Kongebonus has become the first Norwegian affiliate to win Best Casino Affiliate at the iGB Affiliate Awards 2026, a landmark recognition that names the independent Norwegian guide as the world’s leading casino affiliate for 2026.

The award was presented on 2 July during iGB L!VE London, where the iGB Affiliate Awards celebrated the affiliates, programmes, networks, suppliers and individuals helping to drive the iGaming sector forward.

iGB Affiliate described first-time contestant Kongebonus as a “Norwegian local hero”, noting that the platform claimed the award in a close race and ended Gambling.com Group’s two-year reign in the highly competitive category. Independent judges praised Kongebonus’ “super smart” approach, highlighting its combination of innovation, engaged player community, and strong editorial presence across Google News and the media.

The recognition reflects Kongebonus’ focus on detailed operator testing, transparent casino reviews, community-led content and player protection. The platform tests casinos with its own money before reviewing them, publishes its full methodology and continues to invest in responsible gambling resources, including practical guidance and support signposting for players.

David Nilsen, Editor-in-Chief at Kongebonus, said: “Winning Best Casino Affiliate at the iGB Affiliate Awards is a huge moment for Kongebonus and for everyone who has helped build the platform. To be recognised in a category alongside some of the biggest and most respected names in the affiliate industry is something we are incredibly proud of.

“I’ve spent more than ten years on the inside of this industry, and I’ve seen how big the gap can be between what a casino promises and what the player is actually left with. Closing that gap is the whole reason we test the way we do.

“What this award tells us is that being the most trusted guide matters more than being the biggest one, and that’s the only thing we’ve ever set out to build.”

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.

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.