Affiliate Roundup: B2B’s Use of Tech Affiliate Networks, Google’s Privacy-First Shift, and Insider Tips for Affiliate Success

This week in FMTC’s Affiliate Roundup: B2B marketers in 2025 are turning to tech affiliate networks for targeted reach and global scalability. Google is rolling out long-awaited transparency updates to Performance Max, including channel-level reporting and search term visibility. The performance marketing industry is grappling with an identity crisis, as leaders at APMA Advertiser Connect push for full-funnel strategies and stronger industry collaboration.

• If you ever spent time with Shawn Collins, the Co-Founder of Affiliate Summit, you likely heard some of his entertaining fraternity stories and may be interested that he is writing a memoir. Who knows – perhaps his later career in affiliate marketing might make an appearance. If you know a good agent, reach out to him!

• Behavioral economist Ionut Ciobotaru argues that marketing must shift to probabilistic, privacy-first measurement as third-party cookies disappear.

• In 2025, B2B marketers are leveraging tech affiliate networks to drive targeted traffic, manage performance-based payouts, and achieve global reach—making them a strategic fit for modern MarTech campaigns.

• The PMA’s May 14 webinar will reveal insider tips from affiliate managers on finding partners, preventing fraud, and boosting engagement.

• Six months after the Google Creator Summit, Mike Hardaker reports a 50.8% traffic drop, blaming Google’s algorithm changes.

• Google is enhancing transparency in its Performance Max campaigns by introducing channel-level reporting, full search term visibility, and detailed asset performance metrics, addressing advertisers’ long-standing concerns about the platform’s opacity.

• At APMA Advertiser Connect, experts warned that performance marketing faces an identity crisis and called for a shift to full-funnel strategy and unified affiliate advocacy.