Avelon wins Best Value, Best Functionality & Features, Best Ease of Use and Best Customer Support on Capterra. Understanding affiliate attribution windows: how first-party cookies work
In this article, we’ll outline exactly what attribution windows are, how first-party cookies work and what their roles are in attributing purchases.
What is an affiliate attribution window?
An affiliate attribution window, otherwise known as the cookie duration or tracking window, is the period of time a brand credits an affiliate for a sale after a potential customer clicks on the affiliate’s link. The window helps determine how long an affiliates referral is valid for earning a commission on a sale.
For example, if a brand has an attribution window of 30-days and a user clicks an affiliate link then returns 20-days later, then the affiliate would be attributed a sale. However, if the user clicks a link and then comes back 31-days later, then that sale is outside of the attribution window and would not be attributed to the affiliate.
Affiliate attribution windows are a great way for brands/merchants to help affiliates drive sales and correlate traffic to a sale whilst simultaneously reducing their liability for extended periods of time.
Can I set my own attribution window?
When you sign up to Avelon and submit your onboarding form, you set your attribution window. You can view this attribution window on your Retailer Profile. If you would like to change your attribution window, you’ll need to contact your Account Manager.
Brands can set different attribution windows for different affiliates – even down to link level, and depending on how high ticket an item is that they’re looking to promote, a brand may provide longer attribution windows. For example, a nutrition brand may set a 15-day attribution window whilst a bicycle retailer may set a 90-day attribution window. We’ve even seen retailers setting 365-day attribution windows as they are more inviting for publishers to work with them.
Attribution windows cannot be set at individual levels due to the complexity of multi-stage attribution timelines.
How are users tracked in the attribution window?
Users are tracked through first-party cookies: small data files created and stored by us. When a user clicks an affiliate link, we drop one of these first-party cookies on the user and track their activity on that specific website until the end of the attribution window. When the attribution window ends, our system simply trashes the cookie and all data in relation to the cookie and any sales outside of that window will be un-attributable.
Whilst every affiliate platform uses different techniques, we assign two different types of identifiers within the first-party cookie to track the user: a clickID and a deviceID. These ID’s are a string of random numbers and letters that are unique to the user that has clicked the affiliate link.
They cannot be transferred and they cannot be used to identify any personal data of the person who has clicked the link. First-party cookies are the most secure way to track a user (hence why we use them and not third-party cookies, which are far less secure).
Every single person who clicks an affiliate link will be assigned a different clickID and deviceID within the first-party cookie. These unique identifiers are specific to the user and whilst a user can click multiple affiliate links, their clickID will remain the same for a specific brand.
For example, if User A clicks 100 affiliate links that all direct to the same domain, their clickID and deviceID will remain the same, but we will just track a new traffic session for them within their identifier. We do this to keep a detailed overview of the users timeline to purchase and to provide true, accurate data of a returning user rather than 100 new users.
How do clickID's and deviceID's get tracked?
We integrate our technology into the eCommerce platform of every Retailer/Brand/Merchant we work with. Our technology places a script in the header of every page alongside a POST API call at the checkout confirmation page. This script instructs the website to attach a clickID/deviceID to the user if they arrive through one of our affiliate links, whilst the POST API calls instructs the website to send the purchase information to us if there is a valid clickID/deviceID attached to the purchase.
When the website sends through this purchase information, we then analyse that clickID/deviceID and check which affiliate link(s) the user came through. We then attribute the sale to the affiliate(s) who owns that link, calculate the commission due and assign that commission to the affiliate(s).
Can multiple affiliates be attributed one sale?
Yes, multiple affiliates can be attributed a single sale on Avelon. This is because unlike other affiliate networks, we use a proprietary attribution technology we call split attribution. Split attribution means that if a user clicks multiple affiliate links from multiple affiliates, the affiliates in the chain will earn a percentage of the total commission due.
For example, if a user clicks two affiliate links, one from Affiliate A and one from Affiliate B, then both the affiliates will have their assigned commissions split between them. If Affiliate A is assigned 10% commission but Affiliate B is assigned 5% commission, then Affiliate A will receive 5% commission whilst Affiliate B will be assigned 2.5% commission.
This is extended into split attribution weighting, whereby if a user clicks multiple affiliate links of one affiliate and only one affiliate link of another, then the commission will be weighted towards the affiliate who drove more traffic. For example, the user clicks three of Affiliate A’s affiliate links and only 1 of Affiliate B’s affiliate links, then the commission is weighted 75% to affiliate A and 25% to affiliate B.
You can view whether a sale has multiple attributions within our Sales Explorer feature. This feature provides a full breakdown of every sale, where it came from and exactly how much commission is due for the sale.
Can a user deny access to these cookies?
Whilst a user can press deny cookie tracking when they land on a website, the type of first-party cookie we use is classed as essential. This means that if a user does press deny, our cookie will still be dropped on the user as it’s part of the essential data that must be tracked for the website to function correctly.
For a cookie to be classed as essential, it must be; non-invasive, not able to track the users personal data, not able to track financial information, not be able to be sold onto third-party users and must be hashed and stored in the users local storage. As Avelon’s tracking technology is designed specifically to abide by these rules, we can class them as essential.
Advantages of first-party cookies in affiliate marketing
The shift towards first-party cookies offers several benefits:
- Enhanced Privacy Compliance: First-party cookies are set by the website the user is visiting, offering more reliable tracking and better compliance with privacy regulations
- Improved Tracking Accuracy: Since first-party cookies are less likely to be blocked by browsers compared to third-party cookies, they provide more accurate tracking of user interactions and conversions
- Increased User Trust: Utilising first-party cookies can build user trust, as they are generally perceived as less intrusive and are directly related to the user’s interaction with the brand’s website
Disadvantages of first-party cookies in affiliate marketing
There aren’t too many disadvantages for using first-party cookies, but it all depends who you’re asking. If you’re asking an affiliate manager or a marketing expert, then they’ll tell you it’s becoming harder to track and attribute traffic and sales without third-party cookies and cross-domain tracking is virtually impossible.
However, for everyone else it simply means great privacy, data compliance and quite simply put: it’s better for everyone involved.
Contact Support
If you require any support on the above, please contact the Support Team.
- Contact Support Team