An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.
Corporate structure
A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid the appearance of control. This is sometimes seen with companies that need to avoid restrictive laws (or negative public opinion) on foreign ownership.
For the concept as exercised in the North American broadcasting industry see network affiliate.
Electronic commerce
Affiliate marketing typically refers to an electronic commerce version of the traditional agent/referral fee sales channel concept. An e-commerce affiliate is a website which links back to an e-commerce site such as Amazon.com with the goal of making a commission for referred sales.
However, as e-commerce continues to evolve, e-commerce affiliates are no longer restricted to website owners. Bloggers and members of different online community forums can be affiliates as well. Many emerging affiliate programs are now accepting bloggers and individuals, not necessarily webmasters, to be affiliates.
Affiliates can also be referred to as publishers. Affiliate marketers don't necessarily have to be affiliate marketers specifically. Sometimes such marketers can be the e-commerce web site that actually sells the products and services. The advantage of this method of marketing is that it cuts out the middleman but it does require the affiliates to have a high degree of trust in the software and people behind the e-commerce web site in question.
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