Observed Signal · Jun 4, 2026 · Research Publication · Source: Hello Partner · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Negative
YouTube Affiliate Marketing Grows; Disclosures Lag
A study by researchers at the University of Iowa and UC Davis analysed over two million YouTube videos from ~540,000 creators published between 2015 and 2024 to map affiliate marketing activity and disclosure practices. The proportion of videos containing affiliate links rose from 5.3% (2015–2018) to 8.5% (2018–2024), with notable growth among smaller creators: channels under 100,000 subscribers increased affiliate content from 3.22% to 6.38%, and channels with 100k–1M subs rose from 8.66% to 12.73%. While 45.52% of affiliate videos included some disclosure, only 12.2% met the study’s interpretation of regulatory expectations for clearly communicating compensation and commercial relationships. Compliant disclosures improved overall (5.5% to 14.5%), but creators with more than one million subscribers showed the smallest compliance increase. The researchers recommend integrated disclosure tools, better monitoring, and stronger enforcement to improve transparency.
The study quantifies rapid growth in affiliate activity on a major creator platform and exposes weak disclosure compliance — implications for brands, platforms, affiliate networks and regulators on transparency, enforcement and brand safety.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Study by University of Iowa and UC Davis analysed over 2 million YouTube videos from ~540,000 creators (2015–2024).
- Share of videos containing affiliate links increased from 5.3% (2015–2018) to 8.5% (2018–2024).
- Channels with <100,000 subscribers increased affiliate content from 3.22% to 6.38%; channels with 100k–1M subs rose from 8.66% to 12.73%.
- 45.52% of affiliate videos included some disclosure, but only 12.2% met the study’s interpretation of regulatory disclosure expectations.
- Compliant disclosures rose from 5.5% to 14.5% across the period; creators with more than 1 million subscribers showed the smallest compliance increase.
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