Affiliate network
An affiliate network is the go-between that collects advertiser offers and hands them to affiliates and buyers through tracking links, then records conversions and pays out commission. For a buyer, it's simultaneously an offer catalog, a conversion ledger, and the source of revenue.
How an affiliate network works
An advertiser lists an offer with payout terms (CPA, CPI, revshare) and a cap, the buyer grabs a tracking link and sends traffic to it, and the network logs conversions and pays out once they clear hold review. Every network has its own rules on geos, verticals, and traffic requirements — worth reading before launch, not after the first rejected payout.
Affiliate networks in PWA arbitrage
For PWA arbitrage, the network needs to support postbacks in the right format, or conversions from the PWA never make it back to the ad platform for optimization. APEX's S2S postbacks, such as Keitaro-to-FB-CAPI, close that loop between the tracker, the network, and the ad account without manual data syncing.
FAQ
- How many affiliate networks should you run at once?
- Two or three networks covering the geos and verticals you need is enough to start without spreading management too thin. Add more only when a specific offer isn't available anywhere in your current lineup.
- What matters most when picking a network for PWA traffic?
- Postback and S2S support comes first, or you end up tracking PWA conversions by hand. Hold length and caps on the offers you actually plan to run matter just as much.
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