When teams are asked to do more with less, reliable access to digital tools becomes a must. Logging in to essential applications should be simple, painless, and above all, secure. That’s why TUNE now supports Single Sign-On (SSO) user authentication through Google Workspace. If your organization already uses Google Workspace for SSO, you can extend that same login experience to employee users in TUNE. It’s one more way to keep your program easier to manage, more consistent for your team, and better aligned with your internal security standards.

Why TUNE Offers SSO Support

Single sign-on lets users access multiple systems or applications with one secure login. Instead of managing another username and password for TUNE, your team can use the authentication flow they already trust. If you do not currently use an SSO service, we suggest checking out Okta or Microsoft Azure in addition to Google Workspace, as TUNE supports all three options.

For advertisers managing an affiliate marketing program, the consistency offered by SSO can make a noticeable difference. SSO helps to reduce password sprawl, supports tighter access controls, and gives IT teams a more reliable way to manage user authentication across business-wide tools. It also reduces friction points and provides a smooth onboarding experience for new users.

Okta has reported that SSO can reduce login-related help desk tickets by 75% and new user onboarding time by up to 50%. Faster access means new team members can get into the platform sooner and start supporting your program right away, accelerating your time to value on TUNE.

How to Enable Google Workspace SSO in TUNE

TUNE has an excellent step-by-step setup document that can quickly walk you through the Google Workspace integration process.

Support for Google Workspace SSO is made possible through the SAML protocol. In fact, any SAML based SSO solution should be compatible with TUNE SSO features.

For now, TUNE’s SSO implementation will support all Employee level users. Partner and Advertiser users aren’t supported at this time.

Does your organization have a good use case for supporting these additional user types? We’d like to hear about it! Log in to your TUNE account at https://feedback.tune.com and let us know.

If you’re interested in enabling Google Workspace SSO support with TUNE, reach out to your Customer Success Manager and we’ll get you started.

FAQs

Does TUNE support Google Workspace SSO?
Yes. TUNE supports Single Sign-On authentication through Google Workspace for Employee-level users. Organizations that already use Google Workspace for SSO can extend that login experience to employee users in TUNE.

Who can use Google Workspace SSO in TUNE?
TUNE’s Google Workspace SSO support currently applies to Employee-level users. Partner and Advertiser user types are not supported at this time.

What are the benefits of using SSO with TUNE?
Using SSO with TUNE can help advertiser teams reduce password sprawl, simplify employee onboarding, create a smoother login experience, and align TUNE access with internal authentication and security standards.

Does TUNE support SSO providers besides Google Workspace?
Yes. In addition to Google Workspace, TUNE supports Okta and Microsoft Azure for SSO. TUNE’s SSO implementation uses the SAML protocol, so teams using other SAML-based SSO solutions should contact TUNE Customer Success to confirm compatibility.

How do advertisers enable Google Workspace SSO in TUNE?
Advertisers interested in enabling Google Workspace SSO in TUNE should contact their TUNE Customer Success Manager. TUNE provides step-by-step setup documentation to help teams complete the Google Workspace integration process.

There is no shortage of uncertainty in the market right now.

Budgets are under pressure. Forecasts are shifting. Teams are being asked to protect efficiency and find growth at the same time. And across businesses, leaders are taking a harder look at where performance actually comes from, and which investments can stand up to a little more scrutiny.

That kind of environment tends to separate channels that are easy to spend on from channels that are worth building around.

Partner marketing has always belonged in the second category.

At its best, it is one of the most practical growth engines a business can have. It’s measurable. It’s accountable. It gives brands a way to grow through trusted relationships instead of rented attention. And when it’s built well, it can offer something rare in uncertain times: lower risk, stronger efficiency, and results that compound.

That matters right now.

It also helps explain why this is the right moment to reintroduce CAKE and TUNE.

We have been here since the early days of affiliate marketing and performance partnerships. We have seen this industry mature through platform shifts, economic cycles, changing attribution models, new partner types, and rising expectations from marketers. Through all of that, one thing has stayed pretty consistent: businesses need partner marketing technology they can trust, and they need a team behind it that understands what is at stake.

Today, CAKE and TUNE stand together under one shared vision with a stronger foundation behind both brands. While our products remain separate to serve distinct audiences, they are part of one unified team, one shared purpose, and one broader market vision.

This isn’t just an organizational update. It’s a market signal.

It says that in a channel where precision matters, where trust matters, and where long-term thinking matters, we are investing for the future. It means our customers get the benefit of two proven platforms under one roof. And it confirms that we’re in this for the long haul.

I think that last point matters more than ever.

In a Tough Market, the Basics Matter More

When markets tighten, marketers need more than new ideas. They need confidence in the basics.

They need to know their data is sound and their systems will hold up. They need visibility into what’s working and the flexibility to act on it. And they need partners who are not just reacting to the moment, but building for what comes next.

That’s the standard we believe performance marketing technology should meet. Because success starts with a strong foundation. Growth gets harder when the underlying systems are inconsistent.

If tracking is unreliable, reporting is delayed, or operational complexity gets in the way, even a promising program becomes harder to trust and scale. That’s why dependable, scalable infrastructure, accurate measurement, proven uptime, real-time reporting, and long-term stability are not background details for CAKE and TUNE. They’re what make growth actionable in the first place, and give our customers a reliable foundation for success.

Modern Growth Requires More Than Stability

That said, a strong foundation is only part of the equation.

Marketers also need room to run programs with intention. Affiliate marketing has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. That means more partner types, more incentives, more workflows, more compliance demands, and more scrutiny around performance, to start.

As that complexity grows, so does the need for flexibility and operational ownership.

Teams need tools that let them shape programs around the realities of their business, not force them into a rigid model. Which is why, when we talk about TUNE, we emphasize flexibility, ownership, and control for advertisers who want to build programs around their specific needs. And why we focus CAKE’s messaging on scalable infrastructure and operational rigor for networks managing complex campaigns.

Because when teams need to act with intention, it’s not enough to simply see and react to performance. They need to be able to shape everything that goes into it. They need to adjust partner strategies, manage incentives, respond to risk, and make decisions with confidence.

That’s where the flexibility and ownership that CAKE and TUNE provide become more than product features – they become business advantages.

Partner Marketing Feels More Human Because It Is

Then there’s the human side of this channel, which is easy to underplay when the market is focused so heavily on efficiency.

Partner marketing works because it’s built on alignment. It connects brands with audiences through people, publishers, creators, affiliates, networks, and strategic relationships that already carry trust. That makes it different from other channels. It’s not just paid visibility dropped into a feed. Done well, it’s authentic and provides value, and gives brands a way to show up through relevant voices that are credible to the customer on the other end.

This is a huge reason affiliate marketing continues to hold up so well in changing conditions. It can be performance-minded without feeling mechanical, efficient without becoming disposable. It supports growth that feels more grounded, because it’s tied to real relationships and measurable outcomes.

For companies looking at the road ahead and asking where to place smarter bets, that balance is compelling. You don’t have to overextend to invest in partnerships. There’s not the same level of upfront risk that comes with many other channels. And there’s no need to choose between accountability and authenticity.

There is, however, a choice that marketers have to make about the human side of the channel: who they trust to build and support the technology that powers their partnership growth. And this is where I’m the most proud of (and grateful for) what we have at CAKE and TUNE.

Our people are our superpower.

The individuals behind the products our customers love are what make CAKE and TUNE stand out in a crowded field. Our teams are the reason customers choose us again and again. Because our customers are more than numbers to us. We take the time to get to know you, understand your business, and become a true partner in your growth.

The human side of this channel has always been our biggest differentiator, and that will never change.

Why This Has Always Been the Right Bet for CAKE and TUNE

Long story short, this is what CAKE and TUNE have believed for a long time.

