Release of the "Affiliate Advertising Agency / Management Outsourcing Company Chaos Map [2026 Edition]" - A Thorough Investigation of 26 Companies in 5 Categories

StockSun Inc. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Keisuke Iwano) has jointly created and published the "Affiliate Advertising Agency / Management Outsourcing Company Chaos Map [2026 Edition]" with 'Search Ranking Pirates' (Kensaku Jun'i no Kaizoku). This map categorizes 26 companies with strong capabilities in affiliate advertising management and support into 5 distinct categories.

This chaos map is provided free of charge as a guideline for corporate personnel who are considering outsourcing their affiliate ad operations, helping them select the most suitable partner for their company.

▼ Chaos Map Publication Page
https://stock-sun.com/column/affiliate-advertising-agency/

[Background] The difficulty of choosing an affiliate advertising agency is increasing year by year.

According to a survey by the Yano Research Institute, the domestic affiliate market size in fiscal 2024 is expected to reach 438.2 billion yen, an increase of 6.5% from the previous year, and is projected to expand to 583.5 billion yen by fiscal 2028 (Source: "Survey on the Affiliate Market (2025)", March 2025). Due to the nature of performance-based compensation, its adoption is rapidly increasing, especially among companies that prioritize cost-effectiveness, and affiliate advertising has become established as a core marketing method.

On the other hand, the number of agencies and management companies is also rapidly increasing, making the criteria for selection increasingly complex, such as "Comprehensive vs. Specialized", "Includes creative production?", and "Proven track record in our specific industry?". As a result, failure cases like the following are not uncommon:

- Commissioned them expecting performance-based fees, but high initial and management fees resulted in poor cost-effectiveness.
- Inconsistent skills among representatives led to a lack of progress in LP improvement and creative optimization.
- Hired an agency with a shallow understanding of the company's industry/products, resulting in struggles to gather affiliates.
- Operations were neglected after the contract was signed, with no improvement proposals even when results plateaued.
- The effort required for coordination and approval processes with multiple ASPs and media outlets was greater than expected, increasing internal burdens.

Many of these failures are caused by a lack of information and insufficient comparison before placing an order. Therefore, it is crucial to compare multiple agencies that match the company's goals, budget, and industry based on categorized information before making a request.

▼ Main Challenges Faced by Companies

- It is difficult to tell from the outside which agencies are strong in affiliate ad management.
- Differences in fee structures, such as performance-based, management-fee-based, and fixed-fee-based, are complex and hard to compare.
- Unable to confirm in advance whether the agency has affiliates suitable for the company's EC or products.
- Cannot determine if LP and banner production need to be arranged separately after hiring the agency.
- Dissatisfied with the quality of results and improvement proposals from the current agency and considering switching.

[Features of the Chaos Map]

This chaos map categorizes 26 major affiliate advertising agencies and management outsourcing companies into the following 5 categories.

Comprehensive / Major Net Specialists (6 companies)
→ Consider this if you are planning for large budgets, multi-channel integration, and group-coordinated operations.
A category gathering major internet specialist ad agencies that have ASPs and media within their group, such as StockSun, Speee, CyberAgent, D.A.Consortium, SEPTENI, and opt. Their strengths lie in an extensive affiliate network and cross-media data utilization capabilities, allowing them to handle brand safety measures and large-scale campaigns.

Operation Specialized / Skilled (7 companies)
→ Consider this if you prioritize cost-effectiveness and want to leave CPA and ROAS improvements to experts.
A category featuring skilled professionals specializing in operational improvements for affiliate ads, including ANAGRAMS, WILLGATE, GladCube, Keyword marketing, PLAN-B, UNIAD, and Union. They possess operational know-how directly linked to results, such as LP improvement, affiliate management, and approval rate enhancement.

Execution Support / Agency Specialized (7 companies)
→ Consider this if you have limited internal resources and want to completely outsource operational tasks.
A category strong in practical execution, including Cyber Horn, DOUBLE LOOP, asue, QUARTET communications, malna, Digital Identity, and IENA. They handle everything from affiliate correspondence and manuscript review to reporting, significantly reducing the workload for internal staff.

Creative / Production Set Type (3 companies)
→ Consider this if you want to request everything from LP/banner production to affiliate operations in one package.
A category of companies that can provide creative production and affiliate management as a set, such as NEUTRAL WORKS, DIGITAL ATHLETE, and X BUZZ. Suitable for companies wanting to prevent opportunity loss caused by the separation of ad delivery and production.