The affiliate marketing industry has never really been seen in a positive light.
For whatever reason, practitioners have been hard-pressed to establish their legitimacy in the world of professional digital marketers.
They are seen as opportunists on their best days and scavengers on their worst ones. It seems that those intent on being affiliate marketers are challenged on every front in the current Web business environment.
By now most Web professionals are well aware of the Internet tax issue and how it impacts them. There are now a handful of states where working as an affiliate is no longer as attractive, or as attractive a marketing opportunity as it was a few years ago.
Affiliate marketers are even starting to get snubbed by those in related industries. In early September of 2011, email service provider MailChimp notified users that it would prevent affiliate marketers from using its service. That’s pretty bad by itself, but what makes it worse is the company they were in; providers of escort services, gambling and vendors of illegal goods were also in the mix. Anyone sending email with affiliate offers is subject to losing out in a significant way if their account is closed, but in many ways affiliates lose as that bad reputation continues to linger in the minds of digital Web workers.
So, what will affiliate marketers do in the long run? Likely, what they have been doing all along as an industry — continuing to find new and innovative ways to profit from their digital experience, improving upon their technologies and processes and, more importantly, continuing to expand their influence for those just now exploring how to monetize their Web properties. Fortunately, there is no shortage of enterprises willing to step up and show them the way.
This edition of Website Magazine presents 50 of the top affiliate networks on the ’Net today.
Readers will find some big names including Google, Amazon and eBay, which round out the first three positions. With thousands of networks currently in existence, there are also many others that are definitely worthy of a mention. Some of those that are routinely on our radar include PeerFly (#6), buy.at (#17), DirectCPV ((#18) and Neverblue (#34).
With nearly 1,000 networks across the globe, showcasing 50 that are worthy of readers’ greater attention is no simple task. Networks emerge, merge and evolve faster than in any business vertical we’ve come across. With so much movement, it’s not easy to know who you can trust. If this list provides anything to readers, it should be as a valuable starting point to explore the many opportunities and offers available to those serious about performance-based marketing.
1. Google.com
2. Amazon.com
3. Ebay.com
4. CJ.com
5. Clickbank.com
6. peerfly.com
7. webgains.com
8. pepperjamnetwork.com
9. pantheranetwork.com
10. dollarade.com
11. epicdirectnetwork.com
12. maxbounty.com
13. paydotcom.com
14. clixgalore.com
15. pointclicktrack.com
16. avantlink.com
17. buy.at
18. directcpv.com
19. mediatraffic.com
20. affiliatebot.com
21. adonnetwork.com
22. revenueads.com
23. ampedmedia.com
24. affiliatescout.com
25. w4.com
26. axill.com
27. motiveinteractive.com
28. mediawhiz.com
29. rextopia.com
30. directleads.com
31. sparkleads.com
32. affiliatewindow.com
33. cxdigitalmedia.com
34. neverblue.com
35. getads.com
36. revenuestreet.com
37. leadbolt.com
38. trafficvance.com
39. shareresults.com
40. cpapath.com
41. globalmatrixmedia.com
42. cpaprosperity.com
43. dandingo.com
44. convert2media.com
45. clicksor.com
46. shareasale.com
47. tradedoubler.com
48. clickbooth.com
49. 7search.com
50. adscendmedia.com
Source from Website Magazine 2012 February issue.
