Affiliate network
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In short
The platform between a store and its affiliates that tracks clicks, codes and orders, decides who gets credit, and pays the commission.
What it means
An affiliate network tracks the clicks and codes that lead to orders, decides which publisher is credited, and pays commission from the store to that publisher. It also sets the rules publishers must follow, such as stand-down for extensions, and can reverse commission when they break them. Awin, CJ, impact.com, Partnerize and Rakuten Advertising are affiliate networks.
On your store
You set commission rates in your network account and approve a cashback site and a creator. When an order comes in, the network decides whose click counts and bills you for that partner's commission.
Why it matters
US brands spent $13.62bn on affiliate in 2024, and the channel drove $113bn of ecommerce sales, in the PMA's industry study.[Performance Marketing Association, Jun 2025] (opens the source) Seven of the eight networks in the PMA's January 2026 comparison say they require extensions to stand down when another publisher referred the shopper.[Performance Marketing Association, Jan 2026] (opens the source) Your network's settings, more than any one partner, decide whose click wins and what you pay.
Sources
- 1Performance Marketing Association, “PMA study: affiliate marketing industry growth, US spend and sales”, Jun 2025. thepma.org (opens the source)
- 2Performance Marketing Association, “Affiliate network DSP policies comparison”, Jan 2026. thepma.org (opens the source)
Read next
Related terms
- Affiliate publisherAny partner a store pays commission for sending sales: content sites, creators, voucher and cashback sites, and browser extensions.
- Last-click attributionA crediting rule that gives the whole sale, and the whole commission, to the last affiliate whose link the shopper clicked before buying.
- Stand-downA rule that a coupon or cashback extension stays quiet when another affiliate already referred the shopper, so it doesn't take the commission.
- Attribution windowHow long after a shopper clicks an affiliate link an order can still be credited to that affiliate and earn it commission.
