For better or worse, its gone from cliché to necessary to discuss the modern online landscape in terms of web 2.0.  Indeed, web 2.0 has become a catch-all phrase that is used to describe the rise of blogging, RSS feeds,  interactive online communities and other new technologies, web sites and services.

Forums allow affiliates to interact but they can also be widely used to disseminate misinformation.  Blogs on the other hand have tied affiliates closer to merchants as they can be used as an efficient means of delivering affiliate members with incisive information. The rise of Web 2.0 has resulted in effective detection and weeding out of harmful practices towards affiliates.   Due to lack of detection and prevention, per-click commission based sites fell victim to scams involving unscrupulous individuals or programs clicking on commissionable links.  Google, a name that has emerged at the forefront of 2.0, helped restore commissionable links with its AdSense technology.  AdSense helps ensures equitable compensation for commissionable links.

The per-click business is once again alive and thriving. In the past, Adware posed a threat to affiliates as it often overwrote their tracking cookies and resulted in a decline in commissions.   Adware usually provides no useful to the oft unaware user that has it running on their computer.  Another threat was the use of various applications which redirected affiliate links.  Today, various technologies provide security for affiliates by allowing them to link directly to their site.  This removes the threat of redirection or rewriting of cookies.   The names you should be aware of here are FusionQuest, KowaBunga Technologies, and Link Connector.

More information on Affiliate Marketing 2.0 can be found here:
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/7308.asp