Visa & Mastercard’s AI Bots Are Shopping for Us — What Now for Affiliates?

Vol: 200 - Wow, how did we get to this high number?

May 16, 2025

HelloZ

Hi friendZ!

In this week’s edition of “Wait, What Is Happening?”, music mogul P. Diddy is now starring in what might be the most unexpected courtroom drama since Suits got canceled — only this time, the plot twists come with FBI raids and a soundtrack. Meanwhile, the AI overlords are now your personal shoppers, thanks to Visa and Mastercard, who apparently want your fridge to order your birthday gifts. Over in politics, someone sneezed and accidentally launched a congressional investigation, and in tech, billionaires are still arguing about who gets to name the robot apocalypse. All in all, just another chill week on planet Earth.

With all ongoing frenzy of all-things AI, I’ll be updating you on any interesting news, software, and fun facts that I think you’ll enjoy. Starting today. It’s a doozy for all marketers, PR peeps and of course, the affiliate association.

Let’s get into it!

NewZ & ShowZ

ABC News is running a daily show on the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs. “Burden of Proof: The Case Against Diddy” premieres Friday, May 9, at 5:30p on streamer ABC News Live, hosted by “GMA3” co-anchor and senior national correspondent Eva Pilgrim. The 30-minute show will offer real-time updates and analysis of the defense and prosecution.
Netflix is tackling the content discovery conundrum with a makeover that’s rolling out starting May 19. Updates include simpler navigation, responsive recommendations, and a personal Netflix hub. “Thanks to a combination of new technology and the expansion of our entertainment offerings, we think it’s time to take a giant leap forward,” said Netflix Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim. “Our redesigned TV home page is simpler, more intuitive and better represents the breadth of entertainment on Netflix today, and it’s better at the most important thing: helping our members easily find shows, movies, live events and games that they’ll love.”
Michael J. Fox will guest star on season three of Apple TV+ comedy “Shrinking.” The cast also includes previously announced additions Jeff Daniels, who will guest star as Jimmy’s father, and Sherry Cola.
Performers for the 2025 American Music Awards will include Blake Shelton, Gloria Estefan, Gwen Stefani, Reneé Rapp, Benson Boone and Lainey Wilson. Jennifer Lopez hosts the show on Monday, May 26 at 8p, airing live on CBS.
ABC renewed four unscripted series: “America’s Funniest Home Videos” for season 36; “Shark Tank” for season 16; “American Idol” for its ninth season on the network (“AI” ran on Fox from 2002-16); “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” for season six, and “Celebrity Jeopardy!” for season four.
Ahead of FOX’s upfront on Monday came the announcement of the launch of FOX One, a direct to consumer streaming service bringing all of FOX’s news, sports and entertainment branded content together in one platform.
Madonna and Netflix are developing a limited series about her life and music, reports Deadline.
ABC News Studios doc “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything” premieres on Hulu on Monday, June 23. The film, directed by filmmaker and journalist Jackie Jesko, examines Walters’ role in the history of journalism.
Prime Video’s “Legally Blonde” sequel, “Elle,” is set to launch this summer. The series from Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine is set in the years before the 2001 film.
Netflix broke ground on the construction of its new facility at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. The 292-acre former US Army installation will transform, with the help of $1 billion, into an East Coast production hub with 12 soundstages totaling nearly 500,000 square feet. “Netflix is proud to invest in American innovation and the creative community. We estimate that these studios will create thousands of jobs for New Jersey residents, billions of dollars in economic output, and many other cultural benefits to the region and state,” said Co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Naomi Watts has been cast as Jackie Kennedy in Ryan Murphy’s upcoming anthology series for FX, “American Love Story.” The season will be centered on the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.

Zlata Boughts

Since my hubby broke his shoulder, I wanted to brighten his day and surprise him with a little treat. I ordered his favorite - lobsters - from LobsterBoys.com because they are sustainably sourced and 100% wild-caught. I was insanely impressed with their efficiency (get delivered fresh in 24 hours), the packaging, and quite frankly, their price. You can shop a la carte, and they also offer different box/package options. Highly recco! The only problem is that I didn’t think through how hard it would be for Alex to eat these bad boys with one functioning arm. I acted as a Lobster Assistant and I took my role very seriously!
You may have seen my little cheese plate on Insta a while back where I shouted out Castello cheese? When it comes to meats and cheese, I’m not really keen on any one brand, you know? Like, a trip to Trader Joe’s works just fine for any charcuterie I’m putting together. H O W E V E R… Castello is for sure something else! Their aged Havarti is out of this world, and they also have whipped cheese options. I made a little platter of whipped cheeses and cracker varieties when I went to visit my cousin recently and it was devoured within 30 minutes. Try them!

Visa and Mastercard Introduce AI Shopping Assistants to Make Buying Easier

The future of shopping is here — and it’s powered by artificial intelligence. Both Visa and Mastercard have just announced new tools that let AI help you shop smarter and more efficiently. And Visa and Mastercard aren’t alone — PayPal, Amazon, and others are exploring similar ideas.

Both are launching AI-powered shopping assistants that can make purchases on your behalf, based on your preferences, needs, and budget.

Visa’s “Intelligent Commerce” allows AI to browse, select, and buy things for you — like booking a flight or picking up groceries — based on what you like and how much you want to spend. Visa is working with companies like Microsoft, OpenAI, and Samsung to bring this technology to life.
Mastercard’s “Agent Pay” is a tool that uses AI to help you discover and buy products that match your lifestyle. Imagine planning a birthday party — the AI could choose decorations, gifts, and even clothes for the occasion. Mastercard is partnering with IBM and Microsoft on this project.

Even though the AI helps with shopping, you’re still in charge:

You set spending limits
You can choose to approve or deny big purchases
You control what the AI is allowed to buy

What does all this mean to a marketer?

When AI agents start making purchase decisions, you’re no longer marketing to a person — you’re marketing to that person’s AI assistant. This means:

Product data needs to be super clear and machine-readable.
SEO may evolve into "AI Optimization" — making sure your brand gets picked by shopping bots.
Emotional appeals in ads will not be helpful if a robot is reading.

Cool cool. But can we talk about how it affects the affiliate game?

Affiliate marketing relies heavily on humans clicking on tracked links in blogs, videos, emails, and social media. But if AI agents are doing the shopping, they won’t be influenced by sponsored content, and they won’t click your affiliate links just because you had a catchy CTA.

Impact:

Less traffic and fewer conversions through human-driven affiliate links
Reduced influence of influencers and content creators over purchase decisions

AI assistants will be trained to prioritize price, reviews, reliability, and specs — not who’s promoting what. That means your affiliate strategy must evolve to include:

Structured, data-rich product feeds
API integrations with platforms the AI pulls from
Stellar product metadata and technical SEO

In short: If an AI can't understand what you're selling — or why it's better than similar options — it won't choose it.

What Should Brands Do?

Focus on trust-building and long-term brand authority
Optimize product pages and feeds for AI readability
Stay close to affiliate platforms as they adapt (or consider building your own feeds)
Think about voice search and agent-specific SEO (yes, that’s a thing now)
To stay ahead, affiliates will need to adapt to a world where robots shop smart — and don’t care about your latest lifestyle reel unless the data backs it up.

Visa and Mastercard’s AI shopping assistants are a game-changer — not the end of affiliate marketing, but definitely the beginning of something new. It's time to optimize for both humans and machines.

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