What is split level attribution and how does it help affiliates?

Split level attribution is an affiliate tracking model that shares commission between multiple affiliates involved in a sale.

Instead of giving 100 percent of commission to the final click, split level attribution recognises that customer journeys are rarely one-touch. Discovery, consideration and conversion often happen across different creators, publishers and platforms.

If you are a content creator, reviewer or influencer, this model directly affects how fairly you are rewarded.

In this guide, we'll cover the below topics:

Are there many types of attribution model?

There are many types of attribution model. The most common is last click attribution, but it’s seen as outdated and does not represent how the majority of consumers purchase online – plus, it’s incredibly unfair for content creators. We’ll dive more into the why last click attribution is bullsh*t in a bit.

Anyway, split level attribution is just one model in the affiliate industry and it was primarily coined by Avelon back in 2023. It’s designed to rewarded content creators, publishers and influencers for the impact they have on an affiliate conversion.

 

Last click attribution. The worst one.

Last click attribution rewards the, you guessed it, last click in the purchase journey. It’s the reason over 70% of all sales are rewarded to cashback, voucher code and browser extensions. Why? Because they are bottom of funnel affiliates who are more often than not, the last click before a conversion.

The final tracked click before purchase receives 100 percent of the commission. This is still the most common model across traditional networks such as:

  • Awin
  • AvantLink
  • Rakuten Advertising
  • Impact
  • Partnerize

Split level attribution. The best one.

Commission is divided according to set rules, often weighted by partner type or journey position.

 

There’s also first-click and linear. Both are equally as ridiculous as last-click attribution. As you can imagine, first-click rewards the first-click in the attribution chain. It makes zero sense.

What is split level attribution?

Split level attribution is a commission model where multiple affiliates can share credit for a sale.

Rather than awarding 100 percent of the commission to the final referring partner, the sale is divided between affiliates based on their role in the conversion journey.

It is designed to reflect how people actually shop online:

  1. They discover a product through one creator
  2. They research via another
  3. They convert through a final interaction

Under split level attribution, those contributors will all be rewarded.

How does split level attribution work?

Here is a simple example:

  1. A customer reads a long-form product review from a running blogger
  2. A few days later, they watch a YouTube comparison video from another creator
  3. They finally click a link and purchase

Under last click attribution, only the final link would earn commission.

Under split level attribution:

  1. The review site will receive a percentage
  2. The YouTube creator will receive a percentage
  3. The closing partner will receive a percentage

Commission is shared based on predefined rules within the programme.

Why split level attribution benefits content creators

If you create:

  1. In-depth reviews
  2. Educational blog posts
  3. Comparison content
  4. Social media discovery content
  5. Long-term brand awareness campaigns

You often influence the customer early in the journey.

Under last click, your work can be overwritten by a final discount click. Under split level attribution, your contribution is recognised and rewarded.

This creates:

  1. Fairer earnings
  2. More predictable income
  3. Better alignment between brands and creators
  4. Reduced tension around “cookie overwriting”

How are commissions divided between affiliates?

Commissions are, more often than not, divided evenly in split-level attribution. Merchants have the ability to break down commission structures based on importance of the affiliate to the program – but most merchants just set up the breakdown as ‘split’.

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