TUNE has focused on helping advertisers build and run flexible partner programs with more ownership over how those programs operate. CAKE has focused on giving networks the infrastructure needed to run performance marketing and lead distribution at scale. Different customers, different needs. But a shared belief that partnership growth should be practical, measurable, and built to last.

This shared belief is exactly why bringing these two brands together into a tighter, more unified story just makes sense. The opportunity isn’t that the products suddenly become the same. (Just to be clear, they should not and will not.) The opportunity is that customers now get the strength of both brands, backed by a common direction, deeper alignment, and a clearer commitment to the future of this category.

That’s what “better together” means to us.

It means proven technology with a longer runway.

It means sharper focus on what customers need most from their platforms.

It means continued investment in the systems, tools, and support that help marketers grow with confidence.

And it means showing up to this next chapter of partner marketing with the kind of experience that only comes from having been here before.

I think that experience matters in moments like this. Not because the past should define the future, but because perspective helps us build responsibly. We know this channel has changed, and customer expectations have changed with it. The businesses we serve need more than broad promises right now. They need clarity, consistency, and partners who understand that growth is harder to earn, and more important to get right.

We’re Here for Our Customers (and the Long Haul)

Here’s the mindset we’re bringing into the rest of this year.

You’ll see us share more insights and updates about:

• the strength of the foundation that supports performance
• what it takes for marketers to run programs on their own terms
• the relationships, expertise, and real people behind this work

These themes reflect what customers need most from their technology and the companies behind it, and they support the feedback we’ve received at both CAKE and TUNE.

That’s the story behind the story: the future of affiliate marketing is built on confidence.

Confidence in the platform and in the data. Confidence in the decisions teams make every day. Confidence that authentic, performance-based partnerships still drive meaningful growth, even when the market is harder to predict.

That is the future we believe in.

And it is the one CAKE and TUNE are here to help build, with the steadiness of two proven platforms and the shared commitment of one team that plans to be here for a long time.

The New Battleground for Brand Visibility

It’s not enough to be number one. Blue links are becoming an afterthought as a growing number of searches start and end with zero-click AI-generated search results. Google’s AI Overviews have taken over the search engine experience with concise, easy-to-read answers. More importantly, AI Overviews name names, and if your brand’s not on that list, you’re invisible.

Love them or hate them, if you want more brand mentions in AI Overviews, you first need to understand how they work. AI Overviews and similar generative search experiences synthesize what the internet consistently says about a topic. Pulling from review sites, editorial comparisons, expert blogs, creator recommendations, and more, these results rely on a variety of sources to deliver concise and reliable AI-generated answers.

For marketers, the question is no longer “How do I rank on page one?” It’s “How do I become part of the AI-suggested conversation?” The answer, for many brands, starts with a well-structured affiliate program.

Why AI Overviews Feature Brands with Wide Visibility

Search engines have always prioritized consumer trust, and AI search is no different. AI search results don’t make up these brands; they consolidate and summarize them. When an AI Overview mentions a specific brand in response to a query like “best business loans for start-ups” or “top skincare brands for sensitive skin,” it’s drawing on the accumulated weight of web content that already discusses, compares, and recommends those brands in context.

If you want your brand to appear in AI-generated answers, you first need to ensure your brand is mentioned beyond your own website. Brands featured in AI Overviews all have one thing in common: they’re consistently mentioned across the web. They show up in category-level discussions. They’re featured in comparison posts. They’re discussed in forums and shared with similar audiences. These brands are already mentioned across the internet through publishers, influencers, review platforms, and niche experts, just to name a few.

In short, the brands that win in AI-generated search are the ones that have built a broad footprint across the types of content AI systems are trained to trust. This is precisely why and how the world’s strongest brands rely on affiliate partnerships to enhance their brand visibility.

How Affiliate Partnerships Can Expand Your Brand’s Footprint

Affiliate programs are often evaluated purely on conversions and revenue attribution. That’s a fair measure, but it’s an incomplete one. What affiliate programs also do, at scale, is place your brand into the exact types of web content that AI systems are most likely to summarize.

Affiliates go beyond sourcing new leads and sales. Affiliate partners can help to create durable, indexed, third-party content that mentions your brand in the right context. Think of a tech publisher that writes a comparison of your category, a creator who produces a detailed review, or a niche blog that explains when your product is the right fit versus a competitor. Each of these pieces of content becomes a data point in the broader web conversation about your brand — and a potential source for AI Overviews.

That said, the cumulative effect matters. One strong review won’t make or break you. But dozens of independent, high-quality mentions across a variety of affiliate sites can begin to shift how AI systems perceive your brand within a category. With enough mentions, you can become the trusted, reliable answer AI systems love to recommend.

What Kinds of Affiliates Are Most Likely to Influence AI Discoverability

While the volume of mentions your brand receives is important, the affiliates with the most influence on AI discoverability tend to be independent, editorial in nature, contextually specific, and published on trusted domains.

Editorial and Review Publishers

Sites that produce detailed, researched comparisons and product reviews are among the most valuable affiliates for AI visibility. These publishers write the kinds of long-form, category-level content that AI systems are trained on. Getting featured in a “best of” roundup or a head-to-head comparison on a credible review site (think Consumer Reports, CNET) is one of the most direct paths to AI Overview inclusion.

Niche Content Creators

Creators who go deep on specific topics — a software reviewer who covers your exact category, a beauty blogger whose audience matches your customer profile, a finance writer who evaluates tools like yours — create highly contextual mentions that associate your brand with the right use cases and audiences. Niche content creators provide the context for AI systems to summarize for specific search queries.

Comparison and Aggregator Sites

Platforms that aggregate options within a category (sites like G2, Nerd Wallet, Google Shopping) are increasingly becoming inputs for AI-generated recommendations. When your brand appears consistently on these platforms, often in a favorable position, it reinforces your presence in category-level queries. Your brand isn’t going to appear in a “best of” AI Overview if you’re not first appearing on comparison and aggregator sites.

Influencer Communities and Social Ecosystems

Influencer communities, particularly those built around specific topics or industries, generate a distributed volume of mentions across social content, newsletters, and multimedia platforms. Social ecosystems that prioritize discussions and content sharing, such as Reddit and LinkedIn, have proven to be a favorite source for AI citations. While AI Overview sourcing skews toward indexed web content, the broader brand conversation created by active communities can reinforce the signal that your brand is widely trusted and discussed.

Learn more about how to recruit high-performing affiliates to your brand.

How to Structure Your Affiliate Program for Brand Mentions

Getting more brand mentions in AI Overviews isn’t something you can engineer overnight, nor is it a one-and-done process. It’s a byproduct of building an affiliate program that prioritizes content quality, partner diversity, and brand representation across the web.

Recruit for Content Quality, Not Just Traffic Volume

When evaluating affiliate partners, look beyond click-through rates and audience size. Assess the quality and depth of the content they create. Does their content get indexed and ranked? Do they write detailed, editorial-style pieces or produce purely promotional material? Partners who create high-quality content are far more likely to contribute to your AI visibility than partners who generate traffic through coupon codes or contextually-limited listicles.

Provide Partners with Clear Brand Positioning

Remember, AI systems synthesize what the internet says about your brand. If affiliate content is inconsistent, the AI’s understanding of your brand might also be inconsistent. Equip affiliates with clear messaging: what your product does, who it’s for, and what makes it different. Consistency across the web reinforces your brand’s identity in AI-generated answers.

Expand Across Content Formats and Platforms

Diversify the types of content your affiliate program generates. Aim for a mix of affiliate content across written long-form, comparison content, video walkthroughs, newsletter mentions, and community discussions. The more varied the formats and platforms where your brand appears, the broader your mention footprint becomes.

