Affiliate Marketing Glossary: 256 Terms & Definitions

A

A/B Testing

A controlled experiment that divides traffic between two variants to determine which produces a better result. Tracknow includes Smart Links and A/B Testing for comparing offers or destinations.

Above the Fold

The part of a webpage visible before a visitor scrolls. Important calls to action and disclosures are often placed here so users see them immediately.

Ad Exchange

A digital marketplace where advertising inventory is bought and sold, often through automated real-time auctions.

Ad Network

A business that aggregates advertising inventory from publishers and sells access to advertisers. An ad network distributes ads, while an affiliate network manages performance-based partnerships and attribution.

Ad Tech

The software and infrastructure used to buy, deliver, measure and optimize digital advertising.

Advertiser

The company that owns the promoted offer and pays partners for approved traffic, leads, sales or other agreed results. Also called a merchant or brand.

Affiliate

An individual or organization that promotes an advertiser and receives compensation under an agreed partner program. Payment may be based on sales, leads, subscriptions, revenue or other qualified outcomes.

Affiliate Agreement

The contract that defines permitted promotion methods, commission rules, attribution, payment terms, intellectual property rights, compliance obligations and termination conditions.

Affiliate Dashboard

A partner-facing interface showing links, creatives, clicks, conversions, commissions, payment information and other program data.

Affiliate ID

A unique identifier assigned to a partner and passed through links or tracking events so activity can be attributed correctly.

Affiliate Link

A trackable URL that identifies the referring partner, campaign and sometimes additional parameters. Learn how affiliate links and tracking work.

Affiliate Manager

The person responsible for recruiting, onboarding, supporting and evaluating partners while coordinating campaigns, commissions and compliance. See the full affiliate manager guide.

Affiliate Network

An intermediary platform or business that connects advertisers with publishers and manages offers, tracking, reporting and payments across multiple programs. Read the explanation of how affiliate networks work.

Affiliate Program

A structured arrangement in which a business recruits partners to promote its products or services and rewards approved results. Learn more about affiliate program structure.

Affiliate Recruitment

The process of identifying, evaluating and inviting partners whose audience, traffic methods and market fit align with a program.

Affiliate Software

A system used to manage partners, tracking, attribution, commission calculations, reporting and payouts. Tracknow affiliate software supports brands, networks, brokers, iGaming operators, prop firms and creator programs.

Agency

A company that manages marketing, media buying, creator relationships or affiliate activity on behalf of one or more clients.

AOV (Average Order Value)

The average revenue generated per order. Formula: total order revenue divided by the number of orders.

API (Application Programming Interface)

A documented way for software systems to exchange data or trigger actions. Affiliate APIs commonly transfer partners, clicks, conversions, commissions and payment statuses.

Approval Rate

The percentage of recorded conversions that are ultimately approved. Formula: approved conversions divided by total recorded conversions, multiplied by 100.

Assisted Conversion

A conversion in which a partner or marketing touchpoint contributed to the customer journey but did not receive final attribution under the primary model.

Associate

A context-dependent business label that may describe an affiliate, employee, consultant or member. In programs such as Amazon Associates, it is a branded name for an affiliate.

Attribution

The process of connecting a conversion or other outcome to the partner, campaign and touchpoint that influenced it.

Attribution Model

The rules used to distribute conversion credit among marketing touchpoints, such as first-click, last-click or multi-touch attribution.

Attribution Window

The period after an eligible click, code use or other interaction during which a later conversion may be credited to a partner.

B

Backlink

A link from another website to a page on your site. Backlinks may generate referral traffic and can influence search visibility.

Banner

A visual creative supplied to partners for promotion, commonly containing an image, message and trackable destination URL.

Bid

The amount an advertiser is willing to pay in an auction for a click, impression, conversion or other advertising result.

Black Hat SEO

Search manipulation that violates search-engine guidelines, such as hidden text, link schemes or automatically generated spam.

Blacklist

A list of partners, traffic sources, domains, devices, IP addresses or other entities that are blocked from a campaign.

Bonus

An additional reward paid when a partner meets defined conditions, such as a revenue target, number of approved customers or campaign milestone.

Bounce Rate

A web analytics metric indicating the share of sessions that end without further meaningful interaction, according to the analytics platform’s definition.

