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16 October 2026
Online gambling publishers are under pressure to diversify their revenue models beyond the classic affiliate search and display formula. Increasing their share of premium ad revenues, moving into subscriptions, and tying earnings to player engagement and on-site actions are becoming priorities.
After years of relying on search-generated traffic and open-market ad auctions, some publishers are pulling more of their inventory in-house. In 2025, the largest iGaming publishers said they were receiving only 49% of advertiser spend when selling to the open market, versus 54% when moving to private ad selling. This is prompting some to invest directly in the ad-server technology that lets them match ads to placements without intermediaries and avoid broadcasting first-party audience data into the trading networks.
Monetization moves go beyond ad selling. Gambling.com's move into subscription sports data services was one example, with the share of total revenue from these products surging to 26% in Q4 2025, from nearly zero the previous year. Publishers are also experimenting with the BetTech model that ties publisher earnings to user engagement on-site, not just clicks away to operator landing pages - a trend that goes beyond the gambling niche. Publishers in adjacent verticals like sports and fintech are likewise seeking ways of monetizing behavior other than the click.
These trends are happening at a time when major publishers have fewer searches to capture. Gambling Insider reported a 2025 Google update affected organic rankings for high-authority affiliate sites, no doubt grinding on their traffic returns. A need to protect against Google's whims as well as taking more control over advertising is prompting publishers to lean more on direct affiliate deals, as well as reopening the classic publisher faculty of subscriber-only content.
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So content is evolving too. Expert publications such as CasinoBeats and Next.io are starting to incorporate affiliate material alongside editorial in a more integrated way. Under those brands, guides, betting comparisons and gambling news sit alongside affiliate material. Transparency becomes truly important and authors need to be clear about editorial versus affiliate. Gambling.com jumped on this trend as one piece of their growth strategy, announcing partnership deals with the media owners Gannett and McClatchy.
What's next? Will some iGaming publishers follow the example of Betway and Eight Media, who built their own DSPs, as they shift more to direct ad sales? Will other big publishers develop their own ad servers, rather than relying on open market players such as The Trade Desk? Will trial subscriptions become standard?
