CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction)

Tool · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.

Overview

CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) is an affiliate network, an intermediary between advertisers and publishers. The homepage opened with the title "CJ.com Home", and in the footer — "© 2026 Commission Junction LLC": the legal name of the operator has stayed as it was, the public one has been shortened to CJ.

The network has no rate of its own: the commission is set by the advertiser in its programme, and the network counts the actions and transfers the money. That is why this deep dive is built around the conditions of work — what is needed to get in, when and how they pay, what the network does not publish about itself.

A particularity of CJ that will have to be taken into account when reading everything that follows: the section https://www.cj.com/legal/ is closed to robots by the rule Disallow: /legal/ in robots.txt. The rule was observed, pages from there were not requested. The publisher agreement is placed precisely there — which means part of the conditions cannot be checked from open sources in principle, and below this is said separately in each such case.

Who is admitted

Registration is free: "Publishers can create a CJ publisher account for free" (support section). The requirement for the platform, meanwhile, is named as one, and it is technical: the address must be complete and valid — with a protocol and a top-level domain.

Requirements for the audience, the traffic or the subject matter are not on the open pages. But this is not permission to apply with anything at all: the decision on admission is taken by the network, and it does not publish its criteria.

There is no list of the countries from which publishers are admitted either — neither on the page for publishers nor in support. The only thing that speaks of geography is the language versions of the site itself: de, en-gb, es, fr. That is the language of the interface, not a list of permitted countries.

How much they pay

The rate is set by the advertiser, not by the network. The wording of support: "You're also able to see what each advertiser is offering for compensation as well as other program requirements" — the terms of the commission you see with each advertiser separately, already inside the system. A percentage of its own CJ names nowhere on the open pages, and substituting an averaged figure here is not allowed.

The only figure about money on the page for publishers is "$1.8B+ Annual publisher commissions". That is the network's own claim about the annual volume of payouts to all publishers at once; to your commission it has no relation and about profitability it says nothing.

The lifetime of the click tag is not announced. It was looked for on the page for publishers and in support — there is no figure. The publisher agreement, where the term might have been written down, lies in the closed /legal/ section. How much time after a click a purchase is counted to you is unknown from the open sources.

When and how they pay

The schedule is named exactly — in the article on the publisher payment cycle: "Payments are made around the 20th (for all currencies) and around the 28th (for currencies USD, GBP, or EUR)". The closing of the period: "Closing occurs around the 13th and 22nd of the month".

This reads thus: the payout around the 20th is available in all currencies, while the second, around the 28th, is only in dollars, pounds and euros. The currency in which you receive the money determines how many times a month you see it.

There is a payout threshold, but there is no network minimum. The wording: "your closed commission balance must meet the minimum payment amount you set in your account". The threshold is set by the publisher themselves in the Account > Administrative Settings section. A minimum of the network's own was not found on the open pages, so the sum below which CJ does not pay at all is unknown.

How they pay: "Get paid in over 150 currencies via direct deposit or our global payments partner, Payoneer" — direct transfer to an account or Payoneer, more than 150 currencies. Fees for withdrawal the network does not name on the open pages.

What must be disclosed

Requirements about marking advertising by the partner are not on the open pages. They were looked for on the page for publishers and in the support section: neither a wording nor a reference to external norms was found.

The absence of ready wording is not permission not to disclose. The publisher agreement — the document where such a requirement usually lives — is placed in the /legal/ section, closed by a rule in robots.txt; the rule was observed, the page was not requested. An obligation to disclose an advertising relationship may exist under the law of your country regardless of whether the network writes about it.

What the network will not do

It will not name the rate. That is set by the advertiser in its programme, and it can be seen only after registration, in the list of offers.

It does not publish the lifetime of the click tag — neither on the page for publishers nor in support is it there.

It will not set the minimum payout sum for you: the threshold you set for yourself, and its own lower bound the network does not announce on the open pages.

It will not say from which countries it admits publishers. The four language versions of the site are an interface, not the geography of admission.

It does not publish requirements for the audience or the traffic: the criteria for approving an application are not on the open pages.

It will not let you read the publisher agreement before registration. Its address is not confirmed: the /legal/ section is closed by a rule in robots.txt, and we did not request it.

About disclosure of advertising it writes nothing on the pages checked.

Not one of these silences proves that the condition does not exist — only that on the open pages it is not there.

Verified data

The checked data this deep dive rests on.

How the money works here

an active site is required: «You will need an active website to submit your application to become a publisher»; the address must be complete: «a complete and valid address containing the internet protocol (http://www. OR https://www.), and your top-level domain». The account is free: «Publishers can create a CJ publisher account for free by signing up here». The network warns about technical skills: «Publishers, before signing up, you should have a basic understanding of web languages such as HTML or JavaScript». Separately, there are requirements for the profile, on which acceptance into advertisers' programmes depends: «CJ requires a minimum of 250 characters» (the profile description) and «The network profile lists 11 promotional methods from which to choose. You're required to pick at least one, but you're encouraged to choose all that apply»

there is no minimum traffic and no list of forbidden topics on the pages that were read; the network invites traffic data optionally: «If you have any collateral with demographic or traffic information, upload it to the Documents area at the bottom of your network profile». The profile requirements are taken from https://junction.cj.com/article/get-accepted-more-programs-more-often and relate to acceptance into advertisers' programmes rather than into the network itself — these are different steps

source, checked 2026-08-07

https://www.cj.com/

source, checked 2026-08-04

When they pay. «Payments are made around the 20th (for all currencies) and around the 28th (for currencies USD, GBP, or EUR)»; «Closing occurs around the 13th and 22nd of the month»

the second payout, on the 28th, is only for USD, GBP, EUR

source, checked 2026-08-04

How they pay. «Get paid in over 150 currencies via direct deposit or our global payments partner, Payoneer»

read in the "Reliable Payments" block on the publisher page

source, checked 2026-08-04

Commission. the rate is set by the advertiser: "You're also able to see what each advertiser is offering for compensation as well as other program requirements"

at /publisher there is only the general figure "$1.8B+ Annual publisher commissions"

source, checked 2026-08-04

Payout minimum. the amount is not named: «your closed commission balance must meet the minimum payment amount you set in your account»

the publisher sets the threshold themselves in Account > Administrative Settings; no network-wide minimum was found on the open pages

source, checked 2026-08-04

Who is admitted. "Publishers can create a CJ publisher account for free"; the platform's address must be complete and valid, with a protocol and a top-level domain

no requirements as to audience or traffic were found on the open pages

source, checked 2026-08-04

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