SiGMA’s latest interview says iGaming affiliate marketing is maturing in 2026, with more focus on KPIs, traffic quality, and practical AI use. That changes how media buyers are judged.
One of the clearest affiliate-market signals this month came from SiGMA’s interview with Trident CEO Nikita Koshelyuk. His argument is straightforward: iGaming affiliate marketing is maturing, the classic CPA model is losing its dominance, and KPI-based structures are becoming more important. He also points to faster practical adoption of AI in creative generation and analytics.
That shift matters because KPI logic changes the whole meaning of “good traffic.” Cheap front-end volume becomes less impressive when operators care more about player value, downstream behavior, and quality after the click. A separate SiGMA interview on traffic quality makes the same point from another angle, saying competition for high-value players is intensifying and that partner trust and traffic quality are becoming decisive for sustainable growth.
For media buyers, that means the market is becoming less tolerant of brute-force acquisition and more interested in traffic that survives backend scrutiny. That is not bad news for strong teams. It is bad news for weak volume. Buyers who understand deposit quality, retention logic, and approval stability are likely to gain relative advantage as the industry becomes more KPI-driven.
