If you wanna find advertisers for your web-site, a good idea is to join affiliate networks. Sometimes it is hard to find them because they call themselves like "performance-based online marketing services company", "pay-for-performance network", "marketing solutions provider", "cost-per-action advertising network".

Affiliate networks usually have a wide range of advertisers also called merchants. Depending on an advertiser you can get paid per sale, click or lead .

Few affiliate networks allow almost anyone to join. The best affiliate networks want to provide quality traffic to advertisers so they usually require your site to receive a certain amount of visitors. They also can have other limits like english language web-site, top-level domain, etc.

Some affiliate networks let you see a directory of the advertisers in the network before you join, others show you their list of offers only after you join them.

Affiliate networks are free to join.

Large affiliate networks

• Commission Junction - large affiliate network. CJ is a world leading Affiliate Network, a firm that counts more than 500,000 affiliates (publishers) and nearly 2,000 high quality advertisers (merchants). Advertisers pay for sales and for leads. CJ consolidates all payouts into one check! CJ is available to international webmasters.

• LinkShare - one of the best affiliate networks. It has more than 600 merchants (advertisers). Advertisers of the network pay per clicks, leads and sales. You can find some really big names here like Dell, Disney, Nike and American Express. Linkshare consolidates all payouts into one check! This affiliate network is available to international webmasters.

• RegNow - is number one Software Affiliate Network. You can receive payment via check, wire transfer, Visa Electron debit card. Publishers can use Buy links or Custom builds hosted by RegNow (if provided by a software vendor). If you are a publisher (an affiliate), not a software vendor, please use this link to sign-up.

• Digital River oneNetwork 2.0 - is a Software Affiliate Network having the same owners as RegNow. It uses a different engine (the same as OffersQuest and GoZing). Symantec, Computer Associates, Pinnacle, Roxio are among the well known software vendors you can promote with oneNetwork.

Small affiliate networks worth of joining

• OffersQuest ^{the best} - This affiliate advertising network offers publishers the highest payouts anywhere! Best campaign payouts in the industry, easy to use account administration, detailed statistics reporting, and real publisher support. You need to be approved once while signing up, approval for every advertiser is not needed! Offersquest consolidates all payouts into one check!
  The amount of advertisers is not very big, but they really have the highest commission. For example goZing pays $1.50/lead through OffersQuest and only $1.00 through its own affiliate program! The situation with other advertisers is the same!

• Gozing network - Small affiliate network based on the same engine as OffersQuest. Consolidates all payouts into one check! They offer a 2-tier 5% referral program. You will earn 5% of who you refer for life.

• ConnectCommerce - small affiliate network, but you can find big names here like America Online, CompUSA, Eddie Bauer, HP Shopping, Verizon Wireless, and more than 300 others.

Fraudulent affiliate networks

• ShareASale - large affiliate network with plenty pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead, and pay-per-click programs. It has more than 700 advertisers. Suspended my account just before sending me a $500 check.

• clixGalore - a large affiliate network comprising of over 2400 advertisers (merchants). clixGalore provides a very comprehensive 2Tier management system, rich in features allowing to manage a 2Tier payment system and pay commission to 1st tier Affiliates for the customers driven to the advertiser by referred 2nd tier Affiliates. Recurring payment and bonus schemes are supported.
  This network seems to be very attractive, but many merchants and publishers complain about its illegal activities. My account was also suspended without any explanation.