Affiliate Roundup: Creator Earnings Polarize, IAB Australia Tightens Affiliate Standards, Cautious Shoppers Lean on Discounts and BNPL, & More

This week in FMTC’s Affiliate Roundup: Creator earnings are polarizing in 2025, with top creators earning more while most see falling rates. IAB Australia introduced a new framework to standardize and reduce fraud in affiliate marketing. Record holiday traffic masked cautious shoppers leaning heavily on discounts and BNPL.

• New data from Hello Partner shows the 2025 creator economy is sharply polarizing, with top creators earning more while mid-tier and emerging creators face falling rates and tougher brand demands.

• POWDER reports that outdoor media is consolidating into affiliate-driven networks even as a new wave of audience-first, passion-based creators resurges.

• Radisson Hotel Group has rolled out Creator Hub — a global platform that lets “nano-creators” (1,000–30,000 Instagram or TikTok followers) trade curated hotel stays and VIP perks for travel-content creation, skipping traditional payment altogether.

• IAB Australia released a new compliance guide setting clearer standards for fraud prevention and transparent validation in affiliate marketing.

• Awin says its new Conversion Protection Initiative recovered roughly $250 million in lost revenue for brands — boosting attribution of previously missed conversions and improving tracking accuracy across its affiliate network.

• Despite record holiday traffic, shoppers were more cautious, relying on discounts and buy now pay later (BNPL) to stretch tighter budgets.

• New York Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act requires businesses to alert consumers when AI-powered algorithms set different prices based on personal data — a first-of-its-kind law aimed at reining in “surveillance pricing.”