Amazon has been quietly restructuring its Associates program since late 2025.
Commission rates cut by up to 50%. Milestone-based bonuses eliminated. Reporting tools degraded. No public announcement. Publishers found out through their dashboards and individual calls with account managers.
Some publishers now expect their 2026 Amazon revenues to be 50% lower than projected.
For brands running direct affiliate programs, this is one of the clearest recruitment windows I have seen in years.
Publishers did not link to Amazon out of loyalty. They linked because the economics made it the obvious choice. When commissions drop from 10% to 4 or 5% overnight, those publishers need somewhere new to send their traffic.
Three things determine whether you capture this:
Be competitive against what Amazon was paying before the cuts. The 8 to 10% range is the benchmark publishers are still working against.
Make reporting a selling point. Loss of product-level visibility is one of the loudest complaints coming out of Amazon's changes.
Prioritize content publishers. Review sites, buying guides, editorial commerce destinations. They send high-intent traffic and are the most motivated to diversify right now.
The brands that move in the next 60 to 90 days will pick up partners that would have been nearly impossible to recruit six months ago.
Want to scale your affiliate program? Book a free strategy call here.
Talk soon,
Fred