Affiliate Success
Exclusive Interview with Christoph C. Cemper Founder & CEO of LinkResearchTools and Link Detox
We are very honored to have had the chance to interview one of the most well know Link Building Experts and SEO gurus Christoph C. Cemper. Christoph is Founder & CEO of LinkResearchTools and Link Detox.
GAV: First of all thanks for taking the time for the interview Christoph, we know you must be busy! Please be so kind and introduce yourself in one sentence!
Christoph C. Cemper: I’m an online marketing enthusiast, CEO, and Founder of LinkResearchTools and Link Detox doing links and SEO since 2003.
GAV: Could you fill out the short form below so our readers can imagine your profile?
Name: Christoph C. Cemper
Age: 43
Hometown: Vienna
Living in: Vienna
Favorite Food: Vietnamese
Must Read Book: The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
GAV: Tell us a bit about yourself, we want to know who Christoph Cemper is, the main person behind LinkResearchTools (LRT) and Link Detox. Where were you born? What was your first experience with the SEO world?
Christoph C. Cemper: I was born in Vienna and started a marketing blog in 2004. I started getting requests from people who wanted to have a link from my blog. They were ready to pay for it. That was the point when I started doing SEO and link building. I built links for years, then built more links, and managed a ton of affiliate sites since 2004.
In 2009, I decided to switch from the link building agency business to a SaaS business. And that’s the point when LinkResearchTools (LRT) was born.

GAV: We would like to know how you got started with LRT, what was the main idea/inspiration and how was the developing process?
Christoph C. Cemper: The LinkResearchTools (LRT) and Link Detox (DTOX) projects started in February 2009 at the VIP conference in SEO de Janeiro, and I can honestly say that what happened in Rio changed my business life. While sitting around in the conference venue, I discussed all sorts of SEO tricks, link pyramids, and other things with the other attendees and I showed them my own “Link Research Tool” on my notebook. This was a tool built by two part-time developers as an internal tool to help me and my team of link builders.
The tool wasn’t even close to what we have today. But the guys were all excited and couldn’t stop looking at the link data with me. They all said: “Wow, you should build a product, I would like to buy it!”
And that’s what I did.
GAV: After the first Google Penguin Update back in 2012 you launched Link Detox, a backlink audit and link risk management software, tell us about it!
Christoph C. Cemper: That’s right. Soon after Google’s first Penguin update, I created the solution for the penalties that came with Google’s algorithmic change. Link Detox soon became the industry standard for link audit and link risk management. Thousands of webmasters used it to recover their rankings. SEOs all around the world still use it to protect their websites. The great thing about Link Detox is that it works for both algorithmic penalties and Manual Actions for unnatural links pointing to your website. We’ve seen websites recover in as little as 3 days.

GAV: Do you have any new projects coming up?
Christoph C. Cemper: We’ll soon bring our customers a whole new way of looking at their backlink profile, full access to the “Canonical’ed links,” full access to a highly-effective 25th link data source to *all* new LinkResearchTools Superheros and up, and amazing updates for our browser extensions.
GAV: We know you attend affiliate conferences such as LAC and BAC as a speaker, which one is your favorite and what is your most fun experience?
Christoph C. Cemper: I enjoyed both conferences. The organization was great, and I sure had a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the BAC SEO Panel I participated in with Bastian Grimm, Fili Wiese, and Michael Caselli.
GAV: How do you see the present state of online gambling affiliation?
Christoph C. Cemper: There are certainly more online gambling affiliation programs than ever before. Now everyone can become an affiliate with the right training and the right mindset. A trend I noticed in the past year is that affiliates are using more social media platforms for promotion and I think that this is a growing trend in 2017.
GAV: Do you have clients from the online gambling industry, if so name at least two?
Christoph C. Cemper: Yes, we do have many clients from the online gambling industry. I can give you Mr. Green and Unibet as examples.
GAV: How do you see the future of the online gambling industry? For instance, will it become a truly global phenomenon shortly?
Christoph C. Cemper: The online gambling industry does have potential to become a global phenomenon.
GAV: What advice you would like to offer to the newbie SEO’s who are looking just starting?
Christoph C. Cemper: Every new SEO needs to have in mind that link risk management needs to be his top priority, alongside link building. Even Google said, “Ranking without links is really, really hard.” But these must be good links. Risky links can attract a penalty.
To make it short: a new SEO needs to focus on keeping the link detox risk low and build strong, niche-related, trustworthy links to boost the website’s rankings.
