Referral and Affiliate Link Differences

On OzBargain we are programmatically making distinguishing between 3 types of links our users might post in the posts and in the comments.

What are the differences between referral and affiliate links? In short, this is our definition on OzBargain:

• Pays site-credit that cannot be redeemed as real currency to be paid into referrer's bank or PayPal account.
• Don't usually require referrers to have a website or run a business.
• Usually encourage the referrers to share the link via email or social media.

• Pays the affiliates real currency, as a form of commission.
• Usually from affiliate networks (DGM, Commission Junction, LinkShare, etc) given to their affiliates, who run websites or marketing related business. Sometimes directly from merchants.
• There are usually rules affiliates need to abide in terms of where they can place the affiliate links, sometimes differ on merchant by merchant level.

Amaysim deals –

• Referral links via their Refer a Friend program are supported in the OzBargain referral system.
• Affiliate links via affiliate networks (such as DGM) are not allowed/supported.

Green Man Gaming deals –

• Referral links via their Recommend a Friend program are supported in the OzBargain referral system.
• Affiliate links via their Commission Junction affiliate program are not allowed/supported..