3 things I would like from an affiliate network.

1. Payment - guarantee my payment, make sure my earnings are safe and pay me every week.
   The current approach from many networks of “we can’t pay you because they didn’t pay us” just isn’t an acceptable approach in a professional industry. Networks should protect affiliates and ensure merchants pay in advance to protect themselves.
2. Tracking - make sure it works and then make sure it works again
   Run regular automated checks to ensure that merchant websites are up and running, links are working and that sales are tracking. It never fails to surprise me how many times affiliates are the first to point out that merchant sites are down or not functioning correctly.
3. Support - Instant Messaging, Phone & E-mail
   Offer MSN support and email support with a ticket number tracking system at a minimum. It’s unreasonable that in an IT industry emails can all too often go completely unanswered. MSN support helps solve smaller issues very quickly and if it can’t be solved quickly then I want to log a ticket where the request can be properly tracked. There needs to be more accountability in this area

That’s the main 3 things I could think of - what do you want from an affiliate network?