Not all of the good affiliate programs go through the big boys. As you can imagine, there are advantages and disadvantages to using someone like Linkshare or Commission Junction to run your program. The major disadvantages seem to be cost (expect to drop ten grand for setup and network access fees, and a 30% commission on what you make from the program) and the fact that your program will be lost among thousands of others.

So many companies have decided to manage their own affiliate programs, using specialized software and with their own promotional plans (30% buys a lot of Adsense). I surfed the ten most popular independent affiliate program directories, and I