LinkShare

Now a part of the Rakuten affiliate network, LinkShare been around since the early days of the industry. In recent years, however, it has seen its role get dwarfed compared to some of the other players such as CJ Affiliate. Keep in mind that a larger playing field is highly recommended when starting out with affiliate marketing.

LinkShare has a couple of distinct features which set it apart from the crew though. One, it automatically rotates through the various banner ads for a specific product, which makes your website easier to administer and optimize in the long run. Instead of having you manually choose the 300×250 ads that should be run, LinkShare allows the rotation of multiple versions with just one code snippet.

It also has a greater degree of flexibility when it comes to ‘deep linking’ to particular merchant landing pages, which translates into greater customization potential for your campaign.

Pros

    Rotation of ads: Even though it may appear to be a minor feature, it can prove instrumental in streamlining the consumption of your time and efforts in optimization / management.

    Flexible deep linking: You’re able to select the page of the merchant’s site that the click is directed to, which enables you to better determine the best way to funnel affiliate purchases.

Cons

    Small network: This network is much smaller than competitors such as ShareASale and CJ Affiliate, which means you’ll have fewer opportunities of landing a profitable program.

    Payments aren’t predictable: You get your cut only after the commission has been collected from the merchant, which can lead to delayed/erratic payments. This is bothersome when compared with the reliable net-20 system employed by Commission Junction.

Read more on LinkShare Click Here.