Catena Media CEO Manuel Stan has said the mindset of affiliates has had to change amid the rapid developments in AI over the past 24 months.
Speaking on the final day of G2E in Las Vegas, Stan noted businesses had had to move away from traditional search strategies due to the shift in Google’s AI Overview and ChatGPT.
Google’s AI Overview launched in May 2024 and delivers a summation to queries based on various sources, meaning users don’t necessarily have to click through to sites to get answers.
This change has disrupted the affiliate business model, as has the migration of search to Large Language Models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Stan emphasised there was a need for affiliates to be cited as sources in answers presented by the Google AI Overview and ChatGPT as attitudes to search shift among consumers.
He said: “The discovery part is where we’re trying to engage and make sure that we are in those conversations. It changed from a user being presented with 10 results to a conversation. You don’t have 10 results anymore, you have one. You have an answer, and you have a conversation.
“Our biggest effort for the last 12 months was for us to be the direct destination for the user traffic. I don’t want users to go to ChatGPT or go to Google but come directly to me because I give them something that’s good enough for them not to use ChatGPT.”
Biggest challenge in ‘many years’
The former Kindred Group exec added that the historical position of affiliates in the igaming ecosystem had fundamentally changed, with new approaches now needed.
He continued: “I think, as we said earlier, it is probably the biggest challenge we’ve seen in many years. The role affiliates played in the funnel was pretty much a middleman that tried to convert from Google to the operator as quickly as possible.
“The less time spent on site, the less clicks, the more successful affiliates were deemed to be. And I think that’s changing a little bit to the affiliates trying to build brands and building relationships with the customers and define success as a returning customer.
“The mindset of the affiliates changed, and I think a lot of it changed because of AI, because of what’s happening with search right now, and we know that we’re not going to get as many clicks in the future, so we have to better protect the clicks we’re able to get.”
The post Affiliates’ mindsets have had to change due to AI, says Catena Media boss first appeared on EGR Intel.
Manuel Stan admits shifts in technology have uprooted the traditional affiliate model, as he outlines how Catena Media needs to become a direct destination amid competition from AI tools
The post Affiliates’ mindsets have had to change due to AI, says Catena Media boss first appeared on EGR Intel.