AffiliateStorm officially launched in late October of 2001, and presently houses only a dozen or so active affiliate programs. Nevertheless, the fantastic range of options presented to both publishers and advertisers within the system's respective control interfaces, combined with solid support and comparativey low merchant fees has made the new service attractive. Obviously, since this firm is so new and has yet to deliver any payments to publishers, it's impossible to give the program a certain rating at present, but the program is worth exploring.

Be Free, Inc. [BFRE] (aka Reporting.net) is a well-established intermediary between merchants and affiliates. Their flexible and reliable technology supports everything from pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale programs through to per-per-search systems. Your interaction with each merchant is handled seperately, the effects of which are that the terms governing each program vary, and checks are issued only once your earnings within an individual program exceed the defined minimum payment threshold.
UPDATE (18th July, 2002): Following its recent acquisition by ValueClick, BeFree has been successfully integrated into ValueClick's MediaPlex platform as of today.

ClickBank is a highly reputable ASP, that mainly supports sale-based affiliate programs where the product in question is digital (such as software, ebooks, merchant accounts, etc). Well worth exploring.

clixGalore is a start-up affiliate network operating out of Sydney, Australia. They support cost-per-click, cost-per-action and cost-per-sale programs, while supporting both Australian and US currencies. At present, they appear to accept affiliates and advertisers from all nations. Note that payments are made only once your balance reaches the equivalent of $US50 (with payments dispatched in your choice of $AUD, $US or UK pounds sterling), and that clixGalore take 25% management commission from affiliate balances. Merchants who choose to close their programs are additionally charged a $10 account closure fee.

Commission-Junction (CJ) was the first major affiliate program manager. From simple roots, it has grown to be the biggest and most respected name in its field. They presently manage literally 1000s of active pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale programs, offer a solid reporting system and consistently send their affiliate payouts on time. Fully P3P-compliant. Recommended
UPDATE (June 1st, 2001): CJ today announced a major series of changes that will see the abolition of their pay-per-click support system, while increasing merchant rates so dramatically as to force many pay-per-lead programs to shut down. Most of these changes will come into effect at the end of July. Until then, things will be rather turbulent at CJ. Related to this, many merchants have reduced their cookie length to 1 day, so that affilates aer rewarded only if their referrals make a purchase on the same day as the referral takes place. Concerns about the effect this will have on affiliate revenues are tackled here. Verdict: Still recommended, but proceed with caution.

Cyberbounty is a cost-per-action facilitator that assists publishers in filling their excess inventory with a combination of banner, button, text link and popup creatives. Cyberbounty represents a number of different (respectable) companies, paying anywhere between 50 cents and $3 for valid leads (forms filled, memberships enticed etc) originating from your website. Payment is issued NET60 after $50 in revenues has been generated by your account.
UPDATE (September 16th, 2002): CyberBounty today debuted a series of positive changes to their system. Payments are now dispatched on a NET30 basis, and the minimum payment threshold has also been halved - bringing it down to just $25. Impressively, these changes were made effective retroactively to September 1st.

MaxBounty is a late-comer to the affiliate marketing scene, but has managed to make quite an impact nonetheless. Efficiencies in operation have allowed to offer superior cost-per-lead rates than those offered by most networks. Stats are real-time, payments are monthly and the selection of campaigns is as varied as it is productive. Recommended.
UPDATE (December 2nd, 2004): Payments to international affiliates may now be made in their local currency so as to avoid delayed bank clearances and excessive fees. Good news for those not based in Canada or the US. UPDATE (July 31st, 2005): MaxBounty today finalised its acquisition of the LeadCrunch affiliate network; giving the program access to a broader base of affiliates and offers. The LeadCrunch brand will be dissolved as a result.

OnResponse (formerly Bach Systems) is ValueClick's reputable pay-per-lead network. Offering support for both text, banner and button links, as well as newsletter ads, OnResponse is certainly worth exploring.
Current traffic requirements are as such: websites must generate at least 100 pageviews/day. Newsletters must be sent to at least 1000 opt-in subscribers.

QuinStreet is a well-established affiliate manager with a definite focus on pay-per-sale programs. They provide a strong technological base, and a growing collection of merchants from which to choose.

ShareASale are a relatively new entrant into the affiliate management scene, but are rapidly gaining ground. The service brings lead-oriented merchants together with a worldwise network of publishers, with a few click-based offers available to those publishers who have proven their ability to convert by generating $20 in historical leads. Worth exploring.

Top50.to Affiliate Network launched on June the 1st, 2001 - just as CJ (whose model this service has adopted) announced a series of sweeping changes. Top50.to's system supports CPC, CPA and CPS transactions. Publishers residing in the USA, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK whose sites are presented in English, and attract at least 300 visitors/day are eligible for membership. Payments are issued NET60 after revenues of at least $50 have been generated.

is a UK-based affiliate network similar in form and function to CJ (see above), in that it supports a variety of creatives and transaction types - including CPC, CPA and CPS, and aggregates the earnings from each program into a single check. Affiliates from all over the world are accepted, but payment is made solely in British Pounds. Payments are issues bi-monthly to all affiliates who have surpassed the £30 threshold. Worth exploring

Websponsors acts as one of the Web's biggest and most reputable brokers for various commission-based affiliate programs. Handling clients as diverse as Pagoo and the Blue Sky ISP, Websponsors features merchants suitable for most audiences. Payment is based on leads or sales, and the company has consistently issues payments on a monthly basis for several years now. Highly recommended.