Affiliate marketing glossary
Affiliate network
In one sentence
An affiliate network is a platform that connects advertisers running affiliate programs with publishers who promote them, handling tracking, reporting and payment between the two.
Networks such as CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising, Awin, Impact and Partnerize sit between the brand and the publisher. The brand sets commission terms; the network provides the tracking infrastructure and the marketplace where publishers find programs.
A network is distinct from a sub-affiliate network. A network contracts directly with brands. A sub-affiliate network is itself a publisher on those networks, redistributing access downstream.
Common questions
Affiliate network, answered
Which affiliate network is the biggest?
By advertiser count the largest are CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising, Awin and Impact, and the ranking shifts depending on whether you count by advertiser, by market or by transaction volume. Size is the least useful thing to select on, because a network with 20,000 advertisers is worth nothing to you if none of them ship to your audience's country.
Do affiliate networks charge publishers?
No. Networks are paid by advertisers, through a mix of setup fees and an override on commission. Any network asking a publisher to pay to join is not operating a normal affiliate network.
Why was my affiliate network application declined?
The most common reasons are no website, traffic below the threshold the network applies, a content category the network does not accept, or an application that did not describe the traffic source clearly. Networks were built around publishers with domains and analytics, so a creator whose audience lives entirely on social platforms is frequently declined by the form rather than on merit.
Keep reading
More from the glossary
Every term here is written to answer one question completely, then point at the next one worth asking.
EPC (earnings per click)
EPC is the average commission earned per click sent to an advertiser, calculated as total commission divided by total clicks over a given period.
Cookie window
The cookie window is the length of time after a click during which a resulting purchase is still credited to the affiliate, commonly ranging from 24 hours to 90 days.
Last-click attribution
Last-click attribution credits the entire commission to the final affiliate link clicked before a purchase, which is the default model across almost all affiliate networks.
Attribution
Attribution is the process of determining which marketing touchpoint receives credit for a conversion, and therefore which affiliate is paid.
Cross-device tracking
Cross-device tracking links a click on one device to a purchase on another, so an affiliate is credited when a customer discovers a product on mobile and buys on desktop.
Deep link
A deep link is a tracked affiliate link that points to a specific product or category page on an advertiser's site rather than to its homepage.
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