Top 20 Networks – The World’s Best
CPA & Affiliate Networks
The Top Performance Marketing Networks as Rated by
Affiliates, Advertisers, Agencies and Experts
TOP 20 CPS Networks Top 20 CPA Networks
Each year we conduct the largest research survey in the performance marketing industry in order to identify the best affiliate and CPA networks that brands, merchants and agencies should be working with.
Within these lists you will find 40 of them, as chosen by the advertisers and publishers of the world-wide performance marketing community. These are the networks that, in a highly competitive environment, have been able to maintain professionalism and achieve the guaranteed ROI that is the mark of a top network. These are also networks that have learned to survive and thrive in a difficult commercial environment, so they are without exception run by smart, effective leaders.
2017 is before us with bigger opportunities than ever. Social commerce, the worldwide adoption of mobile, digital TV and new payment systems mean that performance marketing is positioned perfectly. Brands should and must bring performance marketing into their mix if they are to succeed in the years ahead. The networks in these pages are the ones to help them, do just that.
This year’s BLUE BOOK survey was bigger than ever, with more information on how different networks appeal primarily to publishers, or to advertisers, or to both.The result is a list of the world’s best CPA and CPS networks, with a good mixture of huge networks and small, and of boutique, invitation-only networks and million-affiliate behemoths. Evangelize the power of performance marketing.
The Guide for Agencies and Advertisers
The Guide for Publishers and Affiliates
The Online Advertising Blue Book is designed to provide networks the space to show exactly why a publisher should choose them as a partner. White papers and executive interviews can help to build trust and form a lasting and profitable business relationship. Network profiles provide publishers and affiliates with key data on contacts, payments terms and other decision-relevant data. Revenue Performance and the Online Advertising Blue Book are published by mThink, LLC. mThink publishes consumer magazines and contract publishing solutions. It also develops existing resources to provide clients with focused custom publishing solutions.
About
This year has been one of reorganization and consolidation in the performance marketing industry. Networks have merged, refinanced or gone broke at an unprecedented rate. Law suits have been flying, regulators have clamped down and re-bill offers have gone the way of the dodo. All these factors have made it more difficult than ever for advertisers and publishers trying to choose with which networks they should work. Who can be trusted? Who gets the job done? What do other people really think?
In each edition of the BLUE BOOK Guide To Ad Networks, we bring you the results of our biggest ever survey. Over 20,000 merchants, affiliates, agencies and network personnel have given us their views on which networks are their favorites. And in addition, we recruited a dozen leading experts from a wide range of organizations in order to get the inside scoop on network gossip and reputation.
Affiliate or CPA?
In previous editions of the BLUE BOOK, we included affiliate networks and CPA networks together in one category: performance marketing networks. This approach had the great benefit of simplicity but it suffered from the obvious flaw that we were effectively trying to compare apples with oranges. It’s not just that affiliate and CPA networks focus on different pricing structures. It’s that they’re almost different animals completely, with the difference reflected in their publishers, types of traffic and advertising clients. So, there was a powerful argument to separate the two. And that’s what we have done. In this edition, you will find the BLUE BOOK Top 20 Affiliate Networks plus the BLUE BOOK Top 20 CPA Networks. It’s been a difficult process, but we’re happy with the result. We hope you will find the results useful and informative.
But… What About Affiliate AND CPA?
We have separated CPA networks totally from affiliate networks in two tables. That seemed to offer most value to you, the reader. But, the fact is that many of these companies offer a variety of pricing structures to suit the offer or advertiser concerned.
There’s a big overlap in some cases, such as NetMargin, for example. They do most of their business via CPA offers, but they have a significant portfolio of cost-per-sale programs that are very successful.
But NetMargin is unusual in their spread of business across both pricing models. Most networks have a strong focus on one or the other. As a result, we have taken the approach that each network should be listed only in the category in which we believe they do most of their business. That seemed to be the fairest approach that also offered most clarity and value to our readers.
Contact Us
We want to hear from our community. Please contact us with questions, comments or updates to the networks — it’s a rapidly changing landscape and we value all input. Email editor@mthink.com.