affiliate program

This glossary is designed to help affiliates understand the variety of terms and acronyms associated with the industry. If you have any questions or have a term we missed contact us.

Above the Fold - Portion of a web page visible on load, highest value area.
Affiliate - Individual that markets products for a merchant, earning a commission.
Affiliate Agreement (AA) - The agreement between an affiliate and a merchant that governs the relationship.
Affiliate Manager (AM) - Merchant representative that assists affiliates.
Affiliate Program - Revenue sharing partnership where the affiliate markets for the merchant for a pre negotiated payment.
Backlink - A link from another web site to your site.
Browser Helper Object (BHO) - Any toolbar or plugin that is integrated into a browser.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) - Used to set common styles on a web site.
Charge Back - Incomplete sales transaction that results in a commission deduction.
Click Through - When a viewer clicks a link.
Click Through Rate (CTR) - =Impressions/Clicks, how often a visitor clicks an ad after it has been displayed.
Cookie - Short line of text stored on a user hard drive when they visit a site.
Conversion Ratio/Rate (CR) - =Orders/clicks, how often a visitor makes an order after clicking through.
Cost Per Action/Acquisition (CPA) - Amount merchant pays affiliate per visitor-initiated action (such as an order).
Cost Per Click (CPC) - Amount merchant pays affiliate for each click on merchant ad.
Cost Per Impression (CPM) - Cost per thousand impressions.
Earnings Per Click (EPC) - Usually the average pay out per hundred clicks.
GoldenCan Store Integration - Code generator that creates storefronts for affiliates.
Impression - When an ad is displayed to a viewer.
Merchant - Online vendor of goods and services that offers an affiliate program.
Paid Inclusion (PI) - Guaranteed listing in a search engine based on a fee.
Parasite - Technology that alters normal performance of click tracking and disrupts affiliate business.
Pay For Performance (PFP) - Merchant pays affiliate based on a predetermined action.
Pay Per Click (PPC) - Bidding system where advertiser pays a search engine per click for ranking.
Pay Per Click Search Engine (PPCSE) - Paid search services such as Google's Adwords or Yahoo's sponsored search.
Payment Threshold - Minimum amount of commission earned before payment is made.
Product Showcase Creator - Automatic storefront creator for a merchant's products.
Return Days - Number of days after a click through that the affiliate still earns a commission.
Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) - =Return/Ad Spend, the percentage of income vs. expense generated by advertising.
Return On Investment (ROI) - =Return/Investment, the percentage of income earned vs. total investment.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Umbrella term encompassing both PPC and SEO marketing.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Optimizing your site for indexing by search engines to improve search ranking.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP) - The listing a search engine returns in response to a query.
Terms and Conditions (T&C) - See Affiliate Agreement.
Terms of Service (TOS) - See Affiliate Agreement.