Brand Ambassador

A person who represents and promotes a brand over time. Compensation may include a retainer, free products, appearance fees, affiliate commission or a hybrid arrangement.

Browser Cookie

A small value stored by a browser. Affiliate systems may use first-party cookies to retain partner or click information, subject to technical and privacy restrictions.

Budget Cap

A maximum permitted campaign spend for a specified period, partner, offer, channel or geographic market.

C

Campaign

A configured marketing initiative containing offers, targeting, tracking, creatives, goals and commission rules. Tracknow documents its campaign management workflow.

Campaign Cap

A limit on clicks, conversions, leads, sales, revenue or commission within a defined period. Caps help control volume, budget and operational capacity.

Chargeback

A payment reversed by the cardholder’s bank or payment provider. Programs may reverse the associated commission when their terms permit it.

Click

An interaction in which a user follows a trackable link or advertisement to its destination.

Click Fraud

Invalid or deceptive clicking intended to inflate traffic, exhaust budgets or generate unearned compensation.

Click ID

A unique identifier created when a tracked click occurs. It can later be returned with a conversion to enable deterministic attribution.

Click Pixel

A small browser-loaded resource or script used to record an interaction. Pixel tracking depends on the user’s browser and may be affected by blockers or privacy settings.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of impressions that produce clicks. Formula: clicks divided by impressions, multiplied by 100.

Cloaking

Showing different content or destinations to users, reviewers or crawlers. Some forms are legitimate for routing, but deceptive cloaking can violate program, advertising or search policies.

Commission

The compensation credited to a partner for an approved action or eligible revenue. Common affiliate commission models include CPA, CPS, CPL, recurring and revenue share.

Commission Plan

A complete set of rules defining how commissions are calculated, validated, reversed and paid for a partner or partner group.

Commission Tier

A performance level that changes a partner’s rate or bonus after specified thresholds are achieved.

Compliance

The processes used to follow applicable laws, platform policies, program terms and industry requirements. Affiliate compliance may cover disclosures, privacy, advertising claims and restricted traffic.

Content Affiliate

A publisher that attracts and converts audiences through articles, reviews, tutorials, videos, newsletters or other editorial content.

Conversion

A recorded action that matters to the program, such as a lead, registration, purchase, deposit, paid subscription or qualified account.

Conversion Rate (CR)

The percentage of eligible visitors or clicks that complete a conversion. Formula: conversions divided by the selected traffic denominator, multiplied by 100.

Conversion Status

The current state of a conversion, commonly pending, approved, rejected, cancelled or reversed.

Cookie Duration

The period for which an affiliate cookie remains available, unless it is deleted or restricted. Cookie duration and contractual attribution window are related but not always identical.

Cookie Stuffing

An abusive practice that sets affiliate cookies without a genuine user click or informed interaction in order to claim unrelated conversions.

Cookieless Tracking

Attribution methods that reduce dependence on third-party browser cookies, commonly using click IDs, first-party data and server events. Read the Tracknow guide to cookieless affiliate tracking.

Coupon Attribution

Assigning a sale or other event to a partner through a unique promo code, including cases where no affiliate link was clicked.

CPA (Cost Per Action or Acquisition)

A payment model in which a fixed or calculated amount is paid for a defined approved action, such as a registration, deposit or new customer.

CPC (Cost Per Click)

A payment model in which compensation is based on valid clicks rather than completed conversions.

CPL (Cost Per Lead)

A payment model in which the partner is paid for each lead that meets the program’s stated qualification rules.

CPM (Cost Per Mille)

The price paid for 1,000 eligible impressions. Mille is Latin for one thousand.

CPS (Cost Per Sale)

A model that pays a fixed amount or percentage for each approved sale.

Creative

Promotional material provided or approved for partner use, such as banners, product images, videos, text links, email copy or landing-page assets.

CRM Integration

A connection that exchanges lead, customer, sales-stage and attribution data between affiliate software and a customer relationship management system.

Cross-Device Attribution

Methods used to connect interactions that occur on different devices to the same customer journey. Deterministic account data is generally more reliable than probabilistic matching.

CSV (Comma-Separated Values)

A plain-text tabular file format frequently used to import or export partners, conversions, commissions and reports.

D

Data Feed

A structured file or endpoint containing product, price, availability and destination information that publishers can use to build listings or comparisons.

Dayparting

Scheduling campaigns or bids to run only during selected hours or days.

