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.
First-click rewards discovery. The partner who first brought the customer into the funnel — often a content creator, reviewer, or influencer driving awareness — receives the credit when a sale eventually happens within the attribution window.
This model favours top-of-funnel partners but can frustrate the bottom-of-funnel partners who actually closed the deal. Programs choose first-click when they want to incentivize new-audience acquisition over conversion optimization.
See also
- Attribution
Attribution is the process of determining which affiliate or marketing touchpoint should receive credit — and the commission — for a conversion.
- Last-Click Attribution
Last-click attribution credits the entire commission to the final affiliate or link the customer clicked before converting.
- 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.
- Affiliate
An affiliate is an individual or company that promotes another business's products in exchange for a commission on the sales or actions they generate.
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