FAQs

The Awin Group is an affiliate marketing network owned by Axel Springer and United Internet. It consists of two brands: Awin (formerly Affiliate Window, Affilinet, Zanox and ShareASale), Commission Factory. ShareASale was acquired by Awin in January 2017 and by August 2025 all active clients were migrated over, completing the merge. Later shutting down completely on October 6^th 2025.

Awin acts as a trusted third party between advertisers and publishers, providing the account management, payment functionality, strategy and technology that connects both sides. Awin works with publishers across a wide range of sectors including:

• Price comparison
• Blogs and Content
• Social Networks and communities
• Email marketing and display
• Influencers and content creators
• Brand to brand partnerships
• Card-linked offers (CLO)

Both locally and internationally.

Awin is one of the most recognised affiliate networks in the industry, having been voted Affiliate Network of the Year 6 times at the annual Performance Marketing Awards, and picking up over 20 wins in multiple categories across the board. Awin offers an award-winning suite of affiliate management and reporting tools designed to be flexible, powerful and easy to use. This includes AI powered tools like Smart Partner Search for intelligent publisher matching, and Campaign Builder, which reduces campaign setup time from hours to minutes. Beyond technology, Awin supports both advertisers and publishers with dedicated global and local teams, giving businesses the expertise to grow their affiliate programmes across new markets, worldwide.

Affiliate marketing is a form of performance-based marketing, in which publishers (affiliates or partners) earn a commission by referring customers to an advertiser’s website. A commission is awarded each time a referred customer completes a purchase or desired action, meaning advertisers only pay for results.

For advertisers, affiliate marketing is a cost-effective, low-risk channel where spend is tied directly to measurable results.

For publishers, it provides an opportunity to monetise their audience by promoting products and services that are relevant to them.

For consumers, affiliate marketing helps them discover relevant deals, reviews and recommendations through trusted content creators, comparison sites, and communities.

Awin’s affiliate marketing platform operates on a global scaleconnecting advertisers and publishers across more than 180 countries.

An affiliate network acts as the bridge  between advertiser and publishers, bringing both sides together in one place and providing the tools to collaborate effectively.  Instead of hunting down individual publishers, or applying to multiple affiliate programmes, a network like Awin creates a global ecosystem where those connections can happen smoothly  and at scale. Tracking, payments, account management,  technical support and strategic consultancy are all handled through the network, so all sides can focus on driving results.   

Being part of one of the world’s largest partner platform makes a real difference. Awin’s network spans over 180 countries, connecting over 1 million publishers with leading brands worldwide, giving advertisers direct access to promotional partners straight away.

An affiliate marketing network is the platform that hosts and facilitates affiliate marketing programmes, think of it as the marketplace, and each affiliate programme is an individual market stall within it. The affiliate programme is specific to an advertiser. When a publisher joins a programme, they gain access to everything they need to start promoting -   banners, imagery, offers, product feeds and tracking links that ensure they’re correctly credited for every action or sale. For example, a fashion content creator joining Adidas’s affiliate programme would get Adidas specific creatives and links to share.

The differences in short, advertisers run programmes, networks power them.

A cookie is a small piece of data stored in a user’s browser when they visit a website. In affiliate marketing, cookies are the mechanism that makes accurate tracking possible, recording when a user clicked an affiliate link and which publisher referred them.

This matters for both parties. For publishers, cookies ensure they are correctly rewarded for the sales and actions they provide. For advertisers, cookies allow them to see exactly which partners and channels are performing.

An affiliate publisher is anyone who promotes an advertiser's product or service in exchange for a commission, earned when their audience makes a purchase or other desired action through their affiliate link. Publishers come in many different forms:

• Content and blog sites – writers and content platforms that naturally recommend a product or service into their articles, guides and reviews.
• Social Media Influencers – Content creators on social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube who recommend products directly to their audience.

Voucher, Coupon and Cashback sites – platforms like TopCashBack and HotUKDeals that attract shoppers looking for deals, discounts and offer

In affiliate marketing, advertisers are the businesses with something to sell, and publishers are the people or platforms that help sell it, in exchange for a commission.

An advertiser is any business that wants to promote its products or services and acquire new customers. This could be an online retailer, a travel company, a subscription service, a financial provider, essentially any brand with something to offer. Advertisers can then set up their own affiliate programme, to give publishers the tools they need to promote, helping drive leads and sales. Think of them as the business owner who setup a market stall but needs people to help spread the word.

