Glossary of Affiliate Marketing Programs

affiliate: the publisher/salesperson in an affiliate marketing relationship.

affiliate directory: a categorized listing of affiliate programs.

affiliate forum: an online community where visitors may read and post topics related to affiliate marketing.

affiliate fraud: bogus activity generated by an affiliate in an attempt to generate illegitimate, unearned revenue.

affiliate marketing: revenue sharing between online advertisers/merchants and online publishers/salespeople, whereby compensation is based on performance measures, typically in the form of sales, clicks, registrations, or a hybrid model.

affiliate merchant: the advertiser in an affiliate marketing relationship.

affiliate network: a value-added intermediary providing services, including aggregation, for affiliate merchants and affiliates.

affiliate software: software that, at a minimum, provides tracking and reporting of commission-triggering actions (sales, registrations, or clicks) from affiliate links.

exclusivity: contract term in which one party grants another party sole rights with regard to a particular business function.

payment threshold: the minimum accumulated commission an affiliate must earn to trigger payment from an affiliate program.

return days: the number of days an affiliate can earn commission on a conversion (sale or lead) by a referred visitor.