They are sometimes called “marketing solutions provider,” “pay-for-performance network,” “cost-per-action advertising network” or “performance-based online marketing services company.”

Most affiliate networks allow anyone to join. However, some networks require your website to achieve a certain amount of traffic before they welcome you.

The following are the biggest and most popular affiliate networks:

1. Commission Junction

The largest affiliate network in America, Commission Junction’s clients include almost half of the top 500 internet retailers. It has over 1500 clients such as Yahoo!, Home Depot and Buy.com.

2. LinkShare

LinkShare has over 600 merchants in its network which includes Dell, Nordstrom, Target, Disney and American Express.

3. Performics

Performics has over 300 clients which include America Online, Blair Corp., Bose, CompUSA, Eddie Bauer, HP Shopping, Kohl’s, L.L.Bean, PC Connection, RedEnvelope and Verizon Wireless.

4. ClickBank

Clickbank offers a wide range of digital products, primarily ebooks. They have over 10,000 product publishers and 100,000 affiliates.

How Affiliate Networks Can Help You Make Money

Affiliate networks are great places for market research as they will list the bestselling products on their site.

As an affiliate, you can easily find products that are already selling well. You needn’t waste time and money guessing which product will be profitable.

If you sell your own products, affiliate networks are also a great place to spy on your competition. You can:

• Discover their conversion rates by promoting their products.
• Access all the marketing tools they provide to their affiliates.
• Observe how they motivate their affiliates.

So, be sure to join the four biggest affiliate networks to acquire valuable market intelligence.