A publisher is the person or platform that does the promoting aspect. Instead of selling their own products or services, publishers drive traffic or customers to an advertisers' site. This can be done in a variety of ways, through blog content, viral moments on social media, email marketing, comparison websites and video content, to name a few. When a customer they have referred makes a purchase or other desired action, the publisher is rewarded with a commission. Think of them as the word-of-mouth machine that brings people to the publishers’ market stall.

Together they form both sides of the relationship in affiliate marketing, one has the product and the other has the audience, and both need each other to succeed.

Affiliate marketing is performance based, meaning advertisers only pay when a specific action is completed. The commission model determines what that action is and how the publisher is rewarded. Here are the most commonly used payment models:

• CPA — Cost Per Acquisition: The most widely used commission model in performance and affiliate marketing. This generally revolves around a desired action but typically a purchase, when the purchase happens, the advertiser pays a commission to the publisher. The commission can be set as a fixed fee or a percentage of the transaction value.
• CPL — Cost Per Lead: This model rewards publishers for driving potential customers who have shown genuine interest in a product or service, this is called a lead. Generally, this comes in the shape of a completed enquiry form, quote, a callback request, a brochure download or a newsletter sign-up. CPL is particularly common in industries like finance, insurance, and travel where the sales journey is longer and a sale is unlikely to happen in a single session.
• CPS — Cost Per Sale: Similar to CPA, CPS specifically rewards publishers for completed sales rather than any other type of acquisition. Some networks use CPA and CPS interchangeably, but CPS is the more precise term when the desired outcome is purely transactional.
• CPC — Cost Per Click: CPC rewards publishers each time a user clicks their affiliate link, regardless of whether a purchase or lead happens after that. While straightforward, it carries more risk for advertisers as spend is not directly tied to a conversion.

The right commission model depends on the advertiser's goals, their industry, and the length of their customer journey. Awin supports all these models, giving advertisers the flexibility to run their affiliate programme in a way that works best for their business.

Affiliate marketing works via tracking pixels.  When a user clicks through an affiliate link, a cookie is dropped in relation to that action.  Once the user completes a sale and reaches the confirmation page of the advertiser, a tracking pixel is fired which ensures a sale is registered within the Awin interface.  The publisher can then be awarded the relevant commission.

Sales in affiliate marketing are tracked through  cookies and Awin’s server to server (S2S) technology, ensuring every publisher is rewarded for the traffic and conversions they drive. Accurate tracking is crucial to affiliate marketing, giving publishers confidence to promote products and services with their audience, and advertisers full visibility of the process.

Cookie based tracking – The most common method; when a user clicks on an affiliate link, a cookie containing a publisher ID is stored in the browser. This ID identifies which publisher referred the customer. A tracking code fires when the customer reaches the advertiser’s order confirmation page and automatically attributes the sale back to the publisher.

Awin’s cookies are first party, meaning they are not affected by third party cookie blockers in the same way, making tracking seamless and reliable for both publishers and advertisers.

Server to Server tracking (S2S) - Rather than relying on a browser cookie in Safari, S2S communicates directly to the server, making it much more reliable across devices regardless of the browser type. Awin supports both tracking methods, ensuring all activity is measured as accurately as possible.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most widely adopted performance marketing channels in the world. Over 80% of brands now use affiliate marketing to drive leads and sales. Research shows that 65% of retailers say it makes up to 20% of their annual revenue. On the Awin network alone, there are over 30,000 active advertisers working with publishers in over 180 countries. For a deeper look at how certain statistics shape the industry read Awin’s affiliate marketing statistics

Getting started in affiliate marketing is much easier than you might think. Simply joining an affiliate networhow dk like Awin provides everything you need. Instant access to a global community of all types of publishers, from content creators to cashback sites, who are all ready to promote your products or services.

Once signed up, you then decide what action you want the publishers to take, whether it’s a purchase of a new product, a form signup to a latest offer or a lead for a service business, then simply choose how much you want to reward the publisher for this action.

From there Awin’s tools will do the heavy lifting by connecting you with publishers that align with your goals, handling all the transactions and payments, so you can focus on growing your business while we grow your affiliate programme. If you're new to affiliate marketing, our Webinar Centre is a great place to start, or you can get in touch with our commercial team who will be happy to walk you through everything.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to help your business grow, because you only pay for results.  

