Many people are surprised at the number of sophisticated ways advertisers try to reach them. Most Internet surfers could identify a banner or text ad, but the majority could not tell you about performance marketing also known as affiliate marketing and pay-for-performance marketing.
Affiliate Marketing is one channel of marketing products and services online. It traditionally includes a retailer and a publisher, sometimes known as an affiliate.
For this article, we define a publisher, as an independent party that promotes the products or services of an advertiser in exchange for a commission on leads or sales.
An affiliate displays ads, text links, or product links on its Web site, in email campaigns, or in search listings and is paid a commission by the advertiser when a visitor takes a specific action, such as filling out a form, making a purchase or subscribing to a service.
A merchant, also known as an advertiser or retailer, is a Web site or company that sells a product or service online, accepts payments and completes orders.
If you place an ad or link to the merchant’s products and/or services on your Web site and the merchant...