Brand Deals Report 2026: affiliate overtakes paid on YouTube

Why it matters

One-off collaborations still dominate across platforms, but on YouTube affiliate deals now make up 52.9 percent of brand partnerships, passing paid deals for the first time. Social commerce is forecast above 100 billion dollars in US sales this year, with influencer driven spend up 51 percent during Cyber Week 2025. The line between content and commerce keeps compressing.

The source