What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is an online advertising channel in which advertisers (online merchants) selling products or services, pay publishers (affiliates, webmasters) to promote products or services of an advertiser.They pay only the results such as buying a product / service or completion of a form by a visitor, rather than simply paying for getting an audience.
In other words affiliate marketing is a web-based marketing practice in which a merchant (advertiser) rewards one or more affiliates (publishers) for each visitor or customer brought by their affiliate marketing efforts.This model of  “pay per performance” is the modern version of the model “finders” fee were the action of finding new potentials customers was rewarded. The difference in affiliate marketing is that advertisers (merchants) pay their publishers (affiliates) only when the new client action has as a  result a sale or a lead (an action) and because of that we have a low risk environment and more rewards for both parties.
Affiliate marketing industry
Affiliate marketing is also the name of industry where a number of different types of companies and individuals made this form of Internet marketing, including affiliate networks, affiliate management companies, third party vendors and a variety of specialized types of affiliates / publishers who promote products and services of their partners.Affiliate marketing overlaps with other internet marketing methods because they use common methods of advertising affiliates. These methods include search engine optimization, paid search marketing search engines, e-mail marketing and display advertising banners. On the other hand affiliates use sometimes unorthodox methods of promotion.
So what are the benefits over other methods of marketing?
The most significant are counting, transparency and control.
Through affiliate marketing, the advertiser specifies how to reward the publishers for the sale, registration or business, and defines in advance the sum that is prepared to pay for each such a result. Affiliates are paid only when these results have been delivered and verified.
What other marketing channel is as flexible?
Many customers want quick online performance and with careful guidance and advice from the affiliate network, affiliate marketing has become a path to it.