Prioritize Evergreen Content Over Short-term Promotions

Short-lived promotional content tied to limited-time offers can drive quick conversions, but it rarely has the shelf life to influence AI discoverability. Encourage affiliates to create evergreen reviews, how-to content, and comparison guides that remain relevant over time. This content accumulates authority and continues to drive clicks to your brand long after it’s published.

Measurement Best Practices

Measuring the contribution of affiliate partnerships to AI Overview visibility requires looking beyond traditional affiliate performance metrics. First- and last-click attribution captures revenue, but it doesn’t capture brand presence. Supplement tracking data from your affiliate marketing platform with a few additional measurements.

• Monitor brand mention volume: Track how often your brand is mentioned across indexed affiliate content over time. Social listening and sentiment tracking tools that monitor web mentions can help you assess whether your affiliate program is expanding your footprint.
• Track AI Overview appearances: AI search is still evolving, so be sure to regularly test the queries most relevant to your category and note when and how your brand appears in AI-generated answers. This is still a manual process for most brands, but it’s worth building into your regular search monitoring.
• Measure content quality alongside clicks: Evaluate affiliate partners not just on conversions but on the quality and longevity of the content they create. High-quality evergreen content is a brand asset, even when its direct conversion value is modest.

Be cautious of measurement solutions that promise too much too fast, especially ones that simply repackage existing tools with an “AI-powered” label. Search is changing quickly, and the industry is still working out how to measure this shift in a meaningful way. Before you add anything new to your stack, make sure your core tracking platform is set up to serve as a reliable source of truth.

Common Mistakes Brands Make When Chasing AI Overview Visibility

Don’t let the chase for AI Overview visibility cause you to abandon your affiliate partnership goals. Avoid these simple mistakes:

• Chasing volume over quality: Flooding the web with low-quality affiliate content doesn’t build credibility. AI search systems aren’t relying on the volume of brand mentions — they’re synthesizing the weight and context of credible content. A hundred thin, promotional posts will underperform compared to ten well-researched, editorial reviews.
• Neglecting brand consistency: If your affiliates describe your product in inconsistent or contradictory ways, AI systems will have a harder time forming a clear picture of what your brand stands for. Make the most of your affiliate marketing budget by providing partners with clear, consistent brand messaging.
• Treating all affiliates as equal: A coupon site and an editorial review publisher are not the same in terms of their contribution to AI discoverability. Build a tiered affiliate strategy that invests more resources in content-creating partners.
• Expecting overnight results: AI Overview visibility is an outcome of accumulated web presence, not a switch you flip. Brands that build and maintain strong affiliate ecosystems over time will be the ones that find themselves in AI-generated answers.

Turn AI Into Your Next Affiliate Marketing Partner

The emergence of AI-generated search experiences has given brands the opportunity to get more out of their affiliate marketing program. Affiliate programs have always been about distributing your brand’s presence across the internet through trusted third-party voices. That’s exactly the kind of presence that AI systems are built to surface.

If you want to increase your brand mentions in AI Overviews, your brand needs to be mentioned in the web content AI systems draw from. Affiliate and partnership programs, when structured around content quality, partner diversity, and consistent brand messaging, are one of the most scalable ways to build your online brand presence.

Ready to build an affiliate program that grows your visibility in AI search? Request a demo to see how TUNE’s partner marketing platform gives brands the tools and controls they need to grow with confidence.

FAQs

Can affiliate partnerships help brands appear in AI Overviews?
Affiliate partnerships can help by increasing a brand’s presence across third-party content like reviews, comparisons, and niche publisher articles. That does not guarantee inclusion in AI Overviews, but it can improve the brand’s visibility across the kinds of sources AI-generated search experiences summarize.

Why do third-party brand mentions matter for AI search?
Third-party mentions matter because AI-generated answers often reflect the broader web conversation around a brand, not just the brand’s own website. When a brand appears across trusted and relevant sources, it is easier for AI systems to associate that brand with a category or use case.

What kinds of affiliate partners are most useful for AI-era discoverability?
Editorial publishers, reviewers, niche creators, and comparison-style content partners are usually the most useful because they create contextual, indexable content that explains what a product is, who it is for, and how it compares to alternatives.

How should brands structure affiliate programs for better visibility?
Brands should recruit for content quality, provide clear messaging, diversify content formats, and encourage evergreen coverage instead of relying only on short-term promotions. The goal is to build a stronger, more consistent brand footprint across the web.

How do you measure affiliate impact beyond conversions?
Brands can measure more than revenue by tracking brand mentions, monitoring important search queries, evaluating the quality and longevity of partner content, and looking at referral patterns alongside conversion data. That gives a fuller view of how affiliate partnerships contribute to brand visibility over time.

Launching an affiliate marketing program is a major milestone that takes proper planning and a team effort to accomplish. It’s also the point where small decisions have a big impact on long-term performance.

That’s why we’re excited to introduce our new Onboarding & Adoption Program, a collaborative process that equips customers with the strategies and skills needed to accelerate their time to value on TUNE. This program is designed to help customers launch with confidence, build momentum faster, and turn platform investment into measurable results. It’s a true white-glove experience that we’re proud to offer — and judging by the feedback, one that our customers truly appreciate as well.

Here’s how the program works for customers at TUNE.

Onboarding: Accelerated Launch Support

The first 30 days with TUNE are about more than implementation. They are about creating the right structure for everything that comes next. This includes your team learning the platform, making key setup decisions, and building the foundation for long-term success.

Our onboarding experience is designed to help customers get moving quickly while staying aligned on the bigger picture.

How We Accelerate Your Results

Strategic Kickoff Call to Discuss Program Goals

We start with a kickoff call focused on your goals. We align on what success looks like, who owns what, and where your team wants to focus first. Whether the focus is partner recruitment, operational efficiency, or revenue growth, we begin by making sure everyone is working toward the same outcomes.

Weekly Onboarding Training Sessions

From there, we meet with your team weekly to keep up momentum. These sessions are tailored to your program to give your team hands-on experience with workflows, reporting, partner setup, and platform functionality.

Detailed Recaps with Recordings and Clear Next Steps

After each session, we share a recap with the recording and next steps so everyone stays aligned and on track, and there’s no confusion about what comes next.

Collaborative Support

Throughout onboarding, we also work directly with your team on the details that matter most, including:

• platform configuration
• partner onboarding workflows
• payment setup
• tracking validation and testing

We don’t simply hand you a to-do list and wish you luck, which is the experience some of our customers had before switching to TUNE. This is a deliberate, guided process we’ve built using years of feedback that will help your team make informed decisions and move forward with confidence.

Account Customization Guidance

Because every program is different, we guide you through customizations so that your account structure supports your specific goals, business model, and the way your team works.

Launch Checklist and Best Practice Recommendations

Finally, before your program launches, we review best practices and walk through a full checklist to make sure your program is technically sound and ready for a smooth rollout.

After onboarding with TUNE, you don’t just have a live program — you have:

• A clearly defined onboarding strategy
• A properly configured platform
• Operational confidence 
• A team that understands how to execute 

By working closely with your team on all of the above, we can accelerate your time to value and eliminate the common early-stage mistakes that sabotage a program’s success.

Adoption: Program Optimization and Growth

While launching your program is a huge milestone (and one you should celebrate!), what happens in the next few months is what drives results. The adoption phase, which takes place in months two through four, is focused on helping your team build on what you started during onboarding. It’s about improving performance, finding opportunities, and making sure your program does not lose momentum after launch.

How We Accelerate Your Results

Monthly Adoption Strategy Sessions

During this phase, we hold monthly strategy sessions that shift the conversation from setup to growth. We look at performance trends, talk through challenges, and identify practical next steps based on how your program is performing.

Optimization Recommendations Based on Program Audits

We also review your program through regular audits to uncover areas for improvement. That may include activation bottlenecks, opportunities in your payment structure, gaps in the partner experience, or platform features that could be put to better use. From there, we share recommendations your team can act on.

