After locally produced search engines, job portals, travel portals, news websites and community web sites we now have affiliate networks coming up. This time it is business and bloggers beware for they will be heavily profited.

Affiliate networks facilitate what is popularly called affiliate marketing. It sounds more English, but do not go by the name. Affiliate marketing is a service provided by web site owners. Web site owners and publishers put advertisements and links of different advertisers on their sites and get paid. These advertisements help the business to reach out to the people who are engaged in some activity or who just visit the web sites of the publishers.

Affiliate networks provide third party services and acts as go-betweens. The allow publishers to promote the advertisements and messages of advertisers. Affiliate networks have business relations with a lot of advertisers and clients. These people (clients) need to sell or advertise their products. The networks help them by connecting them with the publishers.

So far affiliate networks have been encouraging the heavy users like bloggers to take an active participation in affiliate marketing. The most catching factor in affiliate marketing is the money. There are many people who have already realized the potential of online advertising and marketing. Many of then understand the basics of online advertising and promotions and services like advertisement serving. Will people experiment with the new online platforms and services? Will bloggers take a u turn and try their luck in affiliate marketing? Such questions remain to be the hot debates in discussion forums.

Affiliates marketing in India, if they succeed in mobilizing the people and in involving people in online buying and selling, then tomorrow will be a different day. Affiliate marketing or online marketing has been received with a warm welcome, but a large-scale deployment in not likely to happen in this country. E-commerce or online buying and selling services in India are not that much popular. Their penetration and popularity has been limited to few urban centers.

Moreover, it can be a new avenue for the young and talented work force that exists in India. It can help in providing self employment as well as establishment of affiliate business groups through out India.