GAV: How about an advice for people who’re looking to venture into the online gambling industry as affiliates with a new website? What would you advise them?
Christoph C. Cemper: The same thing I’d advise anyone that has a new website:
- keep the link risk low by doing weekly link audits
- disavow risky links as often as necessary
- monitor incoming links
- compare the backlink profile to the ones of the competitors
- build Penguin-friendly links (here are 20 link building tips)
GAV: Where could we catch you in the near future as a speaker, do you have some upcoming events?
Christoph C. Cemper: I’ll be speaking at SMX Munich and Campixx in March, BrightonSEO in April and September, SEOkomm and OMX in November. You can always find an updated list of the events where you can meet me or hear me speak here: http://www.linkresearchtools.com/meet-us/.
GAV: Who is your favorite celebrity?
Christoph C. Cemper: Tim Ferris and Elon Musk.
GAV: Where would you like to travel in Eastern Europe, some part of the region maybe that you haven’t visited yet?
Christoph C. Cemper: I know and like Prague, Budapest and Bratislava. I’d gladly like to visit Warsaw and Moscow.
GAV: Where you wouldn’t want to travel in Eastern Europe?
Christoph C. Cemper: No idea.
GAV: What is your opinion about GAV (Gambling Affiliate Voice)?
Christoph C. Cemper: The Gambling Affiliate Voice is doing a great job at making the online gambling industry more transparent and easier to understand for everyone. A great place where fellow affiliates can share their views about online gambling and so much more.
If you would like to suggest subjects for future interviews, be sure to send your suggestions to: [email protected] .
Affiliate Success
ReferOn Shortlisted for Two EGR B2B Awards 2026 Following Record Platform Growth
ReferOn, the data-driven affiliate management platform, has been shortlisted in two categories at the EGR B2B Awards 2026: “Affiliate Software Supplier” and “Full Service Platform of the Year (under 5 years)”.
These nominations reflect ReferOn’s rapid evolution from a fast-growing platform into a mature affiliate management solution trusted by operators seeking greater scalability, automation, and operational control.
Solving Affiliate Management Complexity at Scale
Over the past year, ReferOn has focused on solving one of the industry’s most persistent challenges: managing affiliate programmes efficiently at scale. By automating key affiliate management processes and transforming fragmented data into actionable insights, the platform enables operators to scale partner programs more efficiently while maintaining full visibility and control.
Turning Data Into Faster Decisions
As platform capabilities expand, Refie serves as an intelligent UX layer that makes complex data instantly understandable. By translating backend logic into intuitive visual guidance, it helps users move faster, make better decisions, and spend less time navigating reports.
By translating technical precision into intuitive visual feedback, Refie eliminates the need to dig through dense reports, guiding users toward real-time performance and faster decision-making. It moves beyond simple functionality; it’s about giving teams their time back by making complex data instantly readable.
Alex Bukin, CEO at ReferOn, commented: “These nominations reflect the momentum behind ReferOn’s evolution into an award-winning platform built for operators who refuse to compromise between sophistication and usability. We’re proud of how far we’ve come, but even more excited about the opportunities ahead.”
The winners will be announced at the EGR B2B Awards ceremony, taking place on June 3 at City Central, HAC, in London.
Affiliate Success
TAG Media and Gamblitude Launch affie.ai
The AI-Powered Affiliate Manager Assistant Set to transform Affiliate Management in iGaming
TAG Media and Gamblitude have launched affie.ai, a guided decision-making engine built for iGaming affiliate managers. It combines TAG Media’s 150+ years of collective affiliate management experience with Gamblitude’s operator-grade data and analytics platform.
affie.ai will make its debut at SBC Summit Malta (28–30 April), where affie.ai’s Elaine Gardiner, Alana Weldon and Wojtek Sznapka will be demonstrating the platform to operators interested in becoming one of the first five launch partners.
The Problem affie.ai solves
Affiliate management sits at the centre of operator acquisition strategy. It demands financial judgement, negotiation skill, data literacy and market knowledge. Yet there is no industry-standard training, no widely accepted playbook and no safety net when a commercial decision goes wrong.
The data is there. What’s missing is consistent, effective interpretation. With time, an experienced affiliate manager may know what a declining CPA trend means in a specific market or when a revenue share deal needs renegotiating. A less experienced one may not – and that gap costs operators money, talent retention and competitive ground.