Monthly Milestone Emails Highlighting Wins and Growth

To help keep stakeholders informed (and help you prove ROI), we send monthly milestone emails that highlight wins, progress, and growth where applicable. Customers appreciate these updates because they make it easier for them to communicate value internally and provide visibility to teams outside their own.

Resource Library

Your team also gets access to relevant resources along the way, including documentation, training materials, and support content that fits your program’s stage and needs.

Handoff Debrief, Review, and Survey

At the end of month four, we wrap up with a structured handoff that covers what was accomplished, share strategic takeaways, and outline priorities for the road ahead so your team is ready to take full ownership.

While there are many benefits to this phase, some of the key perks of adoption support can include: 

• Higher partner activation
• Improved program efficiency 
• Better strategy alignment 
• Stronger internal reporting visibility 
• Sustainable growth 

Why Onboarding and Adoption Are Essential

A lot of programs plateau after launch because teams fail to optimize, or they lack the support and structure to keep building. Our adoption phase is meant to prevent that stall. With the right onboarding and adoption experience, teams can get to value faster, avoid common mistakes, improve internal alignment, and create a clearer path to growth.

Affiliate marketing programs do not succeed by chance. They succeed when strategy, execution, accountability, and ongoing optimization work together. TUNE’s Onboarding & Adoption Program helps make that happen.

If you’re ready to launch with clarity and grow with confidence, this program is built for you. Get in touch with us, and we’ll have you on the way from setup to scale in no time.

Read the rest of the TUNE Onboarding Series

A Quick Introduction
Is Customized Onboarding Right for You?
What to Expect During the First 30 Days
How Onboarding and Customer Success Teams Work Together
How to Get Ahead Before Onboarding Starts
Supporting Long-Term Success After Launch

FAQs about TUNE’s Onboarding & Adoption Program

1. What is TUNE’s Onboarding & Adoption Program?

TUNE’s Onboarding & Adoption Program is a structured support process for advertisers launching an affiliate marketing program on TUNE. It combines onboarding in the first 30 days with adoption support through months two to four so teams can set up the platform, align on goals, and keep optimizing after launch.

2. What is included in TUNE onboarding?

TUNE onboarding includes a strategic kickoff call, weekly training sessions, recaps with recordings and next steps, platform configuration guidance, partner onboarding workflows, payment setup, tracking validation and testing, account customization support, and a final launch checklist.

3. What happens during the adoption phase on TUNE?

During the adoption phase, TUNE shifts from implementation to optimization. Customers receive monthly strategy sessions, program audits with recommendations, milestone emails that highlight progress, and resources that support the next stage of growth.

4. How long does the TUNE onboarding and adoption process last?

TUNE’s onboarding phase occurs over the first 30 days. The adoption phase then continues through months two to four and ends with a structured handoff, review, and survey at the end of month four.

5. Why do onboarding and adoption matter for affiliate program performance?

Onboarding and adoption matter because early decisions around setup, partner workflows, tracking, payments, and reporting can affect how quickly an affiliate program gains traction. Continued support after launch helps teams maintain momentum, improve execution, and give internal stakeholders clearer visibility into progress.

The value of Affiliate Summit is subtly changing for me as time goes on. As I mentioned in my previous post about Affiliate Summit East 2025, this is a tradeshow I have regularly attended since 2011.

Affiliate Summit 2011 and the next few years consisted of long days at the Meet Market, delicious dinners with clients, and bottle service into the wee hours of the morning. We walked away exhausted, but with core experiences shared. Sure, those experiences may have been at a night club that we (figuratively) fought to get in to, and may have included shuffling (remember when LMFAO came years ago?), but they were meaningful, nonetheless.

As I reflect on the Meet Market in those early days, I remember it being full of affiliate networks that were exhibiting with the ambition to shake hands with brands and affiliates both. Back then, most of the exhibitors were affiliate networks, many of whom still call CAKE and TUNE “home” —  and that means the world to us.

Then Versus Now

Fast forward to January 2026. The landscape has dramatically shifted, from a few major players to a wide net of minor and major characters: payment solutions; vendors tracking the customer journey across calls, texts, and web; AI this and that; anti-fraud tools and services; and the list goes on.

So if this is who is exhibiting, then who is walking the floor?

Who were we hoping to see walking the floor?

Were the brands out on display, ready to learn about the latest technologies? Not exactly. If anything, it’s the opposite. I heard from several of my brands that they turn their badge around to hide their logo out of fear of being jumped.

My point: Affiliate Summit is still a place where performance marketers come to the table, but the landscape has diversified and isn’t as focused or straightforward as it used to be.

The Slow Shift

For attendees, the purpose of the show in 2026 is simply different than in 2011. Most of my meetings this year were with individuals who didn’t purchase a badge or who were in Vegas primarily to meet with current partners. They weren’t there for new business.

Personally, we’ve shifted from the days of bottle service to a (third annual) happy hour, where we get to thank our customers face to face and introduce them to our other guests, hopefully sparking the start of more great relationships within the industry.

And that’s just it. The nature of our industry requires a certain level of experience and intentionality to help each other thrive. It’s not enough that I know you operate in the home services space. I also know you generate your leads from this source and distribute them in this way and have a unique partnership with this vendor, and all of that combined is what makes you a good fit for that company over there. So let’s get you two introduced, so you can get to business.

I’m also observing a shift in focus from the conference itself. A quick anecdote that supports this: Last year, I was able to pay for a private meeting table in a quiet space to meet with customers and prospects. It was great! I want to do that every show, and tried to do it this year. But that option is no longer available for vendors.

Where We’re Going

At every Affiliate Summit, I continue to learn from the industry and from my customers. And what I heard this year was consistent with previous shows, and we’re already acting on a lot of that feedback.

The most consistent piece of feedback my team received was around connections. And it’s not as simple as having a directory of “Who’s who on [insert platform here].” It’s a more intentional ask, knowing that we know our customers’ businesses. As a result, we’re running an experiment and throwing our first local meetup. (More to come on that.)

In addition to the hearing about the value of the connections we create, I’m always flattered and validated to hear that customer service is not a feature, but a necessity, and that our teams continue to excel in this area.

Moving forward, our conference strategy is changing. We will be at Affiliate Summit East 2026, and we’re already planning on being in Vegas for Affiliate Summit West 2027. We will purchase fewer badges, and we won’t have a table. Instead, you may find yourself being invited to a hotel suite for an escape from the hustle and bustle of the show for a drink, a snack, and a catch-up. And of course, we’ll be throwing another fantastic happy hour for all our customers and anybody from the industry who wishes to know a bit more about CAKE and TUNE.

See you at the show.

If you’re a TUNE customer, you already know that data security and privacy are ingrained in our platform and policies. What you may not be aware of is that best-in-class fraud prevention tools are also integrated directly into the platform, enabling you to detect, block, and investigate suspicious activity and bad actors, all in one place. Below, we present a few of the most popular fraud detection and prevention tools available on TUNE.

1. Proactive Fraud Prevention

TUNE’s signature anti-fraud tool suite, Proactive Fraud Prevention is directly integrated into the platform and free to all TUNE customers. It combines the power of Fraudlogix’s ad fraud database with TUNE’s automation capabilities to automatically detect and reject fake clicks and malicious traffic before they cause damage.

How Proactive Fraud Prevention Works

TUNE’s ad fraud database continuously monitors fraud signals such as bots, malware, scripts, spoofed traffic, proxies, and compromised traffic sources. Clicks that match known fraud sources are marked as suspicious, even if they are accepted.

When enabled, Proactive Fraud Prevention rejects clicks that are marked as suspicious in real time. Blocked traffic redirects to a blank page and is excluded from attribution.