Deduplication

Rules that prevent the same conversion from being counted or commissioned more than once across events, partners or marketing channels.

Deep Link

A link that sends a user to a specific product, category or content page instead of a generic homepage.

Direct Linking

Sending a user from an ad or affiliate link directly to the advertiser’s page without an intermediary pre-landing page.

Disclosure

A clear statement that explains a material relationship between a promoter and a brand, such as payment, commission or free products. See the Tracknow guide to affiliate marketing compliance and disclosures.

Display Ad

A visual advertisement shown on a website or app, including banners, native placements and rich-media formats.

Double Opt-In

A subscription process requiring users to confirm their request through a second action, commonly an email confirmation link.

DSP (Demand-Side Platform)

Software advertisers use to buy and optimize digital advertising inventory across exchanges and supply sources.

Dynamic Commission

A commission calculated from changing attributes such as product category, customer type, margin, location, volume or partner status.

Dynamic Parameter

A placeholder in a URL or integration that is replaced with an actual value, such as a click ID, affiliate ID, campaign ID or transaction amount.

E

Earnings Per Click (EPC)

The average commission generated per click. Formula: affiliate earnings divided by eligible clicks. Some platforms display EPC per 100 clicks, so the reporting definition should be checked.

Earnings Per Lead (EPL)

The average commission generated per lead. Formula: affiliate earnings divided by the number of recorded leads.

Ecommerce Affiliate Program

A program that rewards partners for promoting online-store products or generating approved purchases, often using product feeds, coupon attribution and category-based commissions.

eCPA (Effective Cost Per Acquisition)

The average acquisition cost across actual results. Formula: total relevant spend divided by the number of approved acquisitions.

Email Affiliate

A partner who promotes offers to a permission-based email audience under the program’s traffic and compliance rules.

Event Tracking

Recording defined user or system actions, such as signup, trial, deposit, purchase, renewal, refund or subscription cancellation.

Evergreen Offer

An offer intended to remain available and relevant over a long period rather than for a short seasonal campaign.

Exclusive Offer

An offer, rate, coupon or creative available only to selected partners, regions or traffic sources.

Expired Conversion

A conversion that no longer qualifies because it occurred outside the attribution window, approval period or another time-based rule.

F

First-Click Attribution

An attribution model that gives conversion credit to the first eligible marketing interaction in the measured journey.

First-Party Cookie

A cookie created for the domain the user is visiting. It can support same-site attribution but remains subject to consent requirements and browser limitations.

First-Time Deposit (FTD)

A customer’s first qualifying deposit, widely used as a conversion event in iGaming, brokerage and financial affiliate programs.

Fixed Fee

A predetermined payment for agreed work or placement that does not change directly with conversion volume.

Flat Commission

A fixed commission amount paid for every approved conversion, regardless of the order value or revenue generated.

Fraud Detection

Rules and analysis used to identify suspicious clicks, leads, sales, devices or behavior. Indicators can support review but should not automatically be treated as proof of fraud.

Frequency Cap

A rule limiting how often an ad or message can be shown to the same user within a defined period.

Funding Account

In prop trading, an account provided after a trader meets the firm’s eligibility or evaluation requirements. Affiliate terms must define which purchase or milestone generates commission.

Funnel

The sequence of stages from initial awareness through consideration, conversion and retention.

G

GDPR

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which governs the processing of personal data and gives individuals specific privacy rights.

Geo Targeting

Serving or restricting campaigns, destinations, creatives or offers according to a user’s geographic location.

Goal

A defined conversion event used for tracking or commission logic, such as registration, qualified lead, first deposit, sale or renewal.

Gross Revenue

Total revenue before defined deductions. It should not be confused with net revenue or net gaming revenue.

Gross Sales

The total value of recorded sales before returns, discounts, taxes or other deductions specified by the business.

Group

A set of partners managed under shared permissions, campaigns, commission plans or reporting rules.

H

Hashed Identifier

A value transformed by a hashing function so the original input is not directly visible. Hashing can reduce exposure but does not automatically make data anonymous.

Hold Period

The time a conversion or commission remains pending while the advertiser checks payment settlement, cancellations, returns, fraud or qualification conditions.

HTML Creative

An advertisement or promotional unit delivered as HTML code, allowing formatted text, images, links or interactive elements.