For brands and advertisers, affiliate marketing with a network like Awin gives you direct access to a vast community of publishers, and because its results driven, your budget works harder. Research shows that 65% of retailers say affiliate marketing accounts for up to 20% of their annual revenue, making it one of the highest-returning channels available.

Brands make money from affiliate marketing by paying publishers a commission to promote their products or services, only when a desired action is completed:

• a sale
• a lead
• a sign-up

Because there's no spend without a result, affiliate marketing is one of the most budget-friendly channels available. There's no upfront ad spend, no paying for impressions that don't convert.

A publisher drives a customer to your site, the customer completes a purchase, and the publisher earns their commission. The brand only pays when it works.

When this is scaled, it adds up significantly, making up 20% of annual revenue for many brands with an active affiliate programme.

Exposure is also a natural bonus from participating in affiliate marketing, it puts your brand in front of new audiences through publishers who already have their trust. Whether that's a content creator, a price comparison site or a cashback platform, that kind of reach is difficult to replicate through paid media alone.

Publishers earn money through affiliate marketing by promoting a brand's products or services to their audience, if someone makes a purchase, signs up or completes a form for example, then the publisher will get a commission.

And this works with any business model. Whether you run a blog, a social media account, a newsletter, a podcast or a YouTube channel, affiliate marketing gives you a way to earn from the audience you've already built.

Once you join a network like Awin and get approved onto an advertiser's programme, you receive unique tracking links to place in your content. Commissions are paid directly into your account every time a desired action happens via your link.

Awin handles all the tracking and payments, there is full transparency of how much you earned and when its coming.

Commission structures vary depending on the programme, some pay a percentage of the purchase, others offer a fixed fee for a sale or a lead. For a full breakdown of how commission models work, take a look at our commission models FAQ.

Successful affiliates build genuine trust with their audience before they try to monetise it. You must consider first if the product or service aligns with your audiences' interests, or if this is a niche that your audience trusts your expertise in, before choosing a product simply based off commissions.

Relevance drives clicks, and clicks drive conversions. The affiliates who grow consistently treat their activity like a business, always monitoring their content to see what is performing, testing different formats and checking which affiliate programmes are converting.

Data matters, even at a small scale. Consistency is equally important. Building an engaged following takes time, and those who stick with it, refining their content and staying close to their audience, are the ones who see results compound.

Awin's learning hub covers everything from setting up your account to learning how to make best use of Awin’s tools and features.

Affiliate marketing must adhere to the same advertising standards as any other marketing channel, with IAB UK helping to set guidelines across the industry.

Within a network like Awin, compliance goes further. Publishers are vetted before joining, activity is monitored, and every participant must agree to Awin's network terms and conditions.

This creates a transparent working environment for both advertisers and publishers. For more details on the specifics of Awin’s compliancy, visit our compliance page.

Affiliate marketing is best learned by doing, and having the right resources behind you makes a real difference. Awin has dedicated resources for both advertisers and publishers:

Advertisers can explore our Webinar Centre, which covers everything from getting started on the platform to running a successful affiliate programme.

Publishers can head to Awin's learning hub, covering account setup, tools and practical guidance on making the most of your affiliate activity.

Wordpress, Wix and Squarespace are all great free platforms that would support an affiliate marketing website.

When a customer interacts with multiple marketing channels before making a purchase, de-duplication decides which one gets the credit.

For example, if a customer clicked an affiliate link, but then later converted through a paid search ad, without de-duplication, both channels could claim the sale. De-duplication rules, set by the advertiser, make sure the commission is only paid out once.

For publishers, it matters because it directly affects whether you get credited for a sale. Awin's tracking makes sure attribution is handled accurately within each advertiser's programme rules.

Affiliate marketing rules exist to protect everyone, advertisers, publishers and consumers alike. They set clear boundaries around promotional activity, covering things like misleading advertising, unauthorised use of brand terms in paid search, and deceptive tracking.

At Awin, every publisher goes through a verification process before joining the network, and activity is closely monitored by our compliance team. Advertisers and publishers both agree to Awin's terms and conditions when joining, setting clear expectations from the start.

Awin makes sure the channel stays relaible, transparent and worth investing in. For a full overview visit our or review the for specific guidelines.

Data obtained through advertiser campaigns and data tags is used only to track and attribute sales and commission payments accurately. Awin does not use this data for targeting, profiling or any marketing purposes.

