The quarter of the 21st century is almost behind us. That’s a big milestone, which has brought some major changes to our line of work.

In this article, we’d like to address those changes and take a look at how they will impact the future of performance marketing. We will also peek into some trends of 2025, both related to marketing in general and adult vertical in particular.

We’ll start with the most specific ones and gradually turn our attention to wide-scale tendencies, like the mass adoption of AI and mobile-centered marketing.

Industry-related changes in legislation and their impact

Age verification laws have either already been implemented in several GEOs or are being discussed. For example, multiple states in the USA, like Louisiana, Utah, and Texas have already enforced such laws for adult websites. Major industry players try to boycott such initiatives, but mostly to no avail. It goes beyond just the USA, as the UK, France, and Germany have joined the club too.

Basically, any website with one-third of adult content operating in one of those GEOs is to ensure that age verification is in place to avoid being penalized. The fines can go up to $10,000 per day, which is a small fortune. Monitor the latest news and changes in legislation together with us, so we don’t miss a single thing.

Another piece of legislation to watch out for is the Digital Service Act (DSA), which has been in full force since February 2024. DSA demands that advertisers disclose the reasons behind ad targeting and provide users with options to opt out. It’s not the end of the world, because being able to opt out doesn’t necessarily mean the users will. Currently, the law is obligatory for the EU GEOs only.

Changes in legislation will affect many GEOs from Tier 1 and Tier 2. Implementing compliance strategies is crucial to keep your business up and running and to maintain users’ trust in an evolving legal landscape.

Trends in the adult vertical

Adult traffic is winning over the hearts and minds of advertisers, attracting their attention and changing their preferences. Gone are the days when mainstream product owners searched for mainstream traffic exclusively. Adult websites generate highly engaged users, willing to explore all kinds of products, ranging from financial consultations and services to eCommerce, sweepstakes, and iGaming.

As for the adult verticals, cams continue to rank higher than most of the other niches. But there is an emerging trend indeed: users are getting crazy about interactive toys, which boost engagement through the roof.

The conversion fire of VR cams is smoldering right now, due to the lack of infrastructure for mass adoption of VR headsets. According to Rene Pour, such helmets are still too expensive, causing the niche to stagnate a bit. But once they become more affordable (we expect it to happen soon), you can expect a conflagration, so watch out closely for the VR market to be the first to tap into this vertical. 

General affiliate marketing trends

Compared to December 2023, mobile traffic has increased its share by almost 5%. Mobile phones offer a more handy access point to the internet, which is why advertisers can’t help but target them as well if they are to remain competitive.

At the same time, mobile users are far from being homogenous, forcing marketers to take into account various platforms and content preferences, for example, Android users like anime, while iOS might favor gay content. But this observation is to be confirmed (or busted) by yourself, so do your own research and testing.

Mobile-centered focus in campaigns makes such ad formats as Interstitials, Push notifications, Banners, and Videos grow in popularity, thanks to their simplicity. Still, you gotta keep in mind that major GEOs, like the ones in Europe, are concerned with user privacy and the usage of cookies. This in turn renders S2S tracking as a more robust alternative.

Large-scale trends in performance marketing

When it comes to prosperity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in the limelight of popularity. Content creation, targeting the right audience, and analyzing the performance — you name it and AI is most likely to be involved there. Affiliate marketers are leveraging AI tools to design creatives, manage chatbots, and handle chores. For instance, algorithms revolutionize dating products, facilitating interactivity.

Yet, one of the most important aspects of AI is big data analytics, which helps to discover hidden correlations through advanced algorithms and rapid computations. This, once again, creates a competitive advantage for networks with established infrastructure. This in turn makes the future of TwinRed more predictable and stable, which is great for all our partners 😎

The next big thing is personalization. Personalization includes tailored creatives, customized sales funnels, and appropriate Tone Of Voice (TOV). Right now, users have an abundance of alternatives to choose from, so segmentation and specialization become inevitable.

Final words

As a final trend, we’d like to highlight our own focus on growing and innovating our platform. It’s not only about expanding our presence, though we intend to attend a lot of events next year. We’re on our way to releasing TwinRed 2.0, which has been developed from scratch to ensure everything is up-to-date and tailored to our particular needs.

The digital landscape can be turbulent, but we can navigate any waters of performance marketing, and our ship is on its way toward 2025. Are you with us, partners?