It allows website publishers to more easily find and participate in affiliate programs which are suitable for their website (and thus generate income from those programs), and allows websites offering affiliate programs (typically online merchants) to reach a larger audience by promoting their affiliate programs to all of the publishers participating in the affiliate network.
[1] Traditional affiliate networks enable merchants to offer publishers a share of any revenue that is generated by the merchant from visitors to the publisher's site, or a fee for each visitor on the publisher's site that completes a specific action (making a purchase, registering for a newsletter, etc.).
[2] For merchants, affiliate network services and benefits may include tracking technology, reporting tools, payment processing, and access to a large base of publishers.
For affiliates, services and benefits can include simplifying the process of registering for one or more merchant affiliate programs, reporting tools, access to product API's and payment aggregation.
The current technological advances have given many tools to affiliate networks to fight cyber fraud in a more meaningful and effective way.