Keeping that data secure and using it responsibly is something we take seriously. Publishers and advertisers can trust that the information flowing through the platform exists to make the affiliate channel work accurately and fairly.

For a full breakdown of how Awin handles data, visit our Privacy Policy.

Awin operates under legitimate interest as its legal basis under GDPR. By nature, affiliate marketing requires very little personal data to function.

The information collected is typically limited to IP address and customer order reference, the minimum needed to accurately track and attribute sales. No sensitive personal data is collected or stored through the affiliate tracking process.

For more detail on how Awin handles data and privacy, visit our Privacy Policy.

Awin holds ISO 27001 certification, the internationally recognised standard for information security management. This means Awin's systems have been independently audited to meet strict requirements around protecting the confidentiality and integrity of data.

Awin also operates a Compliance Management System which is fully GDPR compliant, with strict controls around data access and security.

For full details visit our information security page.

You can view a full list of advertisers we partner with in our advertiser directory. 

Publishers on the Awin network go through a thorough verification process before they can join. Advertisers also have full control over who promotes their programme, they can manually approve publishers and set terms specific to their campaign.

Once live, all publisher activity is monitored using a combination of Awin's own tools and third-party technology, so any non-compliant behaviour is caught and addressed quickly. For more detail on how Awin maintains quality and compliance across the network, visit our compliance page.

Awin gives advertisers full visibility of their programme performance through detailed reports covering clicks, impressions, sales and revenue, divided into publisher, product and creative.

Advertisers can also track detailed customer journeys, compare their performance against the industry averageand use commission reporting to understand what's driving results. On the higher tier plans custom reporting and competitor comparison are also available.

Ava, Awin's AI assistant, monitors and provides insights and recommendations so advertisers can focus their time on action rather than analysing.

For a full breakdown of reporting features by plan, visit our pricing page.

Yes. Awin is a registered member of the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF), listed as a vendor on the IAB's global vendor list.

This means advertisers using a Consent Management Platform can include Awin when collecting user consent, ensuring tracking activity remains fully compliant with GDPR requirements.

For technical guidance on implementing the consent framework with Awin, visit our consent framework documentation

Ad-misplacement refers to ads appearing in environments that are inappropriate or unsafe for a brand, such as alongside harmful or irrelevant content. Yes, Awin has clear policies in place to prevent this.

All publishers must agree to Awin's terms and conditions as well as our Publisher Code of Conduct, which explains the standards expected around promotion and content environments. Publishers who violate these standards are subject to removal from the network.

Joining Awin as a publisher is free to get started. Head to the Awin sign up page and complete the application form with your details, including your website, social media channels or other promotional methods you plan to use.

Once submitted, Awin's compliance team will review your application and verify the information provided. After approval, you can browse the and apply to join the individual brand programmes you want to work with.

After submitting your application, Awin's compliance team reviews each application, verifying the legitimacy of the details.

Applications are typically processed within 24 hours, though this can take longer if information is incomplete or additional details are required. Once approved, your account is activated and you can start applying to advertiser programmes through the Advertiser Directory.

If your application is unsuccessful, you can contact the compliance team at approvals@awin.com with your Awin ID, email address and website URL.

Awin accepts publishers of all types. Whether you are a content creator, influencer, blogger, editorial or media site, cashback or voucher code platform, technology partner or ecommerce business, there is a place for you on the network.

The one requirement is that you have a means of linking to an advertiser to promote their programme. This can be through a website, blog, social media channel or other digital platform.

All applications go through Awin's compliance team before approval to ensure the quality and legitimacy of publishers on the network.

Yes, we accept publishers using all social media channels including Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Once approved as a publisher, you can browse the Advertiser Directory to find brands that align with your audience and content. Each advertiser profile shows key details including commission rates, average payment times and programme terms.

Apply to the programmes you want to join directly through the platform. Once accepted by an advertiser, you will have access to their creatives, affiliate links and any other offers.

You can also reach out to advertisers directly through the Awin interface to discuss partnership opportunities.

Joining Awin requires a one-off deposit at sign up, which is used to verify your identity and maintain the quality of publishers on the network. Once you reach your first payment threshold, the deposit is reimbursed directly to your publisher account. For the current deposit amount, visit the Awin sign up page.

Yes, multiple sites can be managed within a single Awin publisher account. Tracking links can be personalised for each site, so performance across all your properties is tracked and reported separately within Awin.