Hybrid Commission

A compensation model combining two or more methods, such as CPA plus revenue share or a fixed content fee plus CPS.

Hyperlink

A clickable element that directs a user to another page, file, location or tracked destination.

I

iGaming Affiliate Program

A partner program for casinos, sportsbooks or related operators, commonly using CPA, RevShare or hybrid models with player qualification rules. See Tracknow iGaming affiliate software.

Impression

A recorded instance of an ad, creative or piece of content being displayed. The exact viewability requirement depends on the reporting system.

Incentivized Traffic

Traffic generated by offering users a reward for clicking or completing an action. It must be explicitly permitted because it can affect intent and lead quality.

Influencer Marketing

Promotion through creators who influence an audience on social or content platforms. Compensation can combine reach, engagement and attributable sales. Compare relevant influencer marketing platforms.

Insertion Order (IO)

A document specifying the commercial details of an advertising placement, including inventory, dates, price, targeting and deliverables.

Integration

A technical connection between systems that exchanges tracking, customer, product, payment or reporting data.

Introducing Broker (IB)

A partner who refers clients to a broker and may earn compensation based on qualified acquisitions or trading activity. IB affiliate software commonly supports CPA, per-lot, spread-share and multi-level arrangements.

Invalid Traffic (IVT)

Traffic that should not be counted because it is automated, accidental, duplicated, manipulated or otherwise ineligible under measurement rules.

Invoice

A document requesting payment and listing the amount, parties, period, services, taxes and other required transaction details.

IP Targeting

Using an IP-derived location or network signal to route, restrict or analyze traffic. IP data can be inaccurate and may be personal data under applicable law.

J

JavaScript Tag

A browser-executed script used to record events, pass parameters or load tracking functionality. It can be affected by consent controls, browser restrictions and script blockers.

Joint Venture (JV)

A commercial collaboration in which two or more parties contribute resources and share defined responsibilities, costs or revenue.

K

Keyword

A word or phrase associated with a search query, content topic or paid-search target.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

A metric selected to evaluate progress toward a business objective, such as approved customers, EPC, revenue, approval rate or payback period.

KYC (Know Your Customer)

Identity and eligibility checks used by regulated or risk-sensitive businesses. In affiliate reporting, a KYC-approved customer may be a required qualification stage rather than the initial registration.

L

Landing Page

The destination page designed for a campaign, usually focused on one audience, offer or desired action.

Last-Click Attribution

An attribution model that gives conversion credit to the last eligible tracked interaction before the conversion.

Lead

A person or organization that has expressed interest and supplied information that can be evaluated or contacted.

Lead Distribution

The automated assignment or delivery of leads to buyers, advertisers, locations or sales teams according to eligibility, capacity and routing rules.

Lead Magnet

Content, a tool, discount or other value offered in exchange for contact information or another opt-in action.

Lifetime Commission

A model that continues to credit eligible activity from a referred customer for the lifetime defined by the program terms.

Lifetime Value (LTV)

The estimated value or contribution generated by a customer over the relevant relationship period. The formula varies according to margin, retention and cost assumptions.

Link Cloaking

Replacing a long or parameter-heavy tracking URL with a cleaner redirect. It should not hide a misleading destination or violate program rules.

Link Rotator

A routing mechanism that sends clicks from one link to different destinations according to weights, rules or availability.

Locking Period

The time after a conversion during which its amount or status may still change before becoming locked for payment.

Loyalty Affiliate

A partner that shares part of its commission with users through cashback, points, rewards or member benefits.

M

Manual Approval

A workflow in which a manager reviews a partner, conversion, creative or payout before it becomes active or payable.

Media Buying

Purchasing advertising inventory to generate traffic or conversions through search, social, display, native, video or other paid channels.

Merchant

The business whose product or service is promoted. In affiliate programs, merchant and advertiser are often used interchangeably.

Mobile Attribution

Connecting mobile ad or partner interactions to app installs, registrations, purchases or other events, often through identifiers, deep links and server events.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

The normalized monthly value of active recurring subscriptions. Affiliate-sourced MRR may be used for SaaS reporting or recurring commissions.

Multi-Currency

The ability to record transactions, reports or payouts in more than one currency while applying documented exchange-rate rules.

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

A structure in which participants can receive compensation from defined levels of recruited partners or their activity. It requires transparent rules and legal review. Read the MLM affiliate marketing guide.

