Affiliate Networks & Platforms in Comparison

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing is a sub-area of ​​online marketing and refers to a practice in which operators of successful websites distribute products and services for a commission. In affiliate marketing, these website operators, also known as affiliates, partners or publishers, receive a commission when certain goals of the advertisers, also called merchants, are reached. These include, for example, generating clicks, leads, or sales.

Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for Advertisers

• Increased brand awareness and branding effects through integration of advertiser content on partner websites

• Gaining new customers or leads through the partner network

• More turnover by integration on affiliate pages

• Remuneration only when goals are achieved (i.e. no prepayment necessary)

• Low risk

• Relatively low costs

Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for Publishers

• Utilize their own reach to make money

• No own shop needed, as foreign products are marketed

• Publishers or affiliates can choose which advertisers they want to work with

• Various remuneration models (Cost-per-Click, Cost-per-Lead, Cost-per-Sale, Lifetime commission)

As described, affiliate marketing offers numerous advantages for both parties, namely the advertisers (Merchant) and the affiliates (partners, Publisher). The merchants benefit in particular from hopefully greatly increased reach, which can lead to more clicks and higher turnover, and numerous external digital salespeople (publishers).

For publishers, on the other hand, affiliate partner programs and affiliate marketing can be an attractive source of income, depending on the model and how they execute their affiliate activities.

Partnerships between advertisers and publishers often come about through affiliate networks. We'll explain exactly what affiliate networks are now.

What are Affiliate Networks?

Affiliate Networks are marketing platforms where advertisers (merchants), i.e. companies that offer products or services, post partner programs for affiliates (publishers), i.e. website operators. After you have applied for these partner programs as an affiliate, you can, once you are accepted, advertise for the products and services of the advertisers and thus earn revenue.

The Best Affiliate Networks Compared 2024

So what are the best affiliate networks for merchants and publishers? This question is not easy to answer. There are a multitude of affiliate network providers, and there are large differences in terms of features, offered partner programs, and paid out commissions. Which affiliate network is suitable for you as a publisher or advertiser depends greatly on your individual needs and the specific industry. For example, there are affiliate networks that specialize in electronics or gaming, while others offer a broader range of affiliate programs. A thorough comparison of affiliate networks is therefore very important in order to find the right network. In an affiliate network comparison, like the one on OMR Reviews, you can find the best networks and decide which network best suits your needs based on the experiences and reviews of other users in the OMR community.

Here are well-known providers of affiliate networks:

• retailAds

• Webgains

• Adcell

• Awin

• TradeTracker

• financeAds

• Admitad Affiliate

• Tradedoubler

• MyLead

• Digistore24

• Rakuten Affiliate Network

• Belboon

How does Affiliate Marketing work and what role do Affiliate Networks play?

In affiliate marketing, four parties usually come together: website visitors, affiliates, advertisers, and affiliate networks. But how does affiliate marketing work exactly?

1. The Advertisers (Merchants) offer partner programs and aim to be integrated into affiliate or publisher sites, for example, to generate higher sales or gain new leads. They can offer their partner program either directly or through an affiliate network where various advertisers place their partner programs.

2. Affiliate Networks act as neutral mediators between merchants and publishers, on which affiliates can network with advertisers. They act as marketplaces for affiliate partnerships, where merchants can post an affiliate program, which publishers can then join. The affiliate network ensures that the offered partner programs meet certain standards.

3. The Affiliates (Publishers) then integrate advertising material such as text links, banners, and logos into their websites. These advertising materials can be uniquely assigned to the publisher. This means that the publishers can be assigned the clicks, sales, etc. generated by the advertising materials, depending on the billing model.

4. When website visitors go to the affiliate's website and carry out actions that were previously defined as the goal of the campaign (such as clicks, leads, sales), this is tracked and evaluated by the provider of the affiliate network. When reaching the goals, the affiliate network ensures secure transactions and is responsible for the payment.

