The Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (APMA) in the UK is pleased to announce a new cross-border collaboration with the Affiliate Partner Marketing Circle (APMC) in Germany.
The two trade bodies will produce a comprehensive view of the affiliate market in both countries. Germany and the UK account for 50% of all digital marketing spend in Europe.
Months in the planning, the project means affiliate marketers will have a side-by-side view of Europe’s two powerhouse digital marketing economies.
The APMC is a working group operating under the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW), Germany’s major digital marketing trade association.
Both markets scoped, scaled and sized for the first time
The collaboration will see the organisations collect and analyse the same data from the major affiliate networks and platforms in both markets to provide a comprehensive view on the size, structure, and performance of their respective affiliate markets.
This data will include sales volumes, revenue tracked and active publishers. Additional datasets will focus on sector and publisher breakdowns, which will allow marketers to understand where growth is strongest in both markets.
The shared framework allows the results to be viewed side by side, with a clearer and more consistent comparison.
Growing collobaration between largest European markets
This is a first-of-its-kind initiative for the affiliate channel and reflects the increasingly international nature of the industry. Many advertisers, agencies, networks, and publishers now operate across borders, yet market-level data has historically been difficult to come by.
Supported by affiliate networks and platforms including impact.com, Tradedoubler, CJ, Awin and Webgains, brands, agencies and publishers will now benefit from a more cohesive view of the affiliate channel.
For companies already active in both the UK and Germany, the research will provide a clearer understanding of how the two markets compare in terms of scale, maturity, and composition. For businesses considering expansion into either territory, it will offer valuable context to support planning and investment decisions. Global organisations with established affiliate footprints in both markets will also benefit from benchmarked performance.
April release date
In the UK, the data will form the basis of the third annual State of the Affiliate Nation due for release on 30th April.
Commenting on the collaboration, Kevin Edwards, Founder and Director of APMA, said:
“We’re delighted to be able to announce this project after many months of planning and ongoing conversations. As the channel becomes increasingly global, shared challenges and shared ambitions require shared insight. As two small organisations, we see the value in collaboration on this and other future projects.”
André Koegler, Strategic Partnerships & Country Lead DACH, impact.com, and one of the architects of the collaboration, commented:
“Affiliate and partner marketing already operates across borders, but market-level data has not kept pace. This collaboration is a practical step towards greater consistency, transparency, and comparability across European markets. Typically, advertisers, agencies, and platforms working internationally do not have access to reliable cross-border data. By aligning data frameworks between APMA and APMC, we are creating a shared reference point to better understand the scale, maturity, and structure of Europe’s two largest e-commerce markets and to support more informed strategic decision-making.”
A signal of future collaboration
Both the APMA and the APMC are independent, not-for-profit organisations. By collaborating on this research, both businesses can pool resources and support members with global ambitions.
The research will be led in Germany by Georg Wolf on behalf of the APMC, with Kevin Edwards leading the UK work for APMA. Josh Atkinson, an independent researcher based in the UK, will collect, collate and verify the data.
The UK report is scheduled to launch on 30 April, with the German report to follow.
This collaboration represents an important milestone not just for APMA and the APMC, but for the affiliate industry more broadly, demonstrating the value of cross-market cooperation and a more joined-up approach to understanding the channel’s role globally.
