An automated marketing program where a
Web
advertiser or merchant recruits
webmasters to place
the merchant's
banner ads or buttons on their own
Web site. Webmasters will
receive a referral fee or commission from sales when the customer has clicked
the
affiliate link to get to the merchant's Web site Web site to perform the desired action, usually make a purchase or fill out a contact form. The most common types of affiliate programs
include
pay-per-click,
pay-per-lead, and
pay-per-sale.
See "How
Affiliate Marketing Works" in the "Did
You Know..." section of Webopedia.
Also see Refer-It.com, a directory of
referral & affiliate programs for e-commerce, featuring information on over 6,500
affiliate programs.