Rakuten Advertising
Rakuten Advertising is a affiliate and performance marketing platform for brands and publishers.
Analyst Perspective
Rakuten Advertising is a business-to-business advertising technology company focused on affiliate, partner, influencer, audience, and performance marketing. It operates a global affiliate network that connects advertisers with publishers and creators, and it provides supporting software and data products for tracking, attribution, forecasting, benchmarking, audience activation, analytics, and fraud prevention. The business also runs managed media services spanning display, programmatic, paid search, paid social, and CTV-oriented planning and execution. The company generates revenue primarily from performance-based affiliate economics and service fees. Advertisers and agencies use its platforms and services to recruit partners, run campaigns, target audiences, and measure outcomes, while publishers use the network to monetise traffic and content through advertiser relationships. Rakuten Advertising sits within Rakuten Group, Inc. as an operating division rather than an independent public company.
Analyst Signal Briefing
Updated: 29 Jul 2026Rakuten Advertising has launched Mirai, a conversational AI agent designed to automate affiliate campaign management and backend optimisation through natural language. Market studies from Rakuten TV Enterprise indicate a surge in European FAST viewership, prompting the firm to advocate for bridging the 'Advertiser-Viewer Gap' as CTV spend rises. The company also secured two Gold awards at the 2026 US Partnership Awards, specifically recognising its excellence in content and category-specific partnership programmes.
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Key insights about Rakuten Advertising
Category Differentiation
This is Rakuten’s B2B advertising and affiliate marketing division, not the broader Rakuten consumer marketplace or fintech businesses. It is also not a pure data broker or a standalone DSP-only vendor.
Rakuten Advertising: About
Rakuten Advertising operates a two-sided B2B performance marketing and advertising platform. On one side, it aggregates advertisers and agencies seeking measurable customer acquisition and media execution. On the other side, it aggregates publishers, creators, and partners seeking monetisation. The company creates value by facilitating partner discovery, campaign tracking, attribution, audience activation, reporting, and fraud control across this network. It extends this platform model with managed media services in display, paid search, paid social, and programmatic buying, increasing wallet share from existing advertiser relationships.
How Rakuten Advertising Works & Monetises
Business model analysis and core revenue streams
Rakuten Advertising primarily monetises through performance-based affiliate network fees tied to completed outcomes such as sales or leads, typically taking a network fee or percentage of transaction value. It also generates revenue from managed service fees for media planning, programmatic buying, paid search, paid social, and display execution, commonly structured as spend-based fees or retainers. Additional monetisation comes from enterprise platform contracts and bundled data-driven capabilities such as analytics, audience activation, benchmarking, and fraud protection.
Revenue Channels
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Products & Services in Categories
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Technology
Rakuten Advertising: Key Competitors & Alternatives
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Digital holding company spanning affiliate, creator commerce and loyalty platforms.
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Adtech holding company spanning media monetisation and affiliate software.
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Japanese adtech and martech platform spanning media buying, monetisation and CRM.
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Affiliate marketing platform connecting advertisers with publishers.
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Affiliate marketing platform for brands, agencies, publishers and creators.
Recent Signals (Rakuten Advertising)
FAST Hits Mainstream TV, Forces Ad Market Rethink
Rakuten TV Enterprise market studies show FAST (Free Ad‑Supported Streaming TV) has become mainstream in Germany and Europe, changing how advertisers plan CTV campaigns. In Germany 79% of respondents use FAST daily or several times a week (Europe ~74%), and four in five view FAST as a primary or alternative way to watch TV. Most FAST viewing (94%) happens on TV devices. Advertiser acceptance of ads in streaming is high if ads are relevant; 82% of European respondents accept advertising in streaming contexts. Advertisers are shifting investment and measurement priorities: CTV is a standard channel (100% of surveyed advertisers use or plan to use it), 72% of German advertisers plan to raise CTV spend, and attention, context and brand impact are rising measurement priorities. Rakuten highlights an "Advertiser‑Viewer Gap" that the industry must address.
Read original source2026 US Partnership Awards: Gold Winners Announced
The 2026 US Partnership Awards (USPAs) winners were published in a digital-first format, recognising leading partnership, affiliate, influencer and performance marketing work. Hello Partner founder Matthew Wood highlighted entrants’ stronger measurement, commercialised AI use, and disciplined execution. Major gold winners included Tombras (five golds, incl. Partnership of the Year and Best Full Funnel Strategy), CJ (Best Platform for Partnership Success and Best Use of AI/Automation with CJ 360-AI), Rakuten Advertising (two golds, incl. Best Content Partnership and Best Health, Beauty & Wellness Partnership with Bluemercury), Partnerize (Most Innovative Technology for VantagePoint), and Acceleration Partners (Best Affiliate Programme Optimization for TikTok, exceeding targets by over 160% in North America). Other notable winners included Linkbux Media, Gen3 Marketing, Round Barn Labs, Partner Commerce, Trafalgar with Capital One Ad Solutions, and Upsellit with Splits59.
Read original source2026 US Partnership Awards Shortlist Revealed
HelloPartner published the 2026 US Partnership Awards (USPAs) shortlist on 2026-05-29. The USPAs, returning June 11 as a digital-first programme, highlight standout partnership work across categories including Media Buying Affiliate Campaigns, Most Innovative Technology, Best Full Funnel Strategy, Influencer Marketing, and Best Use of AI/Automation. The shortlist names agencies, platforms and brands — from Linkbux Media and Shutterfly to Rakuten Advertising, CJ, impact.com and numerous agency–brand collaborations — and calls out performance outcomes such as multi-thousand-percent revenue uplifts and multi-million-dollar growth engines. The article emphasises AI-driven entries (e.g., CJ 360-AI, Partnerize VantagePoint) and notes finalists gain access to a USPA community Slack channel for networking ahead of the awards on June 11.
Read original sourceRakuten Advertising: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Rakuten Advertising?
Rakuten Advertising is a B2B advertising technology company that runs affiliate, partner, influencer, audience, and managed media solutions for brands, agencies, and publishers.
Who uses Rakuten Advertising?
Enterprise and mid-market advertisers, agencies, affiliate managers, publishers, bloggers, and creators use the platform to acquire customers and monetise audiences.
How does Rakuten Advertising make money?
It earns revenue from performance-based affiliate network fees, managed media service fees, and enterprise platform capabilities such as analytics, audience activation, and fraud protection.
Company Facts
- Founded
- 1996
- Headquarters
- United States
- Core Segment
- AdTech Vendor
- Company Size
- 501–1,000
- Official Link
- rakutenadvertising.com