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Affiliate Marketing Glossary

Browse straightforward definitions for the terms used in affiliate, referral, and influencer marketing.

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Start with a topic, search by keyword, or browse alphabetically. Every term links to a full definition with examples and related concepts.

A

AdWords

Google’s former name for Google Ads, used to run paid search and display campaigns.

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Affiliate

A partner who promotes a business and earns commission for referrals or sales.

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Affiliate Agreement

The terms affiliates agree to, including rules, rates, and payout conditions.

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Affiliate Code

A unique tracking code assigned to an affiliate. It helps identify which affiliate referred a visitor, lead, or customer.

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Affiliate Dashboard

The portal where affiliates view links, stats, commissions, and payouts.

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Affiliate ID

A unique identifier used to track an affiliate’s clicks, referrals, and commissions.

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Affiliate Link

A unique URL that tracks traffic, referrals, and sales from one affiliate.

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Affiliate Manager

The person who recruits affiliates and manages program performance.

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Affiliate Program

A system for recruiting, tracking, managing, and paying affiliates.

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API

A connection that lets software systems exchange data or trigger actions.

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Attribution Model

The rule used to decide which channel or partner gets credit for a conversion.

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B

Bot Traffic

Fake or automated visits that can distort reporting or create invalid clicks

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Brand Guidelines

Rules for how affiliates may use your logo, messaging, and brand assets.

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C

Campaign

A focused marketing effort designed to drive traffic, leads, or sales.

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Chargeback

A disputed payment that may reverse a sale and remove commission.

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Click-Through

When a visitor clicks an ad, link, or email and moves to another page.

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Commission

The reward an affiliate earns for a qualified referral, lead, or sale.

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Commission Rate

The percentage or fixed amount paid to an affiliate.

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Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors or clicks that complete a desired action.

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Cookie

A small browser file used to remember referral and tracking information.

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D

Deep Link

An affiliate link that points to a specific product or page instead of the homepage.

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E

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F

First-click Attribution

Credit goes to the first affiliate or channel the customer clicked.

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Fraud Detection

Checks used to identify suspicious clicks, leads, sales, or affiliate behavior.

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G

Geo-targeting

Showing content, ads, or offers based on a visitor’s location.

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H

Hybrid Commission

A commission model that combines two payout types, such as flat plus percentage.

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I

Impression

Each time an ad, link, banner, or creative is shown to a user.

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J

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L

Lead

A potential customer referred by an affiliate or campaign.

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M

Multi Domain Tracking

Tracking affiliate referrals across multiple domains or subdomains in the same customer journey.

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Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

A model where participants earn from their own sales and recruited sellers.

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Multi-tier Commission

Commission earned from activity generated by referred affiliates.

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N

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O

Offline Conversion

A real-world sale or action linked back to an online campaign or affiliate.

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P

Payout

The money sent to affiliates for approved commissions.

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Percentage Commission

A commission calculated as a percentage of the sale amount

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Per Product Commission

Different commission rates based on which product is sold.

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Q

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R

Recurring Commission

Commission paid repeatedly, often for subscription renewals.

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Referral

A visitor, lead, or customer sent by an affiliate.

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Referral Code

A unique code affiliates share so referrals can be tracked without a link.

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Referral Link

A tracking link assigned to one affiliate so referrals can be credited correctly.

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Referring URL

The website that sent a visitor to your site through a link.

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S

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T

Tiered commission

Commission rates that change based on volume, revenue, or performance.

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Tracking Code

Code added to a site to record visits, conversions, and attribution.

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Tracking Link

A URL that records clicks, referrals, conversions, and campaign activity.

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Traffic Source

Where visitors come from, such as email, search, social, or another website.

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U

UTM parameters

URL tags used to track source, medium, campaign, and other marketing details.

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V

Visitor

Someone who lands on your site after clicking a link, ad, or referral.

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W

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X

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Y

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Z

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