Glossary

Affiliate marketing glossary

46 terms around partner programs, commissions and tracking – briefly explained from A to Z.

A

Advertisers

Also: Merchant, provider

A company that operates a partner program and pays partners for sales or leads – for example, an online shop or a software provider. Also called merchant.

Affiliates

English for “partner” or “connected”. In online marketing, a synonym for Publisher: a person or website that recommends products from a Advertiser versus Commission.

Affiliate manager

Also: Partner Manager

Responsible for a partner program: wins and looks after Publisher, negotiates conditions, checks transactions and optimizes performance. Can sit internally with the advertiser, in the network or in an agency.

Affiliate marketing

Success-based online marketing, where companies reward partners with a commission for mediated sales, leads or other promotions.

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Affiliate network

Also: Affiliate Network, Partner Network

Platform that brings together Advertiser and Publisher and takes over tracking, reporting, billing and payout of commissions.

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Attribution

Also: Attribution Model

Rule according to which a sale is assigned to one or more partners if several were involved in the Customer Journey – for example Last Cookie Wins or a division into several contact points.

Order processing

Also: AVV, Contract Processing Contract

Processing of personal data by a service provider on behalf of and after instructions from a controller, regulated in art. 28 GDPR. If an affiliate network works for the advertiser in this way, both conclude a contract for order processing (AVV).

B

Brand bidding

Switching search engine ads to the brand name of an advertiser by a publisher. In most partner programs prohibited because customers who are specifically looking for the brand would have bought anyway.

C

Cashback

Publisher model, in which a portal returns part of its Commission to its own users. Not allowed in all partner programs.

Conversion

The desired action of a user after the click, such as a purchase, a registration or a download. Usually the action for which a commission is paid.

Conversion rate

Also: CR, conversion rate

Percentage of clicks that become Conversion. With 1,000 clicks and 25 sales, the conversion rate is 2.5%.

Cookieless tracking

Also: Server-to-server tracking, S2S

Tracking without browser cookies: The click ID is transferred to the shop and the order is reported directly from server to server to the network. Robuster against ad blockers and browser restrictions.

CPA

Also: Cost per action

A generic term for remuneration models that pay for a specific promotion – such as a purchase (CPS), a lead (CPL) or an order (CPO).

CPC

Also: Cost per click, Pay per click

Remuneration per click on a creatives, regardless of whether it is purchased afterwards. In affiliate marketing rather rarely, since the risk lies with the advertiser.

CPL

Also: Cost per lead, Pay per lead

Remuneration per qualified contact (Lead), for example for a newsletter registration, a loan application or a test account registration. Usually a fixed amount.

CPO

Also: Cost per order, Pay per order

Remuneration per order as a fixed amount, regardless of the cart value. Distributed on subscriptions, delivery services and travel.

CPS

Also: Cost per sale, Pay per sale

Remuneration per sale, usually as a percentage of the cart value. The most common model in affiliate marketing, especially in online shops.

Customer Journey

The path of a customer from the first contact with a product to the purchase. Often several channels and partners are involved, such as a test report, a comparison portal and a voucher code.

D

E

Consent

Also: Consent, Cookie Consent

Active, voluntary and informed consent of a user, for example for setting cookies according to § 25 TDDDG. It is usually necessary for affiliate cookies.

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EPC

Also: Earnings by Click

Average earnings per click: Commission divided by number of clicks. The most important metric to compare partner programs with each other.

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F

Approval

Also: validation, confirmation

Examination of a transaction by the Advertiser before the commission is paid out. This checks whether the order was paid and not cancelled or returned.

G

Voucher code

Also: discount code, voucher

Discount code that is permanently assigned to a publisher. If a customer buys it, the sale is credited to the publisher – even without clicking on a link. Important for creators, podcasts and print.

I

Impression

Also: View

A single insertion of an advertising material, such as a banner. In affiliate marketing especially relevant for evaluation, rarely for compensation.

Influencer marketing

Collaboration of brands with creators on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or in podcasts. Often combined with affiliate models, such as personal coupon codes and commissions instead of fixed prices.

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K

Labelling obligation

Advertising must be recognizable by users as such. Affiliate links and paid recommendations should therefore be clearly marked, for example with “Advertising”, “Advertising” or “Affiliate Link”.

L

Lead

A qualified contact, for example a registration, a request for an offer or an application. Is paid in the model CPL.

Lifetime commission

Also: stock commission, recurring commission

Commission, which is paid not only for the first purchase, but for all subsequent sales of a recruited customer – typical for subscriptions, software and hosting.

P

Partner program

Also: Affiliate Program

The offer of a Advertiser to partners to promote their products against Commission. It sets compensation, cookie duration, permitted forms of advertising and creatives.

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Postback

Also: Server Call

Technical message with which a shop transmits an order directly from its server to the network. Basis for Cookieless Tracking.

Product feed

Also: Product Data Feed

File with all products of a shop including price, image, availability and link. Publishers use them for comparison pages, product boxes and automatic deeplinks.

Commission

Also: Commission, remuneration

Success-based remuneration for a placement. In affiliate marketing, the publisher receives a commission for each brokered sale or lead – as a percentage of revenue or as a fixed amount.

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Commission group

Different commission rates within a partner program, for example for new customers and existing customers, for certain product categories or for selected top partners.

Publishers

Also: Affiliate, Partner, Advertising Partner

Partner who recommends Advertiser products on their own channels and receives a Commission – such as blogs, comparison portals, creators, newsletters or coupon pages.

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R

ROAS

Also: Return on Ad Spend

Ratio of revenue to advertising costs. If 1,000 € commission costs bring 12,000 € revenue, the ROAS is 12 (or 1,200%).

S

Reversal rate

Also: Cancellation rates

Proportion of transactions that are rejected in release – for example due to return, non-payment or rule violations. A low reversal rate speaks for a fair program.

Sub-ID

Also: SubID, Clickref

Additional parameters in the affiliate link, with which publisher provide their own identifiers – such as the page, the article or the button. This allows you to evaluate which placement brings revenue.

T

Tracking

Collection of clicks, sales and leads so that they can be assigned to the right partner and paid for – by cookie, server-to-server or voucher code.

Tracking pixels

Also: Conversion Pixel

Invisible code snippet on the order confirmation page of a shop that reports a completed order to the network.

W

Cart value

AOV, Average Order Value

Average value of an order. With percentage commissions, it directly determines how much a publisher earns per sale.

Creatives

Everything an advertiser provides publishers for the application: text links, banners, deeplinks, product feeds, coupon codes and image material.

Guides

Understanding everything in context

How advertisers, publishers, tracking and commissions interact explains our basic article.

What is affiliate marketing?

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