How It Started
In affiliate marketing and voucher codes, speed and scale decide who wins. At VoucherCloud, active in 9 languages and 15 territories, we had to manage over 100,000 brands across affiliate networks. The manual setup process was broken.Understanding the Problem
Creating one PPC campaign took 3–5 minutes. Onboarding new brands slowed everything down. Scaling meant hiring more staff linearly. Competitors were getting campaigns live faster. Revenue was left behind due to bottlenecks.Building the Solution
I built a complete automation system that turned VoucherCloud’s PPC operations into a growth engine. With PPC delivering 60% of affiliate revenue during expansion, it helped secure their position as a UK top 3 voucher site—culminating in their acquisition by Groupon. This evolved in two stages:- Internal automation at VoucherCloud where I honed these skills, leading to their Groupon acquisition
- Vouchernaut — our own fully automated, feed-based affiliate business built after going freelance, running 100% of the funnel without human intervention
Watch the Vouchernaut Story
Phase 1: VoucherCloud Internal Tools
Campaign Automation
- Cut campaign build time from 3–5 minutes to 10 seconds
- Real-time scoreboard gamified launches
- Campaigns fired instantly as new brands onboarded
Strategic Tools
- Keyword volume and prioritization analysis
- Revenue/traffic forecasting for targeting
- Data-driven focus for business development
Results
- 10x productivity across the PPC team
- Concentration on high-value brand opportunities
- Secured UK top 3 market position
- Acquisition by Groupon
Phase 2: Vouchernaut – The Automation Machine
After leaving VoucherCloud (which was acquired by Groupon), we went freelance and built Vouchernaut as our own standalone system. Unlike simple campaign builders, Vouchernaut was a fully automated affiliate engine:End-to-End Automation
- Brand Discovery & Applications: Automatic affiliate program signups with personalized outreach
- Instant Site Integration: Pages generated the moment approval came through
- Voucher Validation: Every discount code tested for authenticity
- PPC Campaigns: Google + Facebook campaigns launched in 90 seconds
- Autonomous Optimization: Campaigns and codes updated continuously
Key Differentiators
- Feed-driven automation — handled 100% of the funnel
- Zero fake codes — only verified vouchers live
- No outdated offers — ongoing validation
- Speed-first architecture — instant turnaround times
- Superior UX — prevented failed checkouts from bad codes
- Multi-platform orchestration — integrated every affiliate network while competitors balked at complexity
- Dynamic ad copy — industry-first implementation of real-time dates and live code counts in PPC ads (65% CTR lift)
Technical Build
Frontend: React + TypeScript Framework: Next.js (SEO + performance) Backend: Express.js Job Processing: Redis queues Languages: Multi-language support (9 languages, 15 territories)Automation Architecture
- Puppeteer-based scraping — No APIs available in 2016, so built unified solution via browser automation
- Reductionist content strategy — Qualified-in content rather than trying to clean everything (pre-LLM era)
- Application workflows with automated acceptance and outreach
- Page generation pipeline with link validation
- Voucher validation engine
- PPC campaign orchestration
- Performance monitoring across 100k+ brands with inconsistent data quality
Scale
- 100,000+ brands managed programmatically
- 15 territories covered
- 9 languages supported
- 90-second brand-to-campaign cycle
Results & Impact
VoucherCloud
- 60% of affiliate revenue from automated PPC
- Top 3 UK voucher platform
- Successfully acquired by Groupon
- 10x PPC productivity
Vouchernaut
- 90% of revenue on autopilot
- £10,000/month net revenue with a team of one
- Two exits (partner brought in for cashflow, then sale when market shifted)
- Weekly “maintenance” = light BD emails
- Proved affiliates could run at scale without teams
- Built as personal learning experiment that became profitable business
Lessons Learned
Automation = Moat
Once the system was live, the operational moat was clear. Competitors with manual workflows couldn’t keep up. This freed up focus for:- Partnerships
- Market expansion
- Innovation
Solo Developer Advantage
What competitors saw as “impossible” became my competitive edge:- No stakeholder committees to slow decisions
- No fear of complex integrations across multiple platforms
- Direct line from idea to implementation
- Projects that would take enterprise teams months, done in weeks
Experimentation Beats Convention
The biggest wins came from trying what others didn’t know was possible:- Dynamic dates in ad copy (65% CTR improvement)
- Real-time code counts in ads
- Google Scripts for automation before it was common
- Testing unconventional approaches without permission layers
Speed Wins
Affiliate advantage is about being first:- First to apply
- First to launch
- First to refresh offers
Gamification Works
The internal scoreboard at VoucherCloud:- Turned productivity into competition
- Made wins visible
- Kept motivation high
What Made It Work
- Programmatic mindset — every process automated, zero human intervention
- Obsession with speed — sub-second systems
- Quality control — automated voucher testing
- Scalable architecture — 100k+ brands handled despite inconsistent data
- Commercial focus — automation tied directly to revenue
- Reductionist approach — qualified-in content rather than trying to fix everything
- Unified automation — Puppeteer for everything when APIs didn’t exist
The Entrepreneurial Journey
From Employee to Owner
After VoucherCloud’s acquisition by Groupon, we went freelance and Vouchernaut started as a personal experiment: “Can I do this for myself?” Taking everything I’d learned at VoucherCloud, we went all-in on automation. No grand business plan—just a promise that it would at least be a learning experience. The freedom to make decisions without stakeholder committees or watered-down compromises made it addictive.Technical Evolution
Building this in 2016 meant solving problems that would be trivial today. No APIs meant using Puppeteer to automate every click, every form submission, every program acceptance. The challenge wasn’t just “can this be automated?” but “can I actually pull this off with my current knowledge?” It forced rapid skill development. Today with LLMs, the content quality problem would be solved differently. But the constraint of pre-AI tools forced creative solutions—like the reductionist approach of qualifying-in good content rather than trying to clean bad data.Strategic Exits