Sites can also be listed individually in the Promotional Spaces section of the platform, giving advertisers visibility of each property when considering publisher partnerships.

Yes. Additional users can be invited to a publisher account directly through the Awin platform. This is useful for teams managing a publisher account collaboratively, giving each member their own access without sharing login credentials.

They are added through the Account tab in the Awin platform, under Payment Details. Bank account details, tax information and VAT registration status can all be entered and updated here. Payment method options include BACS, international wire transfer and ACH.

Completing payment details is essential before any commissions can be paid out. Note that Two Step Verification needs to be activated on your account before you can access the Payment Details section.

To learn more, visit the Awin Help Center.

Yes, publisher account details can be updated at any time through the Account tab in the Awin platform. This includes your profile description, promotional types, website URLs and any additional sites you want to showcase to advertisers.

Keeping your profile complete and up to date is important as advertisers use this information when deciding whether to approve publishers onto their programmes.

Yes. The email address on a publisher account can be updated whether the application is still pending or already active. Contact the Awin Publisher Success Team through the Awin Help Center to request the change.

Payment times vary by advertiser and sector. for each advertiser are displayed within the Awin interface, in the Advertiser Directory and on each advertiser's profile. The payment status of individual transactions can be tracked within the Transactions report.

Awin runs payments on the 1st and 15th of every month. Publishers opting for monthly payments receive them on the 15th, covering commissions earned up to the previous 30th. Payments are made on the next working day and can take 3 to 5 days to clear into a publisher's bank account.

For a full breakdown of the payment process, visit Awin's publisher payments guide.

Awin offers multiple payment methods including BACS, international wire transfer, ACH and SEPA transfer. Domestic payments are also available in a range of currencies depending on your location.

Payment details are managed through the Account tab in the Awin platform. For a full list of supported payment methods and currencies, visit the Awin payment methods guide.

Once approved and with affiliate links added to your site or social channels, you can start earning immediately. Commissions are tracked as soon as a user makes a purchase through one of your links and will appear in your publisher dashboard in real time.

From there, the advertiser reviews and validates the transaction, with timelines varying by advertiser and sector. Once validated and cleared, Awin pays out on the 1st or 15th of the month depending on your chosen payment frequency, provided you have met your minimum payment threshold.

The minimum payment threshold is the amount of confirmed commission you need to accumulate before Awin processes a payment to your account. For GB publishers, the minimum is £20 for BACS payments and £100 for international wire transfers. Publishers can set a higher threshold in their account settings if preferred.

For thresholds in other currencies, visit the Awin Help Center.

Awin works with over 30,000 brands globally across retail, travel, finance, telecoms and more, including household names and fast growing businesses across every sector.

Once approved as a publisher, you can apply to promote any brand on the network. Browse the full list in the Advertiser Directory.

The Advertiser Directory is the starting point for finding brands to work with. You can search and filter by sector, country and commission type to find programmes that match your audience and content. Each advertiser profile shows important details like commission rates, average payment times and programme terms.

Awin's Partner Discovery tool lets you search and connect with publishers already on the network, filtering by type, sector and market to find the right fit for your programme. For a more targeted approach, Ava uses AI to surface relevant publisher recommendations based on your specific goals.

For influencers and content creators not yet on Awin, the express sign up feature lets you onboard them quickly using a programme specific invitation link

All publishers must agree to Awin's Terms and Conditions and Code of Conduct when joining the platform. These set out the standards expected of all publishers across the network.

Each advertiser programme also has its own specific requirements for accepting publishers. These can be found on the individual advertiser's profile within the Awin platform before applying.

Being rejected by an advertiser does not affect your status as an Awin publisher. You can continue applying to any other programmes on the network.

Advertisers sometimes provide a reason for rejection. If no reason is given, you can contact the advertiser directly through the Awin platform to ask. Reviewing the advertiser's programme terms and conditions before reapplying can also help clarify what they are looking for in a publisher.

The Advertiser Directory is a good place to find alternative brands that may be a better fit for your audience and content.

The Opportunity Marketplace lets publishers promote the advertising options available on their platform, from homepage advertising and sponsored content to social posts and newsletter placements. Advertisers across the network can browse these listings, making it a useful way to get noticed by brands you have not yet partnered with.

Once accepted onto a programme, publishers can also contact the advertiser directly through the Awin platform to discuss specific partnership opportunities.