Multi-Touch Attribution

An approach that distributes or analyzes conversion credit across multiple eligible interactions. Learn how multi-touch attribution models differ.

N

Negative Carryover

A rule that carries a negative commission balance into a future period instead of resetting it. Common in some RevShare programs and important to define explicitly.

Net Gaming Revenue (NGR)

An iGaming commission base calculated from gaming revenue after the specific deductions listed in the program terms. There is no universal NGR formula.

Net Revenue

Revenue after defined deductions such as discounts, refunds, taxes, fees or chargebacks. Every program should state exactly which deductions apply.

Network

Short for affiliate network: a business or platform managing relationships among multiple advertisers, offers and publishers.

New-Customer Commission

A rate or payment available only when the referred buyer qualifies as a new customer under the advertiser’s rules.

Nofollow Link

A link marked with a `nofollow` relationship value, signalling that search engines should not treat it as a standard endorsement for ranking purposes.

Non-Incentivized Traffic

Traffic for which users are not rewarded specifically for clicking or completing the promoted action.

O

Offer

The product, service or conversion opportunity made available to partners with defined destinations, markets, rules and compensation.

Offer Cap

A limit on traffic, conversions, revenue or payout for a specific offer and period.

Onboarding

The process of approving a partner, collecting required information, accepting terms, assigning access and explaining tracking and promotion rules.

Opt-In

An affirmative action through which a user requests communications, access or participation.

Organic Traffic

Unpaid visits from sources such as search results, direct discovery or non-sponsored social content.

Outbound Click

A click that sends a visitor from the current site or platform to an external destination.

Override Commission

An additional commission paid to a manager, parent affiliate or other party based on activity generated by assigned partners or sub-affiliates.

P

Partner

A broad term for an affiliate, publisher, creator, referral source, agency, reseller or other external party working with a business.

Partner Portal

A secure interface where partners access campaigns, links, creatives, conversions, commissions, documents and payment information.

Pay Per Lead (PPL)

Another name for a CPL arrangement in which compensation is based on qualified leads.

Pay Per Sale (PPS)

Another name for a CPS arrangement in which compensation is based on approved sales.

Payment Threshold

The minimum approved balance a partner must reach before a payout can be issued.

Payout

The amount paid or payable to a partner after commission validation, adjustments and threshold rules.

Payout Schedule

The timing and frequency of partner payments, such as monthly, twice monthly or on an approved manual cycle.

Pending Conversion

A conversion recorded in the platform but not yet approved or rejected.

Performance Bonus

An additional payment triggered by an agreed performance threshold or achievement.

Performance Marketing

Marketing in which measurement and compensation are tied primarily to defined actions or business outcomes.

Pixel Tracking

Browser-side event tracking that loads an image or script when a page or action occurs. Compare it with other affiliate tracking methods.

Postback URL

A server endpoint called when a conversion event occurs, usually carrying a click ID and event parameters so the tracking platform can record attribution.

PPC (Pay Per Click)

A pricing model in which the advertiser pays for valid ad clicks. In affiliate marketing, PPC can describe either a traffic source or a CPC commission arrangement.

Pre-Landing Page

An intermediary page shown before the main offer page to introduce, qualify or segment visitors.

Private Campaign

A campaign available only to selected or approved partners rather than the full partner base.

Product Feed

A structured catalogue of products and attributes used by publishers, comparison sites and shopping integrations.

Promo Code

A code that gives a customer a discount or benefit and may also attribute the transaction to a specific partner.

Prop Trading Affiliate Program

A program that rewards partners for referring customers to proprietary trading firms, often based on challenge purchases, qualified traders or other defined events. See prop trading affiliate software.

Publisher

A partner that owns or controls an audience or traffic source and promotes advertiser offers through approved channels.

Q

QR Code Tracking

Using a partner- or campaign-specific QR code that opens a trackable URL when scanned.

Qualified Action

An action that satisfies every condition required for attribution and commission, including event, customer, timing, geography and validation rules.

Qualified Lead

A lead that meets the advertiser’s documented criteria, such as location, intent, contact validity, eligibility or sales-readiness.

Quality Score

An internal or platform-specific assessment of traffic, lead or partner quality based on defined performance and risk signals.