TUNE uses the same fraud reason codes as Fraudlogix, although the exact reason is not exposed to partners to prevent reverse engineering by fraudsters. These codes include:

• Non-Human Script
• Bot Generated
• Basic Fraud
• Bad IP Reputation
• Proxy
• Spoofed
• TOR Exit Node
• Data Center
• VPN

Offer-level Override

Proactive Fraud Prevention is a platform-wide fraud filter. For more granular control, you can exclude individual offers from this filter within the offer’s tracking settings.

2. Applicant and Partner Fraud Detection

The TUNE platform comes stocked with multiple systems that automatically protect customers from fake leads and sign-ups and enable them to identify and act on suspicious behavior by individual partners.

Partner Application Vetting

TUNE protects your program from fake leads and bad actors 24/7 by automatically validating every applicant and rejecting those with high-risk scores before they get in. Powered by E-Hawk, this free service minimizes the number of fraudulent profiles created and reduces the manual spam filtering required to review partner applications.

Partner Profile Fraud Monitoring

Partner profile fraud monitoring is available for all customers, but disabled by default. When enabled, this setting calculates a fraud score based on the information in a partner’s profile when they create an account. You select the criteria that will be used to measure fraud and how much weight each should be given when calculating the overall fraud score. For instance, you could select “free email provider” and “1-800 phone number” as your criteria, and set the email provider to count fives times more in the calculation as the phone number. There is also an option to immediately flag any account if it triggers one of your selected criteria, regardless of the overall score.

For a list of all criteria and examples of how weights and scores are calculated, see this help article.

Partner Activity Fraud Monitoring

Partner activity fraud monitoring works similarly to the profile monitoring above, but uses the partner’s activity and/or conversions (versus their profile information) to calculate a daily fraud score. This feature is available only to Enterprise accounts.

Both monitoring systems allow you to inspect and adjust fraud scores for individual partners, as well as set custom thresholds for sending an email alert, flagging a partner, or automatically blocking a partner.

3. Comprehensive Fraud Reporting

There are several reports in TUNE that customers can use to dig into fraud-related data and analyses on the platform.

Traffic Fraud Report

One of TUNE’s preset stats reports, the Traffic Fraud Report visualizes the portions of your click traffic that have been marked as suspicious. This report helps customers quickly understand where fraud may be coming from and its financial impact. It’s an easy way to see the results of Proactive Fraud Prevention.

Partner Fraud Report

If you have enabled profile fraud monitoring and/or activity fraud monitoring on your platform, the Partner Fraud Report provides a quick way for you to view partners with fraud scores or flags on their account.

Time‑to‑Action Report

The Time-to-Action Report shows the lag time between an action (like a click) and the corresponding conversion. You can use this report to help identify partners with atypical conversion timing, which may be a sign of fraud. For example, very quick conversions (under 30 seconds) or very slow ones (after 15 minutes) can indicate ad fraud such as click injection or click spamming.

4. Performance Automation Rules

TUNE’s automation engine helps customers fight bad actors by enforcing compliance and optimizing performance in real time.

Time-to-Action Rules

Time-to-Action rules allow you to automate tasks based on the time it takes for traffic to convert. Set your thresholds based on average time-to-conversion ranges for similar offers and partners, then alert or block traffic that falls outside the expected norms.

Conversion Rate and Profit Margin Rules

These rules allow you to pinpoint metrics like conversion rate or profit margin for optimization or fraud prevention. You can even block traffic down to the specific tracking link for non-compliant behavior, such as incentivized traffic on a non-incent offer.

5. Granular Tracking and Conversion Controls

TUNE’s fraud-fighting tools don’t end with the list above. There are numerous other features and settings in the platform that customers can use to take control of their program and protect against bad actors.

Disabled Tracking Links

Disabled tracking links give you more control when you need to take action against a partner. Instead of completely blocking an account, you can disable individual tracking links for a specified offer and partner combination, leaving the rest to work as normal.

Encrypted Tracking Links

Encrypted tracking links protect your conversion URLs from manipulation by hashing them into a shortened link and rejecting any conversions from non-encrypted URLs.

Advertiser Security Tokens

Advertiser Security Tokens provide an extra layer of protection for your conversion tracking. This feature authenticates every conversion on an offer with the advertiser’s unique token string, preventing bad actors from force-firing postbacks. This feature is available only to Enterprise accounts.

Offer IP Whitelists

Offer whitelists enable you to have full control over the conversions you accept. With this feature, you can list the IP addresses that are allowed to send conversions to an offer, and automatically reject any conversions that come from outside your list.

Sign-Up CAPTCHA

CAPTCHA verification prevents scripts or bots from creating accounts. When enabled, users must successfully complete a CAPTCHA to submit an application.

Summary: TUNE’s Fraud-Fighting Ecosystem

Final Takeaway

TUNE turns fraud management from reactive and manual into a proactive, automated advantage:

• Layered protection: automatic checks on clicks, leads, applications, partners, and conversions
• Operational efficiency: fraud blocking happens without slowing down your program
• Trusted transparency: reports and scores help identify patterns without giving away loopholes
• Secure by default: built-in tools promote clean growth from partner onboarding through payout

If you’re using (or considering) TUNE for affiliate marketing, you get a robust, built-in fraud defense system that covers onboarding, real-time traffic filtering, attribution integrity, automated governance, and reporting transparency, all tailored to preserve both your budget and partner relationships.

Questions? TUNE customers can reach out to their customer success manager or support@tune.com for assistance.

If you’re not a TUNE customer, you can request a consultation here or email our team at partnermarketing@tune.com to learn more about our fraud prevention solutions.

Good product design represents more than just a slick interface. The experience should meet the needs of its users through well-placed information (hierarchy) and logical workflows. In the end, users should be able to complete their tasks without much thought about the software itself. In the best-case scenario, good product design might even provide a bit of delight. 

A Need for Modern Patterns 

TUNE has served the world of affiliate marketing for a long time. While the platform has grown over the years to meet the needs of an ever-changing industry, as of late, there’s been a desire both internally and from our customers to rethink the experience to meet current trends and expectations. In short, some of TUNE’s key workflows were starting to feel a little dated.  

With customer feedback in hand, we presented an opportunity to improve the current TUNE toolset. The goal was to improve day-to-day quality of life for our customers that spend a lot of time within TUNE, tweaking their affiliate programs to be as optimized as possible. We focused on introducing familiar patterns. This included interactions that are familiar when using any modern web application. It also included organizing information by providing a simple structure to better help new users find their way through the platform quicker.  

Starting with Offer Management 

TUNE is a robust and often complex web application with dozens of different workflows. Gone are the days of the early web where entire application redesigns happened in a short time span and without much input, if any, from users. Today, product design works together with software engineering and business stakeholders to target key areas of improvement and show value in the investment.

For TUNE, we landed on tackling the offer management flow first. It’s the core of the platform that touches almost every other area of the application. We felt the potential value in rethinking this area first would help us gain buy-in to tackle other key areas later.  

The result is a modern version of offer management that introduces strong hierarchy and modern UI patterns.

One of the key use cases we had in mind was new customers onboarding to TUNE for the first time. The old offer experience was the equivalent of that catch-all drawer that everyone has in their kitchen. There are lots of fantastic tools to solve just about any problem, but finding the tool you’re looking for always takes some effort, especially if you’re coming to that drawer for the first time. In many ways, we applied the equivalent of drawer organizers to the TUNE offer experience.  

In the screenshot above, you can see the random placement of tools in the old experience and the introduction of a tab system in the new experience to better help users more quickly locate the right tool for the specific task they’re trying to accomplish.  

In this example, you can see the difference between unfamiliar patterns required to approve partners in the old experience with a more modern and familiar pattern that users might find on any other modern web application.  

