Attribution
Attribution is the process of determining which affiliate or marketing touchpoint should receive credit — and the commission — for a conversion.
When a customer interacts with several partners or campaigns before buying, attribution decides who gets paid. The rules an affiliate program uses — last-click, first-click, or multi-touch — directly shape how commissions are distributed and which partners feel rewarded for their work.
Reliable attribution depends on accurate tracking: click cookies, promo codes, or server-to-server events that tie a conversion back to the referral that drove it. Weak attribution leads to disputes, double-counting, and partners who churn because they feel unpaid.
See also
- Last-Click Attribution
Last-click attribution credits the entire commission to the final affiliate or link the customer clicked before converting.
- First-Click Attribution
First-click attribution credits the commission to the first affiliate or link that introduced the customer, even if other partners were involved later.
- Cookie Window
A cookie window (or cookie duration) is the length of time after a referral click during which a resulting conversion will still be credited to that affiliate.
- S2S / Postback Tracking
Server-to-server (S2S) postback tracking records conversions by sending an event directly from the merchant's backend to the affiliate platform, without relying on browser cookies.
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