R

Raw Click

Every recorded click event before bots, repeats, invalid traffic or other exclusions are removed.

Real-Time Reporting

Reporting updated shortly after events are received. “Real time” does not necessarily mean every external system has completed validation.

Reattribution

Reassigning a conversion or customer to a different eligible source after a later interaction or corrected data, according to defined rules.

Rebill

A subsequent recurring charge after an initial purchase, common in subscriptions and memberships.

Reconciliation

Comparing affiliate-platform records with ecommerce, CRM, billing or payment data and resolving differences before payout.

Recurring Commission

Commission paid on eligible repeat charges or subscription renewals from referred customers.

Redirect

An automated instruction that sends a browser or request from one URL to another. Tracking redirects can record click data before forwarding the visitor.

Referral Partner

A person or business that introduces prospective customers, often through direct relationships rather than large-scale publishing.

Referral Program

A structured system that rewards customers, partners or advocates for successful introductions. It may overlap with affiliate marketing but often targets existing customers.

Referring Domain

The website domain from which a visitor arrived, when referral information is available.

Refund

Money returned to a customer after a purchase. Depending on program terms, the related commission may be adjusted or reversed.

Registration

An event in which a user creates an account or submits required signup information. Registration does not necessarily mean the user is qualified or paying.

Retargeting

Advertising to users who previously visited, engaged with or converted on a site or app, subject to consent and platform rules.

Revenue Share (RevShare)

A commission model that pays a defined percentage of eligible revenue. The agreement must specify the revenue base, deductions, duration and treatment of negative balances.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Revenue attributed to advertising divided by advertising spend. ROAS does not account for every operating cost.

ROI (Return on Investment)

A measure comparing gain with total investment. A common formula is net return divided by investment, multiplied by 100.

Roles and Permissions

Access rules controlling which users can view, create, edit, approve, export or pay data in a platform.

S

S2S Tracking

Server-to-server tracking in which systems exchange click or conversion data directly rather than relying only on the user’s browser. Read how S2S and postback tracking work.

SaaS Affiliate Program

A program promoting software subscriptions, commonly using trial, paid-account, recurring revenue or customer-retention events.

Sale Validation

The process of confirming that a sale meets program rules before approving commission, including payment, customer eligibility, refund and fraud checks.

Scrubbing

Removing leads or conversions judged invalid or ineligible. Programs should document scrubbing criteria and provide enough transparency to resolve disputes.

Self-Referral

A partner using their own link or code for their own purchase or account. Many programs prohibit or restrict this practice.

SEO Affiliate

A publisher that acquires visitors primarily through organic search content and directs them to relevant advertiser offers.

Server-Side Event

An event generated by an advertiser’s backend, CRM, billing platform or other server rather than by browser code.

Session

A group of user interactions measured within a defined period by an analytics or tracking system.

Short Link

A compact URL that redirects to a longer destination or tracking link.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

An authentication method that lets users access connected systems through one identity provider.

SKU-Level Commission

A commission rule based on the specific product or stock-keeping unit included in an order.

Smart Link

One trackable link that routes visitors to different offers or destinations according to configured rules, tests or availability.

Social Tracking

Measurement of creator content, links, codes, engagement and attributable conversions across social channels. Tracknow provides dedicated influencer and social tracking tools.

Source

The origin assigned to traffic or conversions, such as a publisher, campaign, channel, website, ad group or social platform.

Split Test

Another term for an A/B or multivariate test in which traffic is divided among alternatives and results are compared.

Sponsored Content

Content created or distributed in exchange for money, products, services or another material benefit and normally requiring appropriate disclosure.

Static Payout

A fixed payment amount assigned to an approved conversion rather than calculated from transaction value.

Sub-Affiliate

A partner recruited or managed beneath another affiliate in a permitted multi-level or two-tier structure.

Sub-ID

A partner-defined tracking parameter used to identify placements, keywords, creatives, media sources or other traffic segments within one affiliate account.

Suppression List

A list of email addresses, users or other records that must be excluded from a campaign, commonly because of opt-outs, complaints or compliance restrictions.

Sweepstakes Offer

A campaign based on entry into a prize promotion. It requires accurate eligibility, consent and prize disclosures and may be restricted by law or platform policy.

T

Tag Manager

A system used to deploy and control analytics or marketing tags without editing application code for every change.

