What is an Affiliate?

An affiliate (publisher, partner) promotes an advertiser's products for commission in affiliate marketing. In arbitrage, “affiliate” usually means a media buyer purchasing paid traffic.

Role

Runs ads, sends traffic, gets a click id from the tracker. On conversion, the network credits payout. Must follow GEO, sources, and no brand bidding.

Types

Media buyers purchase paid traffic; webmasters run SEO and email; influencers use promo codes. In a CPA network the affiliate gets a tracking link, sends traffic to a landing page, and reconciles postbacks with tracker reports. Click fraud can freeze payouts and ban accounts.

Obligations

Follow IO rules: GEO, sources, no incent or brand bidding. Fraud can freeze payouts and ban accounts. Transparent tracking reduces disputes with the affiliate manager.