Continuing to Refine 

We’ve taken an iterative approach to rolling out the new experience to our customers. We invited a core group to provide initial feedback and based on that feedback we improved the issues that they struggled with. Over time, we continued that pattern of opening the new experience up to various groups, collected more feedback, and continued to improve.

Today, we’re happy to report that the new offer experience is enabled for 99% of our customer base. We continue to improve those last few challenges surfaced by some of our most prolific power users.  

Looking Ahead 

With the new offer experience in front of users, we’re looking at the next area of TUNE to improve upon. In fact, you can take a look at the user management area of TUNE to see a similar update, making it easier to discern permissions across users and add new users to the platform. 

We’re always looking for additional feedback from our customers. If you have suggestions for improvement, please don’t hesitate to share them with us through the Feedback portal or by emailing support@tune.com.

At the end of last year, I wrote about our focus on improving the TUNE product experience as a goal for 2025. As we look back on our progress over the previous 12 months, I’m happy to share that we’ve seen success working toward that goal. The highlight has been the introduction of our all-new offer management experience along with several other feature releases designed to improve daily tasks within TUNE. 

New Offer Management Experience 

Toward the end of 2024, the Product Team made a commitment to modernize and introduce more familiar patterns into the product to make daily activities in TUNE, especially for new customers coming to TUNE for the first time, easier and more intuitive.

The first major product area to receive a modern look and feel was the offer create and edit experience. The new experience introduces a basic hierarchy of information along with familiar UI patterns, and we’re happy to share that this new experience is now enabled for 99.7% of our customer base. Feedback continues to come in, and we’ll be iterating on these new patterns going into 2026 to ensure the new experience works well for everyone.  

Bulk Promo Code Management 

The new offer experience allows us to introduce new functionality quicker, and that helped drive the introduction of tools to help manage promo codes in bulk. One of the most requested features by our customers, getting promo codes imported and up and running in bulk is now possible through a CSV upload tool. This is especially helpful for new customers onboarding TUNE for the first time.

Team Member Management 

Offers weren’t the only area of TUNE that received a new experience. Team member management also received a more familiar look and feel, making it easier to parse permissions and add new users. 

A Focus on Customer Feedback 

In addition to modernizing the look and feel of the product, 2025 was spent focusing on the 1,000+ pieces of feedback and feature requests that we’ve received from our customers. We believe addressing these requests shows that the product is moving forward and our customers are heard. Here are a handful of smaller, quality of life improvements that were introduced over the past 12 months, many as a result of direct customer feedback. 

Seamless Access to TUNE Pay 

We reduced a lot of friction when accessing TUNE Pay by removing the separate login requirement that was required to access this product. Accessing TUNE Pay is now only a click away from within the TUNE application. From within TUNE, simply click on the TUNE Pay link in the left side bar, and you’ll have instant access to TUNE Pay. 

Disable Tracking Links in Bulk 

Tracking links may now be disabled in bulk. On the Disabled Tracking Links page, multiple offers can now be associated to a single partner, speeding up the process to disable multiple links associated with a partner. 

Proactive Click Fraud Prevention Improvements 

Certain levels of questionable traffic are still common in the world of affiliate marketing, but TUNE has a litany of tools to combat it. TUNE’s click fraud prevention system has been enhanced to detect two new types of potential fraud. Under rejected reasons in the Event Tracer Report, you will now see additional events flagged as Abnormal Traffic Pattern or Masked Device. Abnormal Traffic Pattern indicates an IP address that has exhibited unusual or suspicious traffic patterns. Masked Device indicates detection of device fingerprinting evasion techniques. 

Marketplace Connection Request Page Updates 

The Connection Requests pages for both brands and partners now include “outgoing” requests. This allows an account to manage the status of both “incoming” and “outgoing” requests all in one place. Based on user feedback, this is intended to reduce user confusion. 

Improved Display of Payout Ranges for Partners 

The payout column on Live Offers and All Offers views in the partner interface has been improved to show the full range of payout potential when an offer has more than one payout option. 

Additional Updates 

• The Performance Report in the Partner Interface now more accurately displays week-based intervals. 
• Payout Structures with many partner-specific rules now display correctly. 
• Hidden assets can now be previewed again. 

User feedback is essential for TUNE as we strive to deliver features that help you accomplish your goals. Be sure to visit the TUNE Feedback portal to submit feature ideas, browse what other customers have requested, and vote on improvements that you will find helpful. 

Looking Ahead 

2026 is just around the corner, and we’re already developing a product strategy to continue our focus on customer needs and ease of use. Look for additional modernization in key areas and workflows. In the end, we want our customers to focus not on the tactical interactions with the tools, but on the powerful performance marketing outcomes that TUNE empowers them to achieve. 

Funnily enough, this is my first write-up of an Affiliate Summit event, even though I’ve been attending the West and East coast versions of the show since 2011.

Needless to say: I’ve been to a lot of Affiliate Summits.

So why write about my experience this time?

Well, part of it is a subtle nudge from our marketing team to add some “SEO juice” to the website. More importantly, though, this felt like the right moment to share a perspective from someone who’s been part of the affiliate marketing community for well over a decade. 

And that’s just it. Affiliate Summit has always been a staple in our industry. If you’ve been in affiliate marketing for any length of time, chances are you’ve either attended or at least heard about it. Some of us even count our time in the industry not in years, but in Affiliate Summit shows. It almost feels like a badge of honor to say you’ve attended 10 shows, or 15, or 20.

With that in mind, here’s what I wanted to share from this year’s Affiliate Summit East:

• Why do I attend?
• What’s changed over the years?
• What did we hear at the show?
• Sip N’ Send
• Final Thoughts

Why Do I Attend?

I run two affiliate marketing software companies, CAKE and TUNE, and a lot of our clients consider going to Affiliate Summit each year. So for me, attending is a no-brainer. It’s one of the few opportunities where so many of our customers and partners are all in one place.

Attending gives me the chance to strengthen relationships and create meaningful touchpoints with our clients. I also get to say “Thanks” in fun ways, like hosting networking happy hour events adjacent to the conference space. (And yes, I’m planning to be in Vegas this January for ASW 2026.)

I value this conference because it centralizes my customers. If our customers shifted away or stopped attending altogether, I’d likely follow suit. It’s as simple as that.

What’s Changed Over the Years?

The show has changed a lot in the last 15 years.

I could talk about the choice in venue, but I’d rather not torment that deceased equine. The Marriott and Times Square are not my favorite.

What I will say is that it’s become more difficult for the general community to congregate at the show, so plan ahead. Security is stricter, and access is more limited (and more expensive) than it used to be. For example, I know several clients in NY who would love to drop by and mingle, but that’s not possible without a badge. Instead, we have to meet up somewhere down the road rather than on the conference floor. If you expect to be in the same situation, pick a nearby coffee shop or bar and head there early to secure a meeting spot before your contacts arrive. You don’t want to be left scrambling and changing plans on the fly when time on the floor is ticking away.

The audience has evolved, too. When CAKE first started exhibiting back in 2011, most of the booths were dominated by affiliate networks. I’d look across the floor and see 20 or 30 of my customers. Now, I’m lucky to bump into 10 affiliate networks. Clearly, there’s been a shift in the market, but what isn’t clear yet to me is the replacement for this audience. While we’re seeing stronger representation from call tracking companies and payment vendors, the mix is still changing. I’m interested to see where it goes from here.

