In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, few voices are as grounded and forward-thinking as Morten, CEO of Voonix. We sat down with him to talk about the journey behind building Voonix, the role of data in affiliate marketing, and where he sees the industry heading. From challenges affiliates face to emerging trends and the rise of AI, Morten shares valuable insights and reflections that both newcomers and industry veterans will appreciate.
What inspired you to start Voonix, and how has the journey shaped your view of the affiliate world?
It started back in 2012 when we launched one of the first affiliate networks that was able to offer hybrids and Rev. share. To be able to offer that we needed to scrape the different affilaites system for data to visualize data for our publishers. What we saw was that our publishers often went both directly and and through our network. In order to fill that gap we started developing Voonix.
What’s one thing people often get wrong about Voonix or about running a platform like yours?
I dont think get it wrong what we are doing – but they often underestimate the work it requires to maintain a system that is build on 3. Party software if you want to get accurate data. Many of existing clients tried to build their own but ended quiting the project because of maintence and the workload.
How do you see data shaping the future of affiliate marketing over the next few years?
Data is already playing a critical role in affiliate marketing, but in the next few years, I see it becoming the backbone of every strategic decision in the space. We would like to serve all data to the client to give them the best overview to base their decisions on, but we are sometimes also restricted by what data is being made visible by the affiliate system.
With advancements in machine learning and AI affiliates has huge potential to automate their communication based on the data we provide them.
What’s the biggest challenge affiliates face today when it comes to understanding their data?
One of the biggest challenges affiliates in iGaming face today is the fragmentation of data across multiple operators, markets, and platforms. Affiliates often work with dozens, if not hundreds of brands – so I think for many affiliates it is hard to get the complete overview of all this data. Furthermore if you enrich the data with other data – I think some companies will have a data overload and maybe not focus on what actually made the conversions.
Can you share a moment where the right data completely changed the outcome for an affiliate or a partner?
It is extremely difficult to say, because when our clients start to use our software – they don’t discuss their results with us. The only thing I can say is that we get many compliments when we meet our clients at conferences.
How do you see the role of AI and automation changing the affiliate landscape?
AI and automation are going to be game changers. Affiliates will be able to personalize user journeys, automate reporting, and even forecast revenue based on behavior patterns. This means less time spent on manual tasks and more time optimizing performance. AI will also help in campaign optimization, and even content creation. The winners will of course the ones that are able to build their tech stack around AI and automation.
What trends in affiliate marketing are you most excited about right now?
Uhhh – There’s a lot happening right now, and it’s an exciting time. In the context of Voonix, we’re focused on helping our clients even more by enriching their data and automating the flow from multiple systems—ultimately making it easier to be an affiliate.
On the traffic side, it’s fascinating to see how tools like ChatGPT are starting to take search volume away from Google. It really makes you wonder what the landscape will look like a few years from now.
If you could have dinner with any figure in tech or business—past or present—who would it be and why?
Of course with Websa 😉 It’s a great question, and honestly, it depends on so many things. I’ve met a lot of amazing people in the iGaming space—many of whom I’d love to have dinner with, either for the first time or to catch up again.
But if I had to satisfy my own curiosity, I’d probably choose Sam Altman. I’d love to hear how he envisions the future of AI—not just from a tech perspective, but in terms of how it will reshape business, creativity, and the way we interact as humans.