Read Time: Approx. 2 Minutes 46 Seconds
Author: Dave Trolle
What is the Rakuten Advertising and impact.com alliance?
On the 28th April 2026, Rakuten Advertising and impact.com announced to the digital marketing and partnership marketing industry their plans to consolidate their offering to the market. Whilst the alliance is not an acquisition or merger, the change is a significant milestone in the industry, consolidating two powerhouses in the industry.
Why are Rakuten Advertising and impact.com joining forces?
Affiliate marketing continues to see increased growth globally and, in the UK, with more advertisers, publisher types, publishers, agencies and network options than ever before. This has led to increased fragmentation in the industry.
The alliance takes advantage of Rakuten Advertising’s best in class team and impact.com’s software as a service technology solution. It also brings together Rakuten Advertising’s global partner relationships, and performance intelligence; Rakuten Rewards’ Cash Back shopping platform and consumer reach; and impact.com’s global marketplace offering, including their ‘Creator’ offering.
How will it affect me?
As a Rakuten Advertising premium partner, whilst we won’t be calling out anyone specifically, we have noticed many networks and agencies scrambling to disrupt the status quo. Specifically, this change will be negative, and this is an opportunity to move away from Rakuten Advertising. Our message is to ignore the noise and not to panic. An unnecessary new business tactic!
Rakuten Advertising and impact.com are working closely together to ensure that the migration is seamless, and there is no business and performance disruption for any advertiser. You can work with your Rakuten Advertising contact and/or agency to be in control of when you migrate and mitigate any short-term performance challenges. Once the transition is completed, there promises to be long-term sustainable growth from the consolidation of the companies respective strengths.
Should I be concerned about the change?
The migration should be seen as a positive, no matter what size or level of maturity your programme. For underperforming programmes, this change will ultimately offer a chance to reset, ensuring all aspects of your programme are set up correctly. With the benefits of impacts.com increased publisher network, this should any programme increase their performance.
What are the key considerations for migration?
Below are the steps we would advise you to take when migrating:
1. Timelines: Understand which migration wave you’re in. The timing may hit your peak trading period, so you should work with the team to ensure the timing is right for you
2. Due Diligence: Validate whether your current setup (tracking, commissioning and publisher coverage) will be like for like. If this is not the case, work with your Rakuten Advertising contacts to plan when is best for your business
3. Planning: Ensure your agency has a clear plan for migration, and capacity to support. If you do not have agency support, ensure you have the time and expertise to manage the transition
4. Communication: Once you have agreed the migration dates, communicate to your publisher community as early as possible about the change.
How are we managing the transition for our clients?
We are treating this the same as any network migration, with a highly due diligent approach. We are working collaboratively with both the team at Rakuten Advertising and impact.com and are following all the steps outlined above for all our clients currently on Rakuten Advertising. This will be a phased approach, so each of our clients receive the time and attention needed, to truly benefit from the change.
How can Customer First Digital support?
As an accredited agency partner for both networks, we’re able to cut through the industry noise. We appreciate there are many advertisers who do not have managed service level support, to manage this change, so can support with either advice or a fully managed migration service.
If you’re on Rakuten Advertising’s platform and would like to know how we can support, please feel free to get in touch with our team of experts.
Here's what Dave Trolle, founder of Customer First Digital, had to say: "We are excited to see how this continues to evolve and the opportunities it may create for us, and our clients."
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