Companies trying to advertise on a budget are finding that affiliate marketing can help get their name out into cyberspace relatively cheap and without a lot of effort by using an affiliate marketing network. There are several companies that operate a network of affiliates, enabling companies to concentrate on running their business instead of spending time keeping track of their outside sales staff.

Affiliate marketing is designed to help companies establish a network of advertisers that post ads on their site, guiding web users to the site in exchange for a sales commission. The main benefit to the company is they do not pay for the advertising space unless a customer from that site clicks through and makes a purchase. By being connected with an affiliate network, the network tracks the visits and the sales and calculates the commission do to all of the company's affiliates.

The company then sends one check to the affiliate marketing network to disburse to all of the deserving affiliates as well as a commission payable to the network. Every aspect of the deal can be automated, include acceptance of web sites signing up to be affiliates. However, many companies opt out of automatic acceptance, preferring the opportunity to visit the registering site to insure it meets with their standards. Additionally, they may want to make sure it is a professional-looking site that will not be in contrast with their professional appearance.

Most sites will agree to allow many sites host their advertisement as a means of helping to spread the word about special deals as well as every day products and prices. They may also place a limit on the amount of time a person can be affiliated with them, depending on the amount of traffic they receive from the site and the amount of sales.

In rare cases, companies will allow secondary affiliates, meaning that one affiliate site will refer traffic to another affiliate site before the customer is sent to the main company site. The commission structure will be altered to reflect the extra layer so the company does not pay more than the premium commission percentage to both sites. Essentially the commission is divided between both of the sites.

Web sites that host affiliate sites benefit by receiving commissions on the sales as well as adding integrity and credibility to their site. While some sites only accept affiliate ads from major companies, other will only host off-beat or niche suppliers as they try to carve their own identity out of the vast number of sites on the internet.

For site owners, if they offer a service they may want to consider only hosting affiliate sites that will compliment their products. Additionally, many web sites are not happy if they find their ad on an affiliate site next to a major competitor. Companies usually have the option to end an affiliate relation without notice, if the site violates their affiliate agreement. On the flip side, hosting sites can also end the relationship simply by not posting the company's ads on their web site.