What are Affiliate Links and what are they needed for?

In order to be able to trace the origin of clicks and follow-up actions, affiliates receive an ID and specific affiliate links from advertisers or from the affiliate network. These links can then be integrated into their own web presence by the affiliates. They lead to the merchant's sites - and often directly to the products. Clicks and follow-up actions by those who follow them can be tracked via the links. This makes it clearly understandable for the merchant or the affiliate network when leads or buyers arrive at a site via an affiliate's online presence and what actions they take there.

What is the difference between Affiliate Networks and Affiliate Programs?

There is a clear difference between affiliate partner programs and affiliate networks in affiliate marketing. Affiliate partner programs are generally operated by the providers themselves, as the well-known example of Amazon shows. Setting up such a system and consistently maintaining it profitably means a significant effort for companies.

These efforts can be significantly reduced by cooperating with a so-called affiliate network, also known as an affiliate marketplace. The network acts as a mediator and ensures contact between affiliates, like bloggers or YouTubers, and merchants, like online shops, online service providers or other companies, who want to increase their reach on the web.

The affiliate network provides, among other things, the technical basis for tracking, which is fundamentally necessary for the functioning of affiliate marketing. This is the only way the commissions can be assigned to the respective affiliates. They offer their merchants and affiliates a comprehensive service in this regard and with regard to all other technical requirements. This also includes billing between the companies and the affiliates.

What are the advantages of Affiliate Networks?

Affiliate networks are particularly interesting for small and medium-sized companies, since the effort to build a solo affiliate program is often too large. But even larger companies use this option because of the comprehensive service. Since affiliate marketplaces often have large user numbers, they offer the chance for advertisers or merchants to be noticed significantly better than in a standalone affiliate program.

On the flip side, publishers find numerous different affiliate programs in one compact application in an affiliate network. For example, if potential publishers operate a blog on the topic of cycling and want to monetize it, a network offers an efficient platform for partner search. The thematic fit is essential for success, and categories and a powerful search function in an affiliate network facilitate the search process.

The portfolio of advertisers should, of course, fit as well as possible with the thematic orientation of the searcher's web presences. This is the only way to generate maximum success, meaning many clicks, leads, or purchase deals. The search process in an affiliate network is very quick. Here there are mostly categories and a powerful search function.

Furthermore, affiliates can easily apply for admission to various affiliate programs in an affiliate network. Standardized processes and uniform requirements for tracking and payments increase efficiency for publishers in affiliate marketing.

Which commission models do Advertisers offer in Affiliate Marketing?

Both the amount and type of commission varies depending on the respective affiliate partner program. In Affiliate Networks widely used models are the following:

• Cost-per-Click (CPC)

• Cost-per-Lead (CPL)

• Cost-per-Order (CPO)

• Lifetime commission

Cost-per-Click (CPC) means that affiliates receive a fixed remuneration for each click on an affiliate link. It is of course not certain that such a click will actually result in leads or sales. The merchants thus bear a certain risk. For affiliates, this model is all the more attractive, but it is worse rewarded than the CPL or CPO model.

Cost-per-Lead (CPL), on the other hand, rewards affiliates only when a certain target action is carried out after clicking on the affiliate link. This could be, for example, entering personal data in a form.

Cost-per-Order (CPO) is widely used. Here the affiliates bear the greatest risk: Because they are only paid, when after clicking the affiliate link on the merchant's pages there actually a sale happens.

With the Lifetime Commission, affiliates receive regular remuneration. Very similar to the CPO model context, there is a payment on the first purchase of the referred customers. If there are follow-up purchases, the affiliates are considered again. They get a commission as long as the advertised customers generate sales for the advertiser.

What should you pay particular attention to when choosing an Affiliate Network?

As already described, due to the large number of different affiliate networks, it is not easy for companies and affiliates alike to select a suitable one. Our affiliate network comparison on OMR Reviews provides a very good basis for making a decision. Furthermore, you should take into account the following aspects.

