Affiliate marketing is a legitimate and effective method of making money on the Internet without having your own product. It is also a means of advertising online.

With Affiliate Marketing, the advertisers are the online merchants who sell the products or services on the internet. They need others to help them promote their products or services. The online merchants usually put the ads on others’ website and pay them if there is a purchase through the affiliates’ promotional efforts.

In the case of affiliate marketing, advertisers only pay their publishers when the new client introduction results in a sale or a lead, making it a low-risk, high-reward environment for both parties.

Affiliate marketing is easy and anyone who has Internet connection can set up an affiliate marketing business.

Advertisers often populate their ad links in the interface, making them available for placement by publishers.

Each link is assigned a commission, such as a fixed amount per lead or a percentage of a resulting sale on the advertiser's Web site. Publishers looking to monetize their traffic apply to join an advertiser's program. Upon acceptance, the publishers select and place the advertiser's links on their Web sites, in their email campaigns or as part of search listings.

When a consumer clicks on a publisher's link, a cookie is set on the visitor's browser that identifies the advertiser, the publisher, and the specific link and payment rates. When the visitor makes an actual purchase online or fills out a form, that transaction is tracked and recorded by Commission Junction. Upon recording the transaction, Commission Junction handles all of the collection and processing required ensuring fair and timely commission payment for the publisher, and all of the administration and verification necessary to ensure quality sales and leads for the advertiser.