Why Media Buying and AI Help Affiliate Programs Diversify and Thrive

What happens when affiliate marketing is no longer just SEO, and media buying becomes a core part of user acquisition strategy?

Lee-Ann Johnstone sits down with Kamila Łuksza-Szpyt, Managing Director and Marcin Kumięga, Director of Business Development at Voluum to discuss how iGaming and affiliate programs are shifting away from single-channel dependency and into a multi-layered acquisition model driven by affiliate media buying strategy, AI, and real-time optimisation.

For years, SEO affiliates and review sites dominated acquisition strategies. But that model is breaking down under pressure from AI search, rising traffic costs, and changing user behaviour. The result is a major shift: brands are now forced to rethink what “affiliates” actually mean, and expand into broader user acquisition strategies.

Kamila and Marcin break down what is really changing inside the industry; traffic diversification and testing budgets to tracking, attribution, and why many programs fail in their first 30–60 days of media buying.

Affiliate Media Buying Strategy: Key Talking Points 

• Why SEO-only affiliate strategies are losing visibility in iGaming
• How AI search and Google AI Overviews are changing traffic distribution
• Why media buying is becoming a core user acquisition channel
• Why data tracking and technical setup are critical for success
• How AI is changing optimisation and reporting workflows
• Why affiliates and media buying should not be treated as competing channels
• The role of attribution in connecting campaigns across the funnel

Why iGaming Is Moving From SEO to Multi-Channel Acquisition

The traditional iGaming model relied heavily on SEO affiliates, comparison sites, and review pages to drive traffic. That model worked because search behaviour was stable and predictable.

Kamila and Marcin explain that this is no longer the case. AI-driven search, Google AI Overviews, and shifting consumer behaviour are reducing organic visibility and pushing brands to rethink their dependency on SEO.

At the same time, media buying channels such as push, pop, native, programmatic, and paid social are opening up at scale. This creates a wider, more competitive acquisition environment but also a much larger opportunity pool.

Instead of relying on one predictable funnel, brands now operate across multiple fragmented touchpoints, making diversification not optional, but necessary.

The First 60 Days: Where Most Media Buying Strategies Fail

One of the strongest insights from the episode is how many programs fail early due to poor setup and expectations.

Kamila highlights two consistent issues:

• Brands expect fast ROI without proper testing phases
• Budgets are either too small or too widely spread across traffic sources

Marcin adds that another major issue is mindset: many operators still treat media buying as a replacement for affiliates rather than a complementary user acquisition channel.

The reality is that successful campaigns rely on structured testing, proper tracking setup (UTMs, postbacks, attribution), and a clear understanding of what success actually means before scaling begins.

Without this foundation, optimisation becomes guesswork rather than strategy.

Listen to Learn More About Affiliate Media Buying and AI 

• Why SEO alone is no longer a sustainable acquisition strategy
• How AI is reshaping both traffic and optimisation workflows
• What brands consistently get wrong in the first 30–60 days of media buying
• Why tracking infrastructure is critical for performance marketing success
• How to properly structure testing budgets across multiple traffic sources

Timestamps to Go Direct

• [03:22] Why AI search is reducing organic traffic
• [06:55] Biggest mistakes brands make when starting media buying
• [08:55] Why tracking and technical setup determine success
• [10:58] Funnel differences between SEO and paid media
• [15:00] Budget allocation and traffic source strategy
• [25:50] How AI is changing media buying workflows
• [32:15] Real-world success case: +30% conversion rate uplift
• [36:54] Rapid fire: AI, LTV, and scaling mistakes

Call to Action

Media buying is no longer treated as a side experiment by many affiliate programs. It is becoming part of a broader user acquisition strategy, sitting alongside SEO, partnerships and other performance channels.

Kamila and Marcin from Voluum break down exactly how brands can approach this shift with structure, testing discipline, and the right tracking infrastructure to avoid costly early mistakes.

If you’re working in affiliate marketing, user acquisition, or performance media, this episode shows what is changing right now — and what you need to fix before scaling.

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