This article discusses one of the many conversations that have been held by Affnook at the iGB Live London 2025. Jeremy Castillo of Affnook interviewed Sergiy Zhyrov, who is an industry veteran with over 13 years of experience in affiliate marketing, iGaming, finance, crypto, and other digital verticals.
It was then followed by an insightful and progressive debate on loyalty, innovation, and the dynamics of relationships in iGaming.
Let’s unpack the details.
A Brief Introduction of Sergiy Zhyrov
The story of Sergiy is the tale of persistence and passion. He began his affiliate marketing career more than 10 years ago and has worked in various industries, from dating and sweepstakes to finance and crypto.
Each step, he said, has its own lessons in terms of user behaviour, market shifts, and online engagement. This would later make him find his way to iGaming, a field he said is the right industry to apply his long-term experience and knowledge.
Not only has Sergiy been observing the shift in the affiliate environment over the years, has also participated in its creation. His strategy is based on the development of close, long-term, and open relations — a principle that helps guide his business philosophy today.
Innovation of the Affiliate Loyalty Program
Sergiy revealed a new interesting program that is known as the “Affiliate Loyalty Program” during the iGB Live London 2025. It is a new system that would offer affiliates new sources of revenue. The program enables the affiliates to receive bonuses as well as their regular deals without necessarily having to create new accounts or change their existing partnerships.
“This program is all about establishing a win-win situation”, said Sergiy. “We wanted to offer something new to affiliates to make them stay with us, a way through which they can be rewarded for their loyalty. But we can, at the same time, also have transparency in tracking their performance through the same.”
These programs are a step in the right direction and a restructuring of the bond between the affiliates: changing the emphasis of short-term campaigns to long-term and mutually beneficial relationships.
Interested in more insights like this? Learn about the experience of a veteran from a different vertical: Frixos Constantinides, with nearly two decades of experience in sports betting. He now runs his own consulting and M&A brokerage company.
About the Tracking Platform Sergiy Uses
As far as the decision concerning the partner to offer their tracking and analytics, Sergiy’s team chose to use Affnook as their trusted tracking provider.
According to Sergiy, the platform provided by Affnook offers the best of what they could possibly have: accuracy, reliability, and complete visibility. Each click, each conversion, and each data on performance is recorded and processed in real time. That ensures the affiliates are rewarded fairly and the operators get full confidence in their campaigns.
In the case of Affnook, this alliance will support its mission to give affiliates and operators cutting-edge tracking technology and clear data insights. It’s not just about the tools but also the trust.
Networking, Relationships, and Real Conversations
Other than the business talk, the other thing that Sergiy highlighted about the iGB Live London 2025 is its human side. As far as he is concerned, the opportunity to meet people, not just as partners but as individuals, is what the event is all about.
He prefers smaller, one-on-one meetings and private dinners with the highest tiers of partners instead of networking-based meetings. “It’s about seeing the person behind the numbers,” he said. “When you meet face to face, you build relationships that go beyond transactions. That’s where real collaboration begins.”
This perspective is the perfect personification of the essence of iGB Live. It is a place where the exchange of ideas is reached, partnerships are established, and the future of iGaming is written through valuable relationships.
A Vision for the Future of iGaming
When the discussion shifted to the future, Sergiy expressed his hope for the path in which iGaming is going. He envisions the industry as more information-driven, community-driven, and innovation-driven.
Smarter affiliate programs, sustainable partnerships, and personalised user engagement will be the next stage for growth in iGaming.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, the interaction between Sergiy Zhyrov and Affnook during iGB Live London 2025 shows that transparency, loyalty, and innovation are essential in the evolving iGaming world. The experience he shared highlighted how technology, trusted partnering, and a long-term collaborative strategy will keep on driving sustainable growth of the affiliates and the operators.
