 1. Deep thinking/reasoning agents 2. Workflow/execution agents The affiliates who win over the next 18 months won’t be the ones with the biggest sites or the best backlink profiles. They will be the ones who figured out how to operate at 10x speed with the same headcount. GPWAtimes.org 30
The best setups use both, but here’s the mistake I made early on: I tried to build one agent that did everything. Deep thinking and workflow, all in one. It was a mess. Start simple. One agent, one job. Stack from there. Three Agents Worth Knowing 1. OpenClaw OpenClaw is the hottest agent and probably the most fun. It is boosting Mac Mini sales because people like running it on a real computer. It’s powerful, but it’s not for beginners. If you’re new to this, bookmark it and come back in six months when the tooling gets easier. Best for workflow tasks. 2. Claude Cowork Underrated, in my opinion. Easier to get started with than OpenClaw, and flexible enough to handle both deep thinking and execution work. This is where I’d point most affiliates who want to do more than chat with an LLM. 3. Hermes Agent Hermes Agent is one of many agents on the market. As of now, I’m using my agent for deep-thinking tasks and building out a small team of specialist research agents that generate reports for me. This is advanced territory, but it’s where things are heading. LWi khea ft oTr hAi sf f Li l oi ao tkess I’ve connected StatsDrone, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics into Claude Cowork through an MCP server. Now I can ask it to pull reports while I’m asleep, flag traffic drops on specific pages, and surface revenue leaks I’d never catch manually. That’s just one example. The same approach works for monitoring competitor offers, tracking commission changes across programs, or watching ranking shifts on your money pages. Since I built my own integration between StatsDrone, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics inside Claude, I can now connect even more data sources into one central reporting hub. That also means I can have my Claude Cowork handle tasks based on that data, like generating and pulling reports automatically before I even wake up. As for SEO tools, I’ve built custom dashboards with Claude and turned this into a cloneable plugin. The plugins I’m making available through NousViz, which is an analytics platform I’m working on. 31 GPWAtimes.org
THE YEAR OF THE AI AGENT John Wright is an iGaming veteran with 25 years of industry experience. He has been a professional gambler, affiliate manager, affiliate, and now a creator of data analytics tools through NousViz and StatsDrone. AUc tsue aAl IALsiski es taann t This sounds obvious, but most people don’t do it. I had someone helping me with AI last year, and when they weren’t around to help, I tried to see if AI could help me. And it helped me with almost everything. AI helped me understand the nuances of using GitHub, get comfortable with my terminal commands, and get started with VS Code and connect Claude Code to it. When I was building sites using AI, it helped me debug everything, including the right Cloudflare settings. I would literally take screenshots of my problem and ask for help. So, my advice to you is to treat your AI chats as your real AI assistant. Stop going to Google for the answers. Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity are your new search friends. AI as Your Product Person I’ve seen many large affiliates grow by placing greater emphasis on product roles within their companies. This wasn’t an accident, but it was becoming one of the more important roles I saw in growing businesses like Game Lounge, Casino.org, and Better Collective. So, how is AI now your product person? The good news is you don’t need to hire a product manager to think like one. Take your problems, your half-formed ideas, your second-guessing, and put them in front of an LLM. I bounce between Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok depending on the question, with Perplexity for research. They’re all different and they’re all useful. I’ll be honest. I’m barely using Google anymore. Between parasite SEO clogging the results and an AI offering that hasn’t caught up, it’s hard to default to it the way I used to. Getting Started This article has a lot of topics, ranging from beginner to advanced. If you’re on the beginner side, start with the user-friendly tools and build from there. Claude Cowork is a good place to begin if you’ve outgrown the basic ChatGPT and Claude chat windows. It bridges the gap between asking questions and actually getting work done. If this article overwhelmed you, here’s the short version. Pick one thing this week. If you’ve never used AI for anything beyond writing, install Claude Cowork and spend an afternoon with it. If you’re already using AI daily, build one small agent that does one task you currently do manually. If you’re already deep into agents, connect your analytics and affiliate data sources into a central system so you can ask questions in plain English. The tools are here. The question is whether you’re going to use them. A year ago, I would have told you AI was interesting but not essential. Then Claude Code and OpenAI Codex got good at programming, and the ground moved. What used to take me weeks or months now takes under 30 minutes. GPWAtimes.org 32
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