The economic downturn appears to be affecting every niche in the consumer market, but affiliate marketing may be spared.

As companies look for ways to trim their budgets, they must search for the most cost effective ways to find and bring in their customers with marketing and advertising. And affiliate marketing, it turns out, may be the very last place that companies cut.

Traditional media advertising is expensive and difficult to direct toward the specific consumer you are trying to bring in. The cost of advertising on television and print may become prohibitive for many companies, or at least the target of cut backs.

But the internet is a far different story. Companies find it easier to spend their dollars wisely on captive audiences. And one of the biggest dilemmas of advertising, finding your target audience, is much easier on the internet thanks to the huge number of sites that have narrow interests.

Another plus? It's far cheaper to advertise on the internet than on television. Basically, in this electronic age, you get more bang for your buck.

That bodes well for affiliate marketing, an area on the internet that appears to be growing despite the recession. Affiliate marketing, for those who aren't familiar with this term, is when you sell or promote a product on a website with hopes that someone will purchase that product after clicking on the link on your site. Every time someone buys a product after clicking on an ad from your site, you get a commission.

While affiliate marketing is definitely getting more popular, the switch by major corporations may not happen overnight. Senior management may be at first reluctant to recognize the benefits of putting their advertising dollars on such a relatively new medium. But some experts do see a trend, which is being fast-forwarded to some extent by the worsening economy.

More mainstreams companies are turning their sites toward affiliate marketing and its ability to bring in consumers.

For example, Jet Airways, a privately-owned air carrier, recently announced it is launching its own affiliate marketing program. In another deal, Social Media Ventures, Inc. announced that it has agreed to a new online affiliate marketing program, to feature special savings on pet products from PETCO, for its social networking site for pet enthusiasts, PetsPlaces.com.

Another indication that affiliate marketing is fairing well? The recent Affiliate Summit Conference in Las Vegas, had a record number of attendees. Another is scheduled for August in New York and is expected to attract even higher numbers, according to organizers.

In a survey conducted by Datran Media of 3,000 marketing executives from Fortune 100 companies, 42 percent said affiliate marketing was part of their overall marketing strategy for increasing business. That question wasn't even included in the previous surveys.

As affiliate marketing becomes more mainstream, it can only mean that it could be one business that is considered recession-proof. Studies have already shown that more and more people are buying product on-line rather than in brick and mortar stores, and that trend is expected to continue. That's also good news for affiliate marketers.