Quick answer: Media companies tap into affiliate marketing by adding shopping links to product recommendations, deal round-ups and reviews, and earning a commission when readers buy. Well-known examples are The New York Times, which bought the product-review site Wirecutter in 2016, and BuzzFeed, which began featuring Shopify merchants’ products through a Shopify sales channel in 2017. The model works best when the recommendations are editorially independent and the commercial relationship is clearly disclosed to readers.
Affiliate marketing means promoting another company’s products and earning a commission on the sales you generate. It became one of e-commerce’s success stories because it pays for results rather than for space. For a new online business it is also cheap to start: the main upfront costs are a domain name and web hosting.
From there, a site owner looks for suitable affiliate programmes and adds them to a website or blog. Because the affiliate marketing business model scales easily, it has been adopted by everyone from single bloggers to large media groups, and it is often described as “win-win” for the publisher and the advertiser. Our overview of affiliate marketing networks and platforms lists where publishers find programmes.
Example 1: BuzzFeed and Shopify merchants
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that lets businesses set up an online store, customise a shopfront, take payments and track orders. In June 2017, Shopify added a BuzzFeed sales channel. Shopify merchants could tag their products so that BuzzFeed editors could find them and include them, with a price and a link to buy, in shopping articles such as deal round-ups. BuzzFeed earned a share of the resulting sales.
According to reporting at the time, the channel was open only to US merchants selling to US customers in US dollars, and merchants set their own commission rates. An earlier version of this article said BuzzFeed took 10% to 25% of each sale; we could not confirm that range, so we have removed it. In 2021, The Information reported that Shopify was building a wider affiliate programme for publishers, with BuzzFeed among the first partners.
The appeal of the arrangement is its simplicity. The publisher writes the article, the link sends the reader to the merchant, and the merchant pays only when a sale happens.
Example 2: The New York Times and Wirecutter
In October 2016, The New York Times Company bought The Wirecutter and its sister site The Sweethome, which recommend gadgets and household products after research and testing. The Times did not disclose the price; Recode, which first reported the deal, put it at more than $30 million. Wirecutter was founded in 2011 by former Gizmodo editor Brian Lam and has made money from affiliate links since launch: when readers click through and buy, the retailer pays a commission.
Wirecutter’s pages are arranged around reader needs, such as the best product of a type for most people, so readers save time when choosing. In a 2022 interview published by the affiliate network Awin, Wirecutter’s executive director of commerce, Leilani Han, said the commerce team works completely separately from editorial, and that journalists are not told about commercial agreements. That separation is a large part of why readers trust the recommendations.
An earlier version of this article quoted Jessica Spira, then Wirecutter’s head of revenue, on performance marketing. We could not trace the original source of that quote, so we have removed it.
Why media companies like affiliate revenue
Online advertising used to rely heavily on banner ads, pop-ups and cost-per-click deals, where advertisers paid for impressions or clicks whether or not anyone bought anything. Affiliate marketing is performance-based: the advertiser pays for actual sales. For a publisher, that turns content that already helps people decide what to buy into a direct source of income.
- It rewards useful content. A detailed, honest comparison earns more when readers act on it.
- It suits reader intent. Someone reading “best air purifier” is already close to buying.
- It uses audience data. Media companies know what their readers respond to, so they can choose products and timing that fit.
- It spreads risk. Commerce revenue adds to advertising and subscriptions rather than replacing them.
Affiliate marketers cannot rely on casual visitors stumbling onto the right link. The approach that works is showing clearly how a product solves a reader’s problem, not a glib sales pitch.
Disclosure: the rules readers expect
Readers and regulators expect publishers to say when they earn money from links:
- United States: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says affiliate marketers should disclose their relationship with the retailer clearly and conspicuously, and that the closer the disclosure is to the recommendation, the better.
- India: On 20 January 2023, the Department of Consumer Affairs issued “Endorsement Know-hows!”, guidelines under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which require celebrities and social media influencers to disclose material connections with advertisers, including payments and other benefits.
- Search engines: Google asks sites to mark advertising and paid-placement links with the rel=”sponsored” attribute (rel=”nofollow” is also accepted).
How a smaller publisher can start
- Choose a topic you know well and where readers make buying decisions.
- Join affiliate programmes that match it, directly with retailers or through networks.
- Write genuinely useful comparisons and guides, and recommend only products you can explain honestly.
- Add a clear disclosure near the links and in a site-wide policy.
- Track which pages and links earn, and update content when products or prices change.
If you sell your own products instead, our guide to e-commerce platforms by category compares Shopify with other store builders. For a wider view of online income and the scams to avoid, see legitimate ways to make money online.
The original version of this article ended by urging readers to join an affiliate network called TopOffers.com. That domain no longer resolves, so we have removed the recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
How do media companies earn from affiliate links?
When a reader clicks a link in an article and buys from the retailer, the retailer pays the publisher a commission on that sale, usually tracked through an affiliate network or the retailer’s own programme.
Did The New York Times buy Wirecutter?
Yes. The New York Times Company acquired The Wirecutter and The Sweethome in October 2016 in an all-cash deal. The price was not officially disclosed; Recode reported it as more than $30 million.
Do affiliate links affect what reviewers recommend?
They can, which is why trusted publishers keep commerce teams separate from editorial teams and disclose affiliate relationships. Wirecutter says its journalists are not told about commercial agreements.
Do I have to disclose affiliate links in India?
The Department of Consumer Affairs’ 2023 endorsement guidelines require influencers and endorsers to disclose material connections with brands. Disclosing affiliate links clearly is the safe and honest practice for any publisher.
Checked in October 2026 against reporting on the 2016 Wirecutter acquisition and the 2017 BuzzFeed-Shopify channel, Awin’s 2022 interview with Wirecutter, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides FAQ, India’s 2023 endorsement guidelines and Google’s link-attribute guidance.
