Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. The industry has four core players: the merchant (also known as 'retailer' or 'brand'), the network (that contains offers for the affiliate to choose from and also takes care of the payments), the publisher (also known as 'the affiliate'), and the customer. The market has grown in complexity to warrant a secondary tier of players, including affiliate management agencies, super-affiliates and specialized third party vendors.




In affiliate marketing, an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another company's products. The affiliate selects a product to promote and then shares a unique link with their audience. When someone clicks on that link and makes a purchase, the affiliate earns a commission. The commission is a percentage of the sale price of the product.




Affiliate marketing can be a very profitable way for website owners to earn additional income. However, it's important to choose the right products and companies to work with, and to be clear about the terms of the affiliate relationship. It's also important to track and analyze your affiliate sales to see what is and isn't working.