Targeting

Rules selecting audiences, devices, locations, schedules or other conditions for campaign delivery.

Text Link

A hyperlink attached to words or phrases rather than an image or button.

Third-Party Cookie

A cookie associated with a domain other than the one the user is visiting. Browser restrictions have made it an unreliable foundation for affiliate attribution.

Tiered Commission

A commission structure in which rates or bonuses change after a partner reaches defined performance levels.

Time to Conversion

The elapsed time between a selected touchpoint, usually a click, and the resulting conversion.

Token

A placeholder or value used to transfer dynamic tracking data, authenticate requests or identify objects in an integration.

Tracking Domain

The domain used for tracking links and redirects. A custom domain can align the link with the advertiser’s or network’s brand.

Tracking Link

A URL containing identifiers and parameters that allow clicks and subsequent events to be associated with a partner or campaign.

Tracking Method

The technical approach used to capture and attribute activity, such as links, first-party cookies, promo codes, pixels, APIs or S2S postbacks.

Tracking Pixel

A small browser-loaded resource or script that records a page view or conversion event.

Tracking Platform

Software that records marketing interactions and conversion events and applies attribution and reporting rules.

Traffic

Visits, clicks or users delivered to a website, app, offer or landing page.

Traffic Quality

The degree to which traffic is valid, relevant and likely to produce approved customers or valuable downstream activity.

Traffic Source

The channel, site, placement, campaign or partner from which traffic originates.

Transaction ID

A unique identifier for an order, payment or conversion used for matching, deduplication and reconciliation.

Trial Conversion

An event in which a user starts a product trial. Programs should specify whether commission is paid at trial start or only after conversion to a paid plan.

Two-Tier Affiliate Program

A program in which an affiliate can earn both from direct referrals and from the defined activity of affiliates they recruit.

U

Unattributed Conversion

A conversion that cannot be connected to an eligible partner or marketing source under the available data and attribution rules.

Unique Click

A click counted once for a user or identifier within the platform’s specified deduplication period.

Unique Visitor

An estimated distinct user measured within a reporting period. The method can vary because one person may use multiple devices or identifiers.

Upsell

An offer encouraging a customer to buy a higher-value version, upgrade or additional product.

URL Parameters

Key-value data appended to a URL after a question mark to pass tracking, campaign or page-state information.

User Journey

The sequence of interactions a person has with content, partners and a brand before and after conversion.

UTM Tags

Standard URL parameters such as `utm_source`, `utm_medium` and `utm_campaign` used by analytics tools to classify traffic.

V

Validation Period

The time used to review a conversion before approval, rejection or locking.

Value Per Click

The revenue, margin or commission generated per click, depending on the chosen numerator. The report should state which value is being measured.

Vanity Code

A memorable partner-specific promo code, often based on a creator’s name or brand.

Variable Commission

A commission whose amount changes according to transaction value, margin, category, partner tier or another rule.

Vertical

An industry or market category such as ecommerce, SaaS, finance, iGaming, travel or dating.

View-Through Conversion

A conversion attributed after an ad impression without a recorded click. Its use requires a defined window and protection against overlap with click-based attribution.

W

Webhook

An automated HTTP message sent from one system to another when a defined event occurs.

White Label

Software or a service presented under the client’s brand, often using custom domains, logos, colors and communications.

Whitelist

A list of approved partners, domains, IP addresses, placements or other entities permitted to access a campaign or system.

Withdrawal

A request or process through which an affiliate moves an approved payable balance to an available payment method.

WooCommerce Affiliate Tracking

Connecting a WooCommerce store with an affiliate platform so orders, products, coupons, refunds and commissions can be attributed and reported.

X

XML Feed

A structured data feed written in Extensible Markup Language, commonly used to distribute product or offer information between systems.

Y

Year to Date (YTD)

A reporting period beginning on the first day of the current calendar or fiscal year and ending on the selected date.

Yield Optimization

Adjusting offers, routes, placements or partner terms to improve revenue, margin or another value metric from available traffic.

Z

Zero-Click Conversion

A conversion recorded without an eligible affiliate click, possibly through a promo code, offline identifier, impression rule or direct account association.

Zero-Click Traffic

Exposure or search activity that does not produce a visit because the user receives information or completes an action without clicking through.

ZIP Code Targeting

Restricting or customizing a campaign according to a user-supplied or inferred postal code.