The Worldwide Web has evolved not only to be a powerful source of information, but also as a gateway of commerce and business. The business possibilities are endless. These are only limited by one’s capability to link with possible business partners and clients and to channel the harvest of sales and profits into one’s bank account.

In the 1^st quarter of 2005, Nielsen/NetRatings Global Internet trends indicate that 150 million Europeans are online. High growth rates continue among most European countries for at home user population. People connected are also spending increasing amounts of time online.

More and more people are shopping online. According to the BMRB Internet monitor Q3 2005 Report, 62% of internet users have sourced information on products and services in the last 6 months. Out of these internet users, 66% bought the last product they researched on.

The e-shoppers are more informed and more discerning. They would search, compare prices and services. They would chat and ask for opinions from friends and experts before making the most sought after purchase online.

This is the e-commerce challenge.The Web’s reach is immense. With millions of websites and advertisers, exponential number of possible links and partnerships can be established.The question is what links and partnerships could bring in the most profits and the best margins? This is where affiliate marketing comes in.

What is affiliate marketing? A definition given is that it is connecting buyers and sellers and rewarding those that facilitate connections in forms of commissions or payments once a sale is made.

Affiliate marketers facilitate online relationships. Their services range from creation and management of online marketing and sales activities to its analysis and optimization. These involve tracking of responses to the website or to an advertisement then submitting a report about it. These marketers usually have a wide range of networks wherein they could affiliate a client to for the best returns. Some, like the TradeDoubler include cutting checks, sending out end-of-year tax forms and responding to webmaster queries as part of their services.

The benefits of website owners as well as on-line shops include an increase in revenue and return on investment due to additional links and access to other e-businesses related to theirs. Here, niche marketing work well as the affiliate marketer link sites and advertisements to each other. It reduces customer acquisition costs as well as control online activities and expenditures.

The best part of Affiliate Marketing and Sales is actually its pay for performance design. Most affiliate marketing services charge through sales commissions or for clicks and qualified leads. The rates and arrangements differ depending on the services and types of e-commerce.

For instance, Amazon usually charges 15% while Dell pays about 1% both on the selling price. Some hotel affiliate marketers usually buy rooms at bulk prices and make a profit by adding on to the price. This proved to be a win-win arrangement for both the hotels and the service.

Affiliate marketing has contributed to the rise of many leading on-line companies. It is not uncommon to see industries where the major players have affiliate programs. Luckily, there are service providers who could make this available to any website owner or on-line shop so that they could profit from the web as well.