This document discusses affiliate marketing. It defines affiliate marketing as a practice where a business rewards affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate's marketing efforts. It notes that affiliate marketing involves revenue sharing between advertisers/merchants and publishers/salespeople, with compensation based on performance metrics like sales, clicks, and registrations. Potential benefits for affiliates include easily making money and time savings, while benefits for advertisers include increasing brand awareness, paying for results, easier access to advertising space, and targeted marketing. Potential downsides mentioned include users getting annoyed by ads, ads being confusing or crowded, and risks of computer viruses.