What Rakuten Affiliate Network does

Rakuten Affiliate Network, operating commercially as Rakuten Advertising, is a global affiliate marketing platform connecting brands with publishers, influencers, and content creators. The company traces its lineage to LinkShare, founded in 1996, and was acquired by Japan's Rakuten Group (TYO: 4755) in 2005, subsequently rebranded as Rakuten Marketing in 2005 and again as Rakuten Advertising in 2019. Headquartered in the United States with 501–1,000 employees and regional offices across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Brazil, the company ranks #1 in global traffic among affiliate networks and reports reaching 1.2B+ consumers and processing 200M+ transactions through its platform.

The platform's core offering is its affiliate network, augmented by an AI-powered Affiliate Intelligence module for partner discovery, forecasting, and benchmarking, plus Audience Engine for targeting, Detect for fraud prevention, Influencer Marketing, and complementary media solutions including display (via Brunner partnership), paid search, and paid social. Underlying technology leverages what the company describes as the industry's largest data science team and exclusive proprietary data assets, with an API-first Developer Portal supporting integrations. In 2024, Rakuten Advertising formed a flagship strategic partnership with impact.com to extend its partner marketing reach and intelligence.

Rakuten Advertising operates a dual go-to-market motion: enterprise field sales targeting global brands and agencies alongside self-serve publisher acquisition via publisher.rakutenadvertising.com. Revenue is primarily transaction-based, taking fees on affiliate-driven sales, with complementary affiliate-referral revenue from influencer marketing and advertising revenue from media/display. Pricing is custom, quote-based, and not publicly disclosed. The company serves enterprise advertisers, agencies, and publishers/creators across verticals including retail, travel, and financial services, with named customers including H&M, JD Sports, Icelandair, OUAI, and Cleo.

Name

Rakuten Affiliate Network

Legal name

Rakuten Advertising

Website

https://marketing.rakuten.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Rakuten Affiliate Network (Rakuten Advertising) is a global affiliate marketing platform, founded in 1996 as LinkShare and now a subsidiary of Japan's Rakuten Group. It connects enterprise brands with publishers and influencers, ranking #1 in global affiliate network traffic and serving retail, travel, and financial services customers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Affiliate Marketing Platform

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Media Buying Agencies (541830), Media Buying Agencies (54183), Media Representatives (54184)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Affiliate Marketing & Partner Networks (BPAMALAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Affiliate & Partner Marketing (Performance Partnerships) (BPAFACAE), Affiliate Marketing & Partner Program Management (MPAAACAD), Affiliate & Performance Creator Programs (BPAFAHAG), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) / Paid Search (PPC) Management (MPAAACAB)

Keywords

• Affiliate marketing platform
• Performance marketing network
• Partner marketing solutions
• Influencer marketing platform
• Digital advertising technology

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Affiliate Marketing Commissions: Rakuten Advertising operates as an affiliate network connecting advertisers with publishers. The company earns revenue by taking a percentage or fee from transactions and conversions generated through its network. This is a transaction-based, performance-driven model where fees are tied to measurable outcomes such as sales, leads, or clicks.
2. Influencer Marketing: The company extends its affiliate capabilities to influencer partnerships, monetizing brand-influencer connections through its integrated platform.
3. Media and Display Advertising: Additional revenue streams through display advertising, paid social, and paid search solutions offered alongside core affiliate services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Rakuten Affiliate Network (operating as Rakuten Advertising) operates an affiliate marketing platform that connects global brands and advertisers with a curated network of publishers, influencers, and content creators for performance-based partnerships. The platform enables commission-driven tracking, AI-powered partner discovery and forecasting through its Affiliate Intelligence suite, audience targeting via Audience Engine, fraud detection via Detect, and complementary media buying solutions across display, paid search, and paid social channels.

Product overview

Rakuten Advertising operates as a comprehensive affiliate marketing platform offering a core Affiliate solution complemented by specialized modules. The portfolio includes Audience Engine for targeting, Detect for fraud detection, Influencer Marketing for influencer partnerships, Media for broader advertising, Display, Paid Search, and Paid Social. The platform is distinguished by Affiliate Intelligence, an AI-powered analytics layer that provides forecasting, benchmarking, and partner discovery capabilities across the network. The company also formed a strategic partnership with impact.com to combine affiliate and partner marketing solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Affiliate Intelligence: AI-powered affiliate analytics and insights platform that helps brands and publishers find winning partners, create custom programs, and predict/improve overall value.
• Audience Engine
• Detect

Products and services

• Affiliate Marketing Platform Core performance-based affiliate marketing solution connecting global brands with publishers, enabling commission-driven partnerships across awareness, engagement, sales, and loyalty stages of the marketing funnel. Serves enterprise advertisers and publishers seeking scalable performance marketing programs.
• Affiliate Intelligence

Quantifiable outcome

• 200M+ transactions completed
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• impact.comflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerRakuten Advertising and impact.com form a strategic partnership combining two industry titans in partner marketing. The partnership creates an 'unstoppable force' offering more opportunities, deeper intelligence, greater clarity, and stronger performance for clients. Details available at rakuteninternational.com/news/rakuten-and-impact

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ShareASale: Long-established US-centric affiliate network now owned by Awin Group. Provides comparable affiliate tracking and publisher recruitment services, particularly strong in mid-market retail and DTC segments.
• FlexOffers: Affiliate network connecting advertisers with a large global publisher base across retail, finance, and travel. Direct competitor at the mid-market tier, with comparable transaction-based monetization and multi-vertical positioning.
• Awin: Global affiliate network with strong EMEA presence, formed from the merger of Affiliate Window and zanox. Competes head-to-head with Rakuten in retail, travel, and finance verticals, particularly across European markets.
• CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction): One of the longest-standing affiliate networks, owned by Publicis Groupe. Directly competes with Rakuten in connecting global brands to publishers, with overlapping enterprise customer roster and similar transaction-based revenue model.
• impact.com: Global partner marketing platform offering affiliate, influencer, and B2B partnership management. Rakuten Advertising's closest direct competitor and now also its 2024 strategic partner — directly comparable in enterprise customer base, technology stack, and global footprint.
• PepperJam (Ascend): Affiliate and partner marketing platform now operating under the Ascend brand via PartnerStack. Direct competitor in mid-market affiliate management with comparable publisher recruitment and tracking capabilities.

Emerging players

• PartnerStack: SaaS-native partnership management platform focused on B2B SaaS affiliate and referral programs. Represents the modern, software-led approach to partner marketing and competes with Rakuten for digital-native brand budgets.
• Refersion: Creator and affiliate marketing platform focused on influencer and DTC brand workflows. Overlaps with Rakuten's Influencer Marketing product line and appeals to digitally native merchants seeking lighter-weight tooling.

Broad incumbents

• ClickBank: Established affiliate network with global reach across digital products, supplements, and info-product verticals. Comparable transaction-fee model but with a more niche, SMB-heavy publisher base than Rakuten's enterprise focus.
• Amazon Associates: The world's largest affiliate program by publisher count, operated within Amazon's e-commerce ecosystem. While not a traditional network, it sets the bar for publisher expectations and competes for a share of performance-marketing attention.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/9866
• Xx.com/linkshareblog
• Facebookfacebook.com/LinkShare

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rakuten Affiliate Network