The very concept of affiliates is an old one. It was adopted from the electronic medium of radio. However, the online affiliates, with two decades of existence, still bear the beginners label. It is very difficult to comment on such a thing as the first affiliate program or network. Yet you will find tens and thousands of webpages and websites writing about such a theme. It so happened that some researcher hit the FAQs section of Amazon.com and then started claiming that he knew what no one else did. To clear your doubts keep on reading.

With Internet services thrown open before the public, entrepreneurs realised the plethora of opportunities provided by it, especially the web. To make a fortune out of the new opportunities provided by Internet and web, people set up their own web resources. That was early 1990s and communication experts were a bit skeptical. With millions of pages available on the web, the business needed to catch the attention of the public. Gambling and adult site owners were the first to initiate large-scale campaign and affiliate network services. In the mid 90s web site publishers realised their futile attempts and just switched to other business practices. Nevertheless, some key players like Amazon.com continued their extensive campaigns and capturing of other web sites as partners or affiliates.

In the late 90s and the beginning of new millennium, few affiliates chose to bring in website owners to the e-retailers. Thus affiliate networks and affiliate programs were launched. Like pioneers, the networks provided referral fee and commissions to help web site publishers earn from their resources. The compensations, advertising methods, sharing of resources witnessed many changes and so did the programs.

As the concept of affiliate network marketing developed and progressed, quite a few affiliate with global reach sprouted. As of now, many affiliate networks claim to be providing services through out the globe. In essence, this ensures that website owners can avail partner advertising services from any part of the world. Networks with clients providing goods and services in most parts of the world can highly benefit from a global network. Website owners located in different countries have apprehensions regarding the customer requirements, the nature of content, the style, habits and more. Although there may be no consensus as to which was truly the first affiliate, what is certain is the fact that affiliate network marketing is here to grow leaps and bounds in the near future.

- End -

Rupiz Affiliates:

Rupiz Affiliates is an affiliate marketing network that provides performance driven affiliate solutions in UK, US, Europe and Indian markets. The front-runners of Rupiz Infotech Group, a renowned Internet marketing institution, established the affiliate network to cater to the global market. With a more realistic approach, they bring together the merchants and affiliates belonging to different verticals on the same platform and establish long lasting partnership for mutual benefits. Their affiliate network is based on the Pay on Performance basis. With customized affiliate programs, two-fold tracking systems, market analysts, creative advertising expertise and state-of-the-art technology, the organisation stands on a par with the best affiliate marketing groups.