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Commission Junction, a ValueClick company, is a global leader in the online advertising channels of affiliate marketing and managed search. We drive quality results, deliver superior service, and develop sustainable relationships for advertisers and publishers through our performance-based solutions. Commission Junction operates the only truly global network in affiliate marketing while setting the industry standard for network quality and providing the most sophisticated reporting tools available.

Company Information
Founded in 1998, Commission Junction, a ValueClick company, is based in Santa Barbara, California and has offices around the world. Since our inception, we have taken great pride in being customer service fanatics while establishing ourselves as a global leader in the online advertising channels of affiliate marketing and managed search.

In 2001, we made a revolutionary move by publishing the performance metrics of all advertisers, publishers, and ads within our network, the CJ Marketplace. This approach provided both advertisers and publishers for the first time a way to gauge the value of their existing and potential relationships based on two key metrics – average earnings per 100 clicks (EPC) and network earnings – and fundamentally took affiliate marketing to the next level.

Today Commission Junction continues to move forward by offering a full suite of value-added services to customize its affiliate marketing solutions, dedicated support for top-performing publishers, as well as a fully managed search solution. And yes, we remain customer service fanatics.

What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an online advertising channel in which advertisers (online merchants that sell products or services) pay publishers (independent parties that promote the products or services of an advertiser on their Web site) only for results, such as a visitor making a purchase or filling out a form, rather than paying simply to reach a particular audience. This "pay-for-performance" model is in essence the modern version of the "finders’-fee" model, where individuals who introduce new clients to a business are compensated. The difference in the case of affiliate marketing is that advertisers only pay their publishers when the new client introduction results in a sale or a lead, making it a low-risk, high-reward environment for both parties.

How it Works
Advertisers in our network, the CJ Marketplace, populate their ad links in the interface, making them available for placement by publishers. Each link is assigned a commission, such as a fixed amount per lead or a percentage of a resulting sale on the advertiser’s Web site. Publishers looking to monetize their traffic apply to join an advertiser’s program. Upon acceptance, the publishers select and place the advertiser’s links on their Web sites, in their email campaigns or as part of search listings.

When a consumer clicks on a publisher’s link, a cookie is set on the visitor’s browser that identifies the advertiser, the publisher, and the specific link and payment rates. When the visitor makes an actual purchase online or fills out a form, that transaction is tracked and recorded by Commission Junction. Upon recording the transaction, Commission Junction handles all of the collection and processing required to ensure fair and timely commission payment for the publisher, and all of the administration and verification necessary to ensure quality sales and leads for the advertiser.