First Exit: Brought in a partner to handle the 90-day revenue lag inherent in affiliate marketing—where you might spend £5k on ads today but not see returns for three months. The cashflow partnership was essential for scaling. Second Exit: Markets evolve. As more affiliate programs began restricting PPC bidding, the automated arbitrage opportunity narrowed. Like an agency losing a major client, we saw the writing on the wall and found a buyer while the business still had strong value.Industry Insights
The Real Competitive Advantage
While large sites like RetailMeNot threw bodies at problems, and shady operators ran pump-and-dump schemes, the real differentiator wasn’t just tech—it was relationships. Being able to jump on UK calls during UK hours, talk strategy, and position Vouchernaut as “UK’s fastest voucher portal” mattered more than perfect automation. Chinese and Indian competitors had the tech but lacked the relationship game. They’d grow fast but get banned from networks for shady practices. The lesson: In affiliate, being first matters, but being trustworthy matters more.What Outsiders Don’t Understand
Brands want to pay you. They have budgets they need to spend. If you offer something novel and interesting on affiliate terms, it’s a warm introduction—not a hard sell. This understanding led to:- Performance Marketing Award: Most effective cross-channel campaign for NOW TV (Sky)
- Creative Campaign Award: Most creative campaign for Topman
If Building Today (2024+)
The landscape has fundamentally changed:- PPC arbitrage is dead — Direct affiliate links no longer work on Google Ads for vouchers
- B2B/SaaS opportunity — Tool directories are the new voucher sites
- AI makes entry trivial — LLMs can handle outreach, content creation, and sense checks
- But also creates skepticism — Brands question token-generated content with no human behind it
The Lasting Value
Affiliate taught invaluable lessons about online revenue generation—from white hat to black hat tactics. What outsiders dismiss as “scams” is actually sophisticated growth engineering. This background becomes an instant growth lever for any business looking to increase top-funnel traffic or conversion rates.Industry Impact
- Proved small teams can outcompete giants
- Showed automation creates exponential growth
- Set a new bar for speed and reliability in affiliate marketing
- Demonstrated that relationships + tech beats tech alone
- Revealed that affiliate can be a warm sell, not a cold pitch
Frequently Asked Questions
How did you manage 100,000+ brands without a team?
How did you manage 100,000+ brands without a team?
The key was complete automation. Every process from brand discovery to campaign optimization ran without human intervention. The system handled brand onboarding, page generation, voucher validation, and PPC campaigns automatically. This meant I could focus on strategy and partnerships rather than operations.
What made Vouchernaut different from other voucher sites?
What made Vouchernaut different from other voucher sites?
Three main differentiators: speed (90-second brand-to-campaign cycle), quality (only verified voucher codes), and automation scale (100% of the funnel automated). Most competitors either had teams doing manual work or ran fake/expired codes that hurt user experience.
How did the automated voucher validation work?
How did the automated voucher validation work?
The system automatically tested every discount code before going live. This eliminated fake codes and prevented users from experiencing failed checkouts - a major problem with other voucher sites. Codes were continuously re-validated to ensure they remained active.
What was the revenue model for Vouchernaut?
What was the revenue model for Vouchernaut?
Standard affiliate marketing - earning commissions when users made purchases through our tracked links. The automation allowed for massive scale with minimal overhead, generating £10,000/month net revenue as a solo operation.
Why did the PPC arbitrage model stop working?
Why did the PPC arbitrage model stop working?
Google changed their policies around 2018-2019, restricting direct affiliate links in voucher/coupon ads. This killed the automated PPC arbitrage model that Vouchernaut relied on. The market fundamentally shifted, making the business model obsolete.
Could this be rebuilt today with modern tools?
Could this be rebuilt today with modern tools?
The technical implementation would be much easier with current AI/LLM tools for content generation and outreach. However, the core PPC arbitrage opportunity no longer exists. Today’s equivalent would be in different verticals like B2B tool directories or SaaS marketplaces.
How did you handle the complexity of multiple affiliate networks?
How did you handle the complexity of multiple affiliate networks?
Built unified automation using Puppeteer to handle all networks through browser automation since APIs weren’t available in 2016. This required creating separate workflows for each network’s application process, tracking systems, and payout structures.
What were the biggest technical challenges?
What were the biggest technical challenges?
Managing data quality across 100,000+ brands with inconsistent information, handling the 90-day revenue lag in affiliate marketing, and building reliable automation in 2016 without modern API infrastructure. Everything had to be done through browser automation and screen scraping.
How did you achieve 65% CTR improvement with dynamic ad copy?
How did you achieve 65% CTR improvement with dynamic ad copy?
Implemented industry-first dynamic elements in PPC ads - real-time dates and live voucher code counts. Instead of static “Save 20% at Nike,” ads showed “Save 20% at Nike - 14 codes available today (Dec 15).” This created urgency and relevance that dramatically improved click-through rates.
What advice would you give someone wanting to build similar automation?
What advice would you give someone wanting to build similar automation?
Focus on verticals where speed and scale create genuine competitive advantages. Ensure you understand the full business model including cashflow timing. Start with manual processes first, then automate the highest-impact workflows. Most importantly, maintain quality - automation without quality control destroys user trust.
Technologies Used
React
Frontend framework
TypeScript
Type-safe dev
Next.js
SEO + speed
Express
Backend API
Redis
Job queues
PPC APIs
Google & Facebook