Rakuten Advertising Reviews & Product Details

The main benefit for us was access to a broad affiliate network and an established infrastructure for managing publisher and creator partnerships. However, especially for our main focus on creators, the platform ultimately proved quite complicated to use, which was one of the reasons we decided to leave. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We unfortunately are having a very frustrating experience with Rakuten Advertising, particularly when it came to terminating our contract.

To be transparent, we missed the termination deadline by a short period. Despite reaching out shortly afterwards, there was no flexibility, and we were informed that the contract had automatically renewed until March 2027, with a significant buyout required for an earlier exit.

While we understand that contractual deadlines exist, the handling of the situation felt extremely rigid and was already disappointing for us.

Unfortunately, the process became even more frustrating from there.

After further discussions, Rakuten eventually offered an adjusted early termination effective by the end of 2026, with the contract fully ending on that date and no further payment obligations beyond it. We appreciated that compromise, but since then the process has involved months of follow ups regarding the revised termination agreement, final termination date and updated conditions.

Since April, my email thread with Rakuten has grown to more than 70 emails. For a longer period from June onwards, our account manager stopped responding entirely, which eventually forced me to go through the general support channel again just to get the conversation moving.

Since then, there have been many more emails, repeated follow ups and several internal escalations, but still no final resolution. We were repeatedly told that different departments and directors were involved, yet we still have not received the final documentation or a clear conclusion.

It is now the end of August, more than a few months after we first raised the issue, and we are still waiting for a final answer.

Based on our experience, we would strongly recommend that companies review Rakuten Advertising's renewal and termination conditions very carefully before signing, as there appears to be very limited flexibility even when a termination request is submitted shortly after the deadline. For us, the value did not justify the overall cost, especially considering the complexity of the platform for our creator focused use case and the amount of time required to manage the partnership and resolve contractual issues. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that the platform is easy to use, and I can quickly navigate to exactly where I want to be within the site. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sometimes the commission rates that are pushed for partnerships automatically delay starting by a week. From the publisher side, I really wish there were an option for brands to push those rates to apply right away, automatically, so commissions aren’t missed. There have been a few recent cases where a brand told me they aren’t able to set the rate to auto-apply, and because I didn’t accept the rate early (my mistake), a full week went by where I wasn’t on the elevated rate even though I could have been. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like most about Rakuten Advertising is that it simply works without much hassle. The tracking feels accurate, and I don’t find myself constantly checking whether conversions are missing.

They also offer a solid mix of well-known brands, which makes it easier to find programs that actually convert. The platform is straightforward to navigate, and payments have been reliable so far.

Overall, it’s one of those platforms that feels dependable once you start using it on a regular basis. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One thing I don’t like is that the interface can feel a bit outdated and not very intuitive at times, especially when you’re trying to find specific reports or links quickly.

Also, getting approved for some advertisers can take longer than expected, and there’s not always much clarity on why applications get rejected. It can slow things down when you’re trying to scale.

Support is decent, but response times could be better in some cases. Overall, nothing deal-breaking, but there’s definitely room for improvement. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like the deals and adding deals. The initial setup was super easy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The popup sometimes doesn’t come up. I’d like it to appear more quickly and be easier to ignore. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like Rakuten Advertising for its scale and access to household brands. The platform's advertiser directory is massive, featuring a huge scale of household names. I also appreciate the customizability of tracking and commissioning, which allows for advanced and strategic relationships to be implemented with ease. Additionally, the initial setup was simple, supported by good technical support and documentation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Opting into the commission offers and system is a little clunky. You can often miss and get confused with scheduled offers from brands that aren't clear and easy to compare against current ones, and baselines Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I primarily use Rakuten for its robust credit card and financial services affiliate programs, which include high-quality banking partners. Beyond finance, I also appreciate the access to top-tier, exclusive brands across the Retail, Fashion, and Travel sectors, such as major department stores and travel agencies. Their deep-linking tools have been reliable, helping ensure I receive credit for specific product promotions, and the tracking accuracy has remained consistently solid. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The user interface feels somewhat dated and clunky compared to more modern competitors, and navigating the dashboard can be unintuitive at times. On top of that, the payment terms—often Net-60—are slower than other networks, so you end up waiting quite a while to receive your commissions. Approval by individual brands can also take longer than expected, depending on the advertiser. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Easy to find advertisers that fit your niche and also Advertisers can invite you to their affiliate program with ease Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Some Advertisers can leave abruptly and it will hurt the effort you put into creating a marketing plan for their products. Paypal was hard to integrate for payment Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like the large variety of affiliate offers that Rakuten Advertising provides. I also appreciate the ability for deep linking because it allows me to direct directly to the products I am talking about, not just the main website. Additionally, getting links for affiliate marketing is easy, and there is no setup involved aside from creating your profile and tax forms. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Faster payouts would be great. Sometimes the waiting period is long. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love the ease of use and especially its catalog. We need a great catalog of companies to reach out to in business, and its ease and intuitive suite allow us to do so very easily. Additionally, within half an hour we were using the platform functionally, which is great because the learning curve is very smooth. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

They could expand the catalog and could have better support in Spanish, although it's not that support is nonexistent. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like best about Rakuten Advertising is its strong emphasis on partnership quality and long-term value creation. The platform is built around meaningful, performance-driven relationships rather than transactional volume, which allows advertisers and publishers to align more closely on shared goals.

I also value the depth and reliability of Rakuten’s data and reporting. The transparency into performance, attribution, and partner contributions enables more informed decision-making and optimization, particularly for brands that prioritize sustainable growth.

Finally, Rakuten Advertising’s global scale combined with localized expertise stands out. The ability to activate and manage partnerships across regions while still receiving market-specific support makes the platform especially effective for organizations with international ambitions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One area of potential improvement with Rakuten Advertising is the usability and flexibility of the user interface. Certain workflows—such as partner discovery, reporting customization, and navigation between tools—can feel less intuitive than expected and may require additional time or support to execute efficiently.

Additionally, reporting latency and data reconciliation can occasionally be challenging, particularly when compared to more real-time platforms. Faster access to finalized performance data would improve agility for teams making time-sensitive optimization decisions.

Finally, while Rakuten Advertising offers strong account support, some features and best practices could be better documented or more proactively communicated within the platform itself, reducing reliance on external guidance and improving overall self-service capability. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.