What is a Pay Per Click Affiliate Program

Many new affiliate marketers hear about PPC - or Pay Per Click - Affiliate programs fairly early in their studies. And these types of affiliate programs are extremely appealing because they seem like a super easy way to make money.

And they are... for the most part.

A pay per click affiliate program does just what it sounds like: It pays you each time someone clicks a specific ad. You don't have to worry about whether the person buys something, fills out a form, or does anything for that matter. All you have to do is get them to click on the ad.

Sounds easy right? And it is usually. It can be problematic at times too though.

The most well known - and probably largest - pay per click affiliate program on the web today is the Google AdSense program. Affiliates new and old can sign up for the AdSense program and once approved, simply paste special advertising code on their websites. From that point, it's just a matter of generating traffic to those ads. And the more traffic you generate of course, the more money you can potentially make.

With AdSense, Google takes care of figuring out which ads to show. You have very little control over that part of things. There are ways for affiliate marketers and webmasters to influence the types of ads shown, and there are ways to block specific sites from displaying ads, but that's about it.

Other more traditional pay per click affiliate programs allow you to choose the actual ads that will be shown on your site. Generally you have to select image style banners and buttons in these cases, but you do get a selection to choose from.

Regardless of which type of PPC program you sign up with as an affiliate, you will get paid each time someone clicks an ad you're displaying. How much you're paid will depend on the ads you're running of course though. In some cases you might just get ten cents for each click, and in some cases you can get $1 or more.

You do have to worry more about fraud with PPC affiliate programs though. Since abuse runs rampant with pay per click systems, the affiliate programs are very careful about how things are tracked. Multiple clicks from the same visitor may not be counted more than once for instance, or three clicks from the same person may be credited, but nothing else from that same visitor will count until at least 24 hours have passed.

Some PPC affiliate programs will not credit you for clicks that come from certain countries either. In fact some will not even display ads to visitors who are in certain countries.

It's very easy for new affiliates to make mistakes with PPC affiliate programs too. Some will try to have their family go and click as many ads as they can, and some will even pay people to come and click thier ads. This is fraud however, and not allowed by PPC affiliate programs. If you're found to be doing these types of things, your account will be cancelled and any pending commissions will be forfieted. In other words: You will not be paid.

So as with any affiliate program: Check the terms of service before joining, and make sure to follow all the rules.

2006, Kathy Burns-Millyard. Kathy is a professionally published freelance writer and stock photographer living in Southeast New Mexico. You'll find some of her best articles and reports on small business, motivation, and marketing in the Brain Dump section of the ElectronicPerceptions.com website. Please visit and enjoy!

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