Finally, the ownership of Affiliate Summit and how it’s transformed the event is something we often discuss in our downtime at the conference. It’s become obvious over the past few years that there is now more focus on monetization and less on community. This wasn’t the case when the founders, Shawn Collins and Missy Ward, were running the show (literally and figuratively) from 2003 to 2020. In 2017, Clarion Events, which was acquired by the investment firm Blackstone earlier that year, purchased Affiliate Summit. They eventually took over all operations from Missy and Shawn in 2020. While capital investment isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does fundamentally change an organization. In this case, I think it’s helped turn the show into a polished, well-oiled machine. I also think it’s left customer service feeling less personal and historical attendance less important. So, no matter whether you’re a conference vet or going for the first time next year, the same advice applies: build relationships with the people who run the show, and make sure they know you.

What Did We Hear at the Show?

I’ll admit that a lot of my best conversations didn’t happen in a session or on the conference floor. They happened over drinks, at dinners, and especially at the happy hour we co-hosted with Optizmo and Atwave.

Here are a few themes that stood out:

1. Email is alive and well.
   Email has truly stood the test of time, and it continues to deliver for every brand I’ve spoken with. When I look at the successful, long-term customers I’ve had the opportunity to partner with over the years, email is always a major part of their marketing mix.
   
2. Handshakes still drive the industry and are the most valuable thing we can do.
   Technology matters, but introductions fuel the fire of growth. As tech providers, CAKE and TUNE sit in that rare position where it’s possible to observe hundreds of companies leveraging our tools. They’re always on the hunt for new partnerships, which can be just as valuable as the software itself. We can’t downplay that.
   
3. Fraud prevention is critical.
   Again, as I look at the long-time customers who were able to thrive through recessions and shifts in vertical focus, they all leverage some form of fraud detection and prevention platform. In today’s environment where margins are tight and competition is everywhere, fraud protection is a must have.
   
4. Services verticals continue to prove their strength.
   Financial services and home services are among the top verticals where we’re seeing tremendous growth. These verticals are dynamic, and success requires a certain level of sophistication with the tech stack — lead distribution software, for example — and personnel to manage the program.

Sip & Send

A quick highlight: our Sip & Send networking happy hour event. Partnering with Optizmo and Atwave to bring people together was a real bright spot of the week. These informal meetings with players from across the industry often spark the most valuable conversations. It’s a reminder that while the conference floor has its challenges, the connections happening around the show are what make Affiliate Summit worthwhile.

Final Thoughts

Affiliate Summit East and West are important, valuable conferences to our industry. For a lot of us, they are the two primary shows we must attend, and everything else is planned around them. I applaud Missy and Shawn for building that kind of community and tradition.

That said, the show is evolving. As the conference progresses in its monetization and commercialization, I will begin to question where else I should be. For now, though, I attend because my clients are there, and I’m always open to networking with newer companies looking for attribution and tracking support. We’re good at that!

Recruiting affiliates with experience and a track record of success is one of the best ways to scale your affiliate marketing conversions and revenue. But with so many potential partners out there, how do you find the right ones and convince them to join your program?

In this post, we’ll share actionable strategies for recruiting affiliates who deliver value and align with your brand and business goals. We’ll also show how tools like TUNE’s affiliate marketing platform can make recruitment more efficient and effective, while offering additional ideas to build your pipeline and attract quality partners. By the end, you’ll have a roadmap for identifying, engaging, and onboarding affiliates who can help grow your business.

Why High-Performing Affiliates Matter

Not all affiliates are created equal. High-performing affiliates bring your business more than just traffic — they bring engaged audiences, stronger conversion rates, and long-term growth. These affiliates require deliberate recruitment strategies, not a “set it and forget it” approach. Instead, you need a proactive strategy and the right tools to find partners who are serious about success.

With dedicated resources, a clear strategy, and a platform like TUNE, you can streamline the recruitment and management process for your partners and your own team, empowering both sides to focus on what they do best.

How to Recruit High-Performing Affiliates

1. Provide Specific, Clear Details in Every Offer  

Transparency is one of the best ways to attract serious affiliates. When potential partners know exactly what you expect and what they’ll earn for meeting those expectations, they’re more likely to engage.

To make your program compelling and motivate affiliates out of the gate, every single offer you provide should include three pieces of information:

1. Payout structures and tiers: Clearly define commissions, bonuses, conversion windows, recurring payouts, and any other guidelines for conversions. For example, “Earn $40 per lead with a recurring 10% commission on subscription renewals in the first 12 months.”
2. Historical performance data: Share relevant data like typical conversion rates and average order value (AOV), or a list of your most popular offerings from the past 6 months, to demonstrate transparency and build trust.
3. Program benefits and perks: Let potential partners know how your program will make their job easier. Consider listing perks like professional creative assets, access to marketing tools or analytics dashboards, and a dedicated support team.

A clear, detailed offer signals professionalism, improves response rates, and helps affiliates quickly evaluate whether they can succeed with you.

2. Keep Your Recruitment Pipeline Active

Recruiting affiliates isn’t a one-and-done process. You can’t just post a sign-up link and expect top partners to flock to your program. The best programs maintain an ongoing pipeline, so they can adapt as trends, products, and audiences evolve. That means setting a strategy, executing on it regularly, and adjusting as needed.

Here are a few tips for how to keep your affiliate recruitment pipeline full:

• Regularly reach out through email, LinkedIn, and online communities
• Monitor emerging performance trends using analytics tools in TUNE to identify new opportunities and create content as needed
• Reach out to affiliates via their preferred platform, whether it’s TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Discord, Twitch, their personal blog, their online shop, or anywhere else
• Diversify your network by including non-traditional affiliates: influencers and creators, streamers, podcast hosts, niche specialists

A consistent, proactive approach will help you keep your program competitive.

3. Use Affiliate and Influencer Discovery Tools

You don’t have to find affiliates manually. Several tools can help you uncover new partners who already reach your target audience. Whether you’re looking for Instagram influencers, TikTok creators, or Twitch streamers, there are numerous apps and platforms created specifically to connect advertisers with affiliate marketers.

Beware any quick-fix solutions or AI-powered tools that promise the moon, however; no matter what they say, there is no one-stop shop to find every partner you need. Reputable solutions can help you find high-potential partners based on real engagement data rather than guesswork.

Based on your goals and industry, start by searching directly in the preferred platform of your ideal partner. Most social media companies now provide native tools for finding and collaborating with affiliates within the platform, such as Meta’s creator marketplace. Some other options:

• Influencer connection platforms like Upfluence, CreatorIQ, Find Your Influencer, and Aspire
• Social media and content analysis tools like SparkToro or BuzzSumo
• TUNE’s built-in partner marketplace and discovery tools

4. Work with Affiliate Marketing Agencies

For larger programs or those entering new markets, an affiliate marketing agency can accelerate the process. Agencies have established relationships with proven affiliates and can handle negotiations, onboarding, and scaling for you.

When researching agencies, look for a shop that has a proven track record of success in three areas: developing program strategy, operationalizing the program, and optimizing the program. The best agencies drive incremental value through tailored support in these phases. If your program is already established, search instead for an agency that specializes in recruitment and onboarding.

Benefits of working with an affiliate agency include:

1. Access to pre-qualified, high-performing affiliates
2. Faster, more efficient negotiations
3. Scalable support for regional or global programs

If you need to scale quickly without adding internal resources, an agency is worth considering.

Additional Ideas for Recruiting Affiliates

Beyond the strategies above, here are a few additional ways you can support your recruitment efforts and attract affiliates to your program.

• Host Webinars and Events: Offer educational webinars or networking events specifically for potential affiliates. Topics like “How to Maximize Affiliate Earnings” or “Trends in [Your Industry] Affiliate Programs” position you as a thought leader and attract motivated partners.
• Create a Referral Program for Current Affiliates: Your current affiliates likely know others in their space. Offer them an incentive to refer new partners, which can help you tap into trusted networks of quality affiliates.
• Build a Content Hub for Prospective Partners: Develop a dedicated page or microsite with resources for potential affiliates. Include case studies, earnings examples, FAQs, and program highlights to make it easy for them to see the value of joining.
• Engage in Industry Communities: Join forums, Slack groups, LinkedIn groups, and other industry communities where affiliates hang out. Participate in discussions, share insights, and build relationships over time to position your program as approachable and credible.