Affiliate Partner Program Selection

Some networks have more well-known affiliate programs, others focus on niche products. In this regard, affiliates have to consider which affiliate providers they want to work with. It is then necessary to select from the offer of the individual networks based on this. Sometimes providers are also exclusively represented by one network.

For merchants, when choosing a network, it is important to keep an eye on the possible range. Because affiliate networks with many programs are sometimes used more often.

Thematic Affiliate Networks

In special networks, individual industries and topics are often the only ones represented. Especially in the financial sector, there are affiliate networks that only work with banks and insurance companies.

Payment and Conditions in Affiliate Networks

How much money you can earn with affiliate marketing depends on the conditions of the affiliate network. Often affiliates in an affiliate network get certain standard conditions. Depending on the fee for using the network, that a company has to pay as an advertiser, special provisions can sometimes be given. In some networks there is also a bonus for affiliates - depending on the generated turnover.

Advertising material provided by Affiliate Networks

Standard advertising media, such as text links, banners, and logos, are offered by almost all affiliate networks. Sometimes, depending on the network and partner, a deep link generator, feed product data, and individual widgets can be used for integration.

For merchants, there is interesting here, what possibilities and possible support networks offer for further advertising material. Such additional materials can significantly boost sales.

Support of the Affiliate Network

A promptly responding and well-trained support can quickly help with many problems - which of course often occur quite frequently with partners, tracking or also regarding the evaluations - and thus save a lot of stress. This applies to affiliates and merchants alike.

Controlling and Reporting by Affiliate Networks

Controlling and reporting are important for ongoing success in affiliate marketing. Both affiliates and merchants should always keep an eye on appropriate activities, to be able to react quickly if necessary. Affiliate networks offer internal reporting options, but also interfaces to external programs that may already be used in other marketing contexts.

Activation time in an Affiliate Network

At this point, both advertiser and affiliates should be careful once again. Registering with an affiliate network and also the application process for the affiliate programs available there can be laborious and time-consuming.

In some networks, the registration and the check of new affiliates are very detailed. But once they are approved, they can immediately use all affiliate partner programs. Other networks allow merchants to allow their affiliates independently. Self-approval can bring longer waiting times for affiliates.

Also, the registration or inclusion of a merchant for an affiliate program in an affiliate network can sometimes take a while. It is always faster if as many standard processes are automated as possible.

Fees for Affiliate Networks

The costs are of course also important for the selection of an affiliate network. Affiliates do not pay anything for the registration. But there are always costs for affiliate providers. These are partially based on the effort of the affiliate program to be created.

FAQ: The most frequently asked questions about Affiliate Networks and Providers

1. Do I need specific prior knowledge if I want to use an Affiliate Marketplace?

An affiliate network usually offers a broad service, so it can also be used by less experienced users. However, basic knowledge in affiliate marketing as well as in HTML and entrepreneurship should always be present.

2. How do I, as an affiliate in affiliate programs, earn money?

Each affiliate gets an ID and access to special links that contain this ID. Via the integration of the links in your own web presences, clicks from users can be traced exactly back to the respective affiliate. For the successful click, sale, or conveyance of a lead, there is then a commission for the affiliate.

3. Is it possible to live as an affiliate of affiliate programs?

Yes, but for this you have to operate affiliate marketing very intensively. This does not require large financial investments, but it does require a lot of time.

4. What do I need to pay special attention to when choosing Advertisers/Merchants?

The merchants should especially match thematically your own web presences. This is the only way it is possible for you to really effectively distribute the goods or services. For example, cyclists who look at a bike blog are not particularly interested in fashion jewelry and will therefore ignore corresponding advertisements.

5. How do I learn about new Affiliate Networks?

We list new affiliate networks in the affiliate network comparison on OMR Reviews. Additionally, we recommend registering for our free OMR Reviews Newsletter.