VerticalScope reported a 29% increase in affiliate commerce revenue in the third quarter of 2026, despite an 11% decline in overall revenue. The company operates a network of over 1,200 enthusiast forums containing more than 2 billion user-generated posts.
Monthly active users for the platform dropped to 76.8 million from 83 million a year earlier, a decline the company attributed to reduced organic search traffic. To offset this, the firm is leveraging AI to provide shopping recommendations within discussion threads.
The company has signed data licensing agreements with two frontier AI labs. The first deal involves a non-exclusive license for model training, while the second provides fees based on the contribution of forum content to AI-generated answers.
VerticalScope reported that AI companies and agents made 115 million access attempts to its communities over the past 30 days. The firm blocks unauthorized access and only permits data usage through formal agreements.
