When did amazon start its affiliate program?

In July 1996, Amazon.com launched the first affiliate program on the Internet. That's the story of the Amazon Affiliate Program FAQs, with, at least. Although we've managed to summarize the whole history of affiliate marketing before the Internet in just five paragraphs, things get much faster and more furious once the Internet is born. Whether you run a small or large online business, launching an affiliate program is now easier than ever thanks to tools like Easy Affiliate.

But depending on how you look at it, you could go as far as to say that the principles behind affiliate marketing existed long before the dawn of the Internet. The first affiliate marketing networks that were launched to the public did so in 1998 and are still operating. Even the first Shakespeare folio, published in 1623, has its similarities to affiliate marketing. The advantage that big e-commerce players like Amazon have when it comes to affiliate marketing is obvious: people know them.

That means that, in theory, it's easier for affiliates to make sales, since users are more likely to trust the products promoted by affiliates. Thanks to Amazon, the concept of public affiliate marketing programs took off faster than it could have otherwise. In the more than two decades that have passed since they first appeared, the concept of affiliate marketing networks hasn't changed much. Amazon affiliate links can also be shared on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, making the affiliate program a great option for anyone active on social media.

The Amazon affiliate program, for example, pays affiliate sites based on the number of people who send to Amazon who also make purchases on the site within 24 hours. If you have an audience and you know what types of products or services they're interested in, affiliate marketing is a cost-effective way to monetize your website or social media presence. Affiliates could continue to use the links if they wanted to, however, banner ads offered a visual option that affiliates could add to their site.