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Recruiting affiliates who perform well takes more than luck. By combining platforms like TUNE with transparency, ongoing outreach, and creative engagement tactics, you can attract and onboard partners who are aligned with your goals. Remember, recruitment is an ongoing effort. The more you invest in building relationships and maintaining your pipeline, the more successful your program will become.

Ready to start recruiting high-performing affiliates? Request a demo of TUNE to see how the platform’s advanced tools and resources can simplify your workflows and help you build more profitable partnerships.

Not ready for a demo? Download our Influencer-Affiliate Blueprint for even more tactics to attract and retain top-performing partners.

Affiliate marketing can be one of the smartest ways to grow your business when it’s done right. The performance-based model keeps costs predictable and incentives aligned. But there’s a catch: because commissions are at stake, affiliate programs are also a popular target for fraud.

Fraud hurts more than just your budget. It damages relationships with real affiliates, distorts your campaign data, and can even hurt customer trust. In fact, global ad fraud is costing businesses more each year, and is estimated to increase from $84 billion to $172 billion by 2028. Unfortunately, affiliate programs are part of that number.

Fortunately, there are ways for advertisers and businesses to fight back. In this post, we’ll cover what affiliate fraud looks like and what you can do to prevent it.

What Does Affiliate Fraud Look Like?

Affiliate fraud happens when someone manipulates your tracking or payout system to earn commissions they didn’t really earn. These shady tactics take money away from your legitimate partners and waste your marketing spend.

Here are some of the most common types of affiliate fraud:

• Application fraud: Fake or stolen identities used to join your program.
• Click fraud: Bots or scripts generate fake clicks to inflate metrics.
• Conversion fraud: Fraudsters claim credit for sales or leads that never happened.
• Conversion stealing: Affiliates take credit for sales driven by another channel.
• Click spamming: Repeated irrelevant clicks in hopes of claiming organic sales.
• Cookie stuffing: Dropping cookies without consent to claim unearned credit.

Each of these can lower ROI, throw off your data, and even get you penalized if they violate network or platform rules.

How to Spot and Stop Affiliate Fraud

You don’t have to accept fraud as a cost of doing business. The best programs stay ahead of bad actors by combining good partner management with the right technology. Here are four ways you can do the same.

1. Use Advanced Fraud Prevention Tools

The TUNE Partner Marketing Platform gives you free, built-in tools and integrations designed to catch fraud before it costs you. Use these tools to:

• Screen affiliates before they join your program with our E-HAWK integration.
• Block invalid clicks in real time using Proactive Fraud Prevention.
• Set your own KPIs and performance automation rules to automatically flag unusual traffic patterns.
• Get full transparency with real-time reporting to spot anomalies fast.
• Use advanced tracking methods like postbacks to verify conversions accurately and securely.

2. Manage Affiliates Directly

Strong affiliate relationships go a long way. When you manage partners yourself instead of relying on third parties, it’s easier to enforce policies, verify credentials, and keep communication open. Check out our blog post for a few of the top tips for managing your own program.

3. Monitor and Analyze Real-time Data

Real-time data can tell you when something doesn’t add up — like a sudden spike in traffic with no conversions. With TUNE’s detailed performance data, including real-time data streaming via TUNE Firehose, you can act fast and minimize losses.

4. Train Your Team to Stay Vigilant

Your team is your first line of defense. Make sure they know how to recognize red flags, use fraud tools effectively, and stay informed about emerging tactics.

Every fake click or false conversion wastes your ad spend and clouds your campaign data. That means worse ROI and poor decision-making. Investing in fraud prevention not only protects your budget, it helps build trust with honest affiliates who deserve to be paid for their real contributions.

Protect Your Program with TUNE

Affiliate fraud isn’t going away. But with the right approach, you can stay ahead of it. TUNE puts powerful, easy-to-use fraud prevention tools right at your fingertips, from advanced partner screening and real-time click blocking, to customizable automation rules that keep you in control 24/7.

Don’t wait until fraud drains your budget. Take control and keep your affiliate program secure today.

Ready to protect your program from fraud? Reach out to partnermarketing@tune.com to learn more about how TUNE helps marketers detect and prevent affiliate fraud.

Today’s consumers spend more time on their phones than on any other device, and that includes when they shop, browse, and engage with brands.

If your affiliate program isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re leaving money and opportunities on the table.

In this post, we’ll explain why mobile matters in affiliate marketing, how tracking has evolved to keep up, and what you can do to make your mobile campaigns shine.

Why Mobile Matters More Than Ever

Mobile now makes up more than half of global web traffic, and users spend nearly four hours a day on mobile apps. That means your customers and your partners are already mobile-first.

If your affiliate program is still designed for desktop, you’re missing the biggest share of your audience. Whether it’s driving app installs, in-app purchases, or clicks through mobile web, mobile touchpoints are defining the future of affiliate marketing.

Apps, Web, and Why You Need Both

A strong mobile affiliate marketing strategy includes both apps and mobile web, as each has unique advantages for partner campaigns.

Mobile Apps

Apps create deeper engagement and higher retention than websites. They let affiliates guide users straight to specific products or offers with deep links, creating a seamless path to purchase. Industries like gaming, e-commerce, and fintech have seen huge growth thanks to app-focused campaigns, and affiliates appreciate the stronger conversion rates that apps deliver.

Mobile Web

Mobile web is just as important. It’s flexible, easy to access, and accounts for around 60% of affiliate-driven traffic. That’s why you should:

• Build fast, responsive pages
• Keep navigation simple
• Optimize load times

Together, apps and web create richer customer journeys that desktop-only strategies can’t match.

Tracking Mobile Performance: What’s Changed?

Mobile isn’t just a different screen. Because of the nature of mobile operating systems, this channel requires different tracking methodologies.

Cookies don’t work reliably in mobile environments, which is why modern affiliate programs rely on cookieless postback tracking and mobile measurement partners (MMPs).

Mobile Measurement Partners

Mobile measurement partners, or MMPs, integrate directly with your app, ad networks, and affiliates to deliver accurate attribution. You’ll know exactly which affiliate drove each install, click, or purchase, and you can reward them with confidence.

Server Postbacks

Server-side postback tracking bypasses browsers completely. It ensures you get accurate, real-time data, even when cookies fail.

With MMPs and postback tracking, you can have confidence in your performance data and help future-proof your mobile affiliate marketing program as privacy rules evolve.

How TUNE Helps Marketers Win on Mobile

TUNE was built with mobile in mind, and we continue to innovate within the space. We also have native integrations with the top five mobile measurement partners.

Here’s how our platform helps advertisers and agencies simplify mobile affiliate marketing:

• Seamless integrations with MMPs, apps, ad platforms, and affiliate networks
• Native postback tracking and cookieless tracking that’s easy to implement
• Real-time dashboards to show what’s working and what needs improvement

In other words: The TUNE Partner Marketing Platform makes it easier to measure, optimize, and grow your mobile campaigns.

The Future of Affiliate Marketing Is Mobile

Mobile isn’t just an option anymore — it’s a foundational part of modern affiliate marketing. Brands that embrace mobile-first strategies see better engagement, stronger partnerships, and higher ROI. With TUNE’s tools and expertise, you can connect with customers wherever they are and give your affiliates the transparency and trust they need to succeed.

Want to learn more about how mobile measurement partners can help your program? Check out our MMP vs Partner Marketing Platform Cheat Sheet, or download our Ultimate Guide to Mobile Partner Marketing.

Still have questions? Reach out to us at partnermarketing@tune.com and let us know what’s on your mind.