A commission is earned by advertising and producing leads for the goods or services of another company's (merchant) products or services. Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing technique. It is an approach to online marketing that depends on cooperative relationships between affiliates and retailers.

Affiliates who are part of affiliate networks advertise the merchant's goods and services using a variety of platforms, including websites, blogs, social media sites, email marketing, and paid advertising. To track their promotional efforts and attribute sales or leads produced by their marketing efforts, they use special tracking links or affiliate codes that the merchant provides.