Even for experienced affiliate managers, having the requisite time and patience with convoluted systems and tools to spot gaps and opportunities, even ad hoc, is progressively rare, further limiting their ability to achieve sustainable growth within their affiliate programme.
By encoding proven affiliate management expertise directly into their daily workflow, affie.ai gives affiliate managers the ability to make decisions grounded in real programme data and industry best practice, positioning them for true proactivity with their affiliate partners.
What is affie.ai?
affie.ai is a guided decision-making engine, not a dashboard and not a tracking platform. It is trained on real affiliate programme performance data and built on the strategic frameworks TAG Media has applied across 50+ programme launches over the past decade.
On the data side, Gamblitude, founded by former STS chief technology officer Wojtek Sznapka and former STS chief sportsbook officer Piotr Cerlak, provides the analytical backbone: a cloud-native data layer purpose-built for iGaming operators.
The result is that affie.ai provides affiliate managers with specific, data-informed recommendations on deal structures, partner performance, programme optimisation and commercial risk insights, removing the time spent and consistency required in pulling reports, second-guessing spreadsheets to build progressive performance.
For operators, affie.ai delivers measurable reductions in programme management overheads, faster onboarding of new affiliate managers, institutional knowledge that stays in the business regardless of team changes and the agility to make rapid commercial decisions to positively impact the bottom line. affie.ai gives affiliate managers the power of proactivity.
Human Relationships, Sharper Decisions
Affiliate management is a relationship business. Trust between manager and affiliate drives long-term value – no tool replaces that.
affie.ai removes the noise around those relationships. Instead of debating whether a deal is commercially sound, the affiliate manager already has the answer and can focus on the conversation. affie.ai provides human-led decisions with AI-led precision, built on real data, not assumptions.
Elaine Gardiner, Co-Founder of affie.ai says: “After 17 years managing affiliate programmes for operators including Cherry Casino, Ninja Casino and Rizk, I know what good decision-making looks like in this role and I know how rarely it’s supported by the right tools. affie.ai takes the strategic thinking our team applies every day and makes it available on demand and at pace: specific to your programme, specific to your data and ready when the affiliate manager needs it.”
No Strings Attached Six-Week Trial – Five Places
affie.ai is offering five operators an exclusive six-week trial. No fees. No lengthy onboarding. Operators connect their affiliate programme data and their affiliate team uses the platform to obtain new insights on their own numbers, enabling faster commercial decisions on deals to build growth. To book a meeting, email [email protected] or visit www.affie.ai to register your interest in using affie.ai to build affiliate programme growth.
Affiliate Success
ReferOn Shortlisted for “European Corporate Services Supplier” Category at EGR EUROPE Awards 2026
ReferOn, the next-gen affiliate management platform, has been named on the EGR Europe Awards 2026 shortlist in the “European Corporate Services Supplier” category, recognising the platform’s solutions that help real operators with their operations and growth.
Continuing 2025’s Momentum
The nomination reflects a busy 2025 for ReferOn, one that was highlighted by significant product updates, rapid growth, and an ascent to becoming one of the most recognised affiliate management platforms in the industry.
Going into the new year, the ReferOn team has ambitious plans to accelerate this positive momentum by scaling alongside its growing partner base with advancements to its product vision around clarity, transparency, and ease of use. The EGR Europe Awards 2026 marks a pivotal start to 2026, and an award win demonstrates that the platform’s direction truly resonates with operators and affiliate managers worldwide.
Refie’s Human Impact
Refie, the platform’s human layer, transcends a mere surface-level companion. It hops around dashboards and workflows, providing relevant assistance, such as fixing reward logic, identifying anomalies, and making suggestions to the user.
In 2026, ReferOn plans to enhance Refie’s functionality with advanced platform gamification, engaging users and transforming how affiliate managers interact with their day-to-day operations. These developments will pave the way for personalised, smart intelligence on the platform and set an industry standard for affiliate tech.
Alex Bukin, General Manager, commented on the nomination and plans for 2026, “ReferOn made great strides in the past year, with major product developments, key recruitments, and a rapidly growing partner base. With this growth, our expectations have risen, and we want to establish ourselves as a platform that accelerates affiliate tech across the board. Being nominated for the ‘European Corporate Services Supplier’ category solidifies our ambition and is a meaningful start to our new year. With Refie driving more innovation, we look forward to driving our goal of transparency, clarity, and customer-facing features even further.”
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