Widening your circle of friends: somewhat eclipsed by search marketing, affiliate marketing is still making its own strides forward.

New Media Age, June, 2004 by Susie Harwood

Affiliate marketing, arguably the original pay-for-performance advertising model, has been somewhat overshadowed in the past year by the much-hyped pay-per-click search model. Search has not only seen significant growth--it now accounts for more than a third of online advertising budgets in the UK, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)--but the high level of merger and acquisition activity and the presence of Google have made sure it has remained firmly in the spotlight.

Meanwhile, in the background affiliate Marketing--the practice where smaller sites drive sales or traffic to larger sites in return for commission--has come of age and seen rapid growth, which looks set to continue. European affiliate network TradeDoubler predicts 75% revenue growth for...