Partnership marketing has been around for a long time. It wasn’t uncommon for Bill Smith’s Plumbing Service to get ad dollars from a big brand such as Kohler for Yellow Page ads if in fact Bill Smiths Plumbing carried Kolher bath and kitchen plumbing fixtures. The ad sort of gave Bill Smith’s plumbing a leg up as being a quality contractor due to the brand association with Kohler. However, the ads were ads, one way marketing.

That model worked pretty well until consumers changed the direction of how they shop, or, more specifically, how they start their search for what they are shopping for. Channel Advisor states in a White Paper, How Consumers Shop Online: