U.S. affiliate marketing spend is expected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2009 to $4 billion by 2014, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16% from 2009 to 2014, according to a recent study by Forrester Research. Forrester Research interviewed “vendor and user companies, including Commission Junction, Intuit, LinkShare, Pepperjam.com, Peformance Marketing Alliance, Stateless Systems, ValueClick and Vertive.
“Payments to affiliate sites direct from marketers will represent the majority of the affiliate spending, or 57%, in 2014″, according to Forrester. Additionally, social media is not expected to be on of the sources of considerable growth, at least within the next five years. Search will remain a key driver of traffic to affiliate sites. The top three affiliate marketing spenders will be financial service providers, retailers and online education.
The fifth fastest growing company on the Inc 500 list this year was IntegraClick (ClickBooth), an affiliate & CPA network. I would keep an eye out for more companies like ClickBooth to reach the Inc 500 list over the next few years.