Rakuten Advertising: Q3 Affiliate Publishers Partner Spotlight

Curiosity drives performance for affiliate publishers and brands alike. The strongest affiliate programs don’t stand still—they test new voices, formats, and audiences. Across the Rakuten Advertising network, brands that broaden their partner mix with innovative affiliate publishers see wider reach, richer engagement, and more incremental growth. 

This quarter, shoppers moved fluidly: discovering ideas on emerging platforms, trusting creator recommendations, comparing options on content and deal sites, and sealing the purchase through loyalty and savings tools. If you rely on a narrow slice of publisher types, you’ll miss key assists along that journey—and leave revenue on the table. 

Our Q3 Affiliate Publisher Spotlight curates a lineup of breakout partners in our network. Think shoppable video and content-commerce innovators, niche community leaders, mobile-first utilities, and technology-driven discovery experiences—publishers redefining how and where consumers connect with brands. 

Ready to find your next performance lift? Dive into the Q3 Publisher Spotlight from Rakuten Advertising, map these partners to your goals, and turn fresh discovery into measurable results. 

SafeOpt

SafeOpt is a specialized affiliate and performance-based revenue recovery platform that drives sales by solving a problem every e-commerce brand has: on average, 95% of visitors to a brand’s site never identify themselves. SafeOpt – powered by our device graph linked to over 450+ million co-registered email addresses – converts those previously anonymous browsers into buyers by sending tailored, brand-approved offers from our own domain. SafeOpt’s emails do not replace or disrupt any existing marketing flows (including retargeting emails, which the brand should already have in place).  

SafeOpt guarantees ROAS and uses CPA-only pricing with no setup or subscription fees and no required flat fees. Trusted by over 1,300+ leading brands, including Stanley, Dr. Squatch, Blue Nile, and more – SafeOpt runs on a plug-and-play basis for brands of any industry to drive growth, reduce customer acquisition cost, and turn lost browsers into loyal buyers.  

THE NOD

The Nod is a global affiliate publisher discovery platform for travel & dining recommendations – powered by creators and built for businesses. Travel & hospitality brands connect with creators on The Nod for content and partnerships. Creators earn commissions and/or flat fees when sharing recommendations with their existing social media followers. Consumers discover new places through creators they trust on our modern and centralized platform, leading to visibility, engagement, and bookings. 

Creators on The Nod are vetted for strong reach and engagement, with followers ranging from 5,000 to 1M+. Brands approve participating creators who apply to each custom and dedicated campaign package. Partner with us to engage with creators, customize offers and campaigns, amplify content with paid media, and track and boost awareness. The Nod transforms trusted recs into powerful affiliate marketing campaigns that drive awareness, revenue, and brand loyalty.  

Pie

Pie combines a customizable, affiliate-friendly ad blocker with powerful shopping tools like loyalty and rewards. Pie helps our advertiser partners unlock a unique and highly valuable audience of ad blocker users—consumers that have been historically difficult to reach through traditional online advertising. Pie Instant Rewards campaigns are a completely new way to drive top-of-funnel traffic. Instant Rewards introduce shoppers to merchants’ sites from platforms like Google, Reddit and YouTube. 

Wizard Perks

Wizard Perks is an AI-powered employee rewards platform that helps national brands connect directly with high-value corporate audiences. By offering exclusive discounts, cashback, or perks through Wizard Perks, brands gain access to a trusted, clutter-free channel inside companies—reaching professionals with strong purchasing power and intent.

 Wizard Perks curates offers around demographics, key life events, and more, enabling brands to deliver relevant promotions. Because the platform is free for employers and employees, adoption is rapid and engagement is high. For brands, this means performance-based exposure, real-time data insights, and increased loyalty—without the noise of traditional advertising. Whether it’s travel upgrades, retail discounts, or local services, Wizard Perks turns everyday purchases into powerful brand moments. 

Beacons  

Beacons is a leading influencer marketing platform that connects brands with over 7 million creators, helping advertisers drive measurable business outcomes. Our hybrid publisher model combines affiliate marketing with flat-fee campaign support, enabling brands to unlock the power of authentic creator partnerships. Brands can seamlessly engage top-tier creators who feature products in custom Beacons storefronts, integrated directly into their Link-in-Bio, making discovery and conversion effortless. 

Linkby

Linkby is a market-first ad tech platform that allows brands of all sizes to secure dedicated and listicle-based coverage across the world’s biggest publishers using a CPC model. Linkby is free to pitch—we have no integration costs, retainers, or subscription fees. It was founded in 2020, and since then, our offices and publisher partners have expanded across the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Singapore, with plans to expand into Europe. 

Shopsense.ai

Shopsense AI is a next-generation content monetization platform that connects retail products with premium publisher content. Our technology powers contextual, high-intent placements across editorial environments—including Shop The Image functionality within articles—reaching consumers at peak inspiration and driving them into your shopping funnel.  

Integrated with leading publishers like Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Vox Media, and more, Shopsense enables seamless product discoverability across digital content. Our platform requires no signup fees and offers low-lift integration—simply provide a product feed. 

Want to make the most of our diverse affiliate network? Check out our Q2 new and notable affiliate partners and let’s connect!