Yes, Awin operates across 17 markets worldwide, and publishers can apply to promote any brand on the network regardless of where they are based. Many advertisers run international programmes and actively welcome affiliates from other markets.

It is worth checking each brand's affiliate programme terms before applying, as some do have location restrictions on who they work with.

Each advertiser sets their own rules on which promotional methods they accept. These are outlined in the programme terms and conditions, visible on the advertiser's profile within the Awin platform before you apply.

Common promotional methods include content and editorial, email marketing, social media, paid search and voucher or cashback promotion. Some advertisers restrict certain methods, for example limiting paid search on branded keywords, so it is important to review the terms before promoting.

Awin offers two ways to create affiliate links and deeplinks. The Link Builder tool within the Awin platform lets you generate a deeplink by pasting the URL of the page you want to link to. The tool creates the relevant affiliate link with your publisher ID automatically.

For a quicker approach, the MyAwin Chrome extension generates personalised affiliate links with one click directly from any product or page you are browsing. This is particularly useful for publishers linking to multiple specific products without having to return to the platform each time.

There are several ways to link to a specific product, however one of the easiest is our Chome plugin; MyAwin.  With the plugin installed, open the web page of the product you wish to link to, open the plugin and this will generate a personalised affiliate link with your publisher ID, ready to be added to your website.  You can also use the deeplink generator within the Awin interface to generate deeplinks for a specific product - copy and paste the link for the product you wish to use into the generator, select the advertiser this is for and the affiliate link will be generated for you.

Yes, the MyAwin Chrome extension is a free browser tool that lets publishers create personalised affiliate links with one click directly from any page they are browsing. So you don’t need to log into the Awin platform every time you want to generate a link.

Once installed, MyAwin also allows you to join new advertiser programmes, view active offers and share links directly to social media from your browser, useful for publishers who promote across multiple channels.

To download the extension, search for MyAwin in the Chrome Web Store or access it through the Toolbox tab in your Awin publisher account.

Yes. Once joined to an advertiser's programme, all banners and creatives are available through the My Creative section of the Awin platform.

This includes display banners, text links and any other promotional assets the advertiser has made available to publishers. Creatives can be filtered by type, dimensions and advertiser to find exactly what you need.

Yes, the Awin API gives publishers direct access to their account data, including transaction reports, publisher programmes, product feeds and more. It is particularly useful for publishers who want to automate reporting or build custom integrations.

Full documentation is available at the Awin Developer Portal.

Product feeds give publishers access to a full list of an advertiser's products, including names, descriptions, prices, images and deeplinks to individual product pages. They are particularly useful for price comparison, shopping and content sites looking to display multiple products without creating individual links.

Product feeds can be accessed through the Toolbox tab in the Awin platform. Full guidance on downloading and using feeds is available at the Awin Developer Portal.

We work directly with a range of technology partners and are committed to bringing on more partners through our Publisher MasterTag. These are third-party technologies that publishers can use to help increase conversion rate and optimise their site. All technology partners have been vetted for a trustworthy and effective solution.

The Awin MasterTag is a JavaScript tag placed on every page of your website, including the order confirmation page, to ensure all sales and actions are tracked accurately across devices and browsers.

Adding the MasterTag also unlocks a suite of free Awin tools. Tracking Optimisation keeps your tracking current and resilient to browser privacy changes. Convert-a-Link automatically turns standard product links into tracked affiliate links.

There are also third party technology partner plugins available through the MasterTag designed to improve conversion rates and site performance.

The Awin Help Center has a step by step installation guide for WordPress, Wix and Squarespace.

When a user clicks an affiliate link, Awin places a tracking cookie in their browser recording the click. When that user completes a purchase on the advertiser's site, the tracking fires from the confirmation page and records the sale. The commission is then attributed to the publisher whose link drove the last click.

Awin supports both cookie based tracking and server to server tracking, giving programmes a reliable fallback when browser privacy settings would otherwise block a cookie.

More details on how tracking works is available at the Awin Help Center.

No, the Awin MasterTag is a lightweight JavaScript tag that integrates with your existing site without adding meaningful load time. It is designed to run in the background without interfering with page performance or user experience.

Yes, the Awin MasterTag enables real time tracking across devices, so if a user clicks a link on mobile and completes a purchase on desktop, the sale is still attributed correctly. This is increasingly important as more users browse across multiple devices before converting.

Publishers can enable the Tracking Optimisation Plugin through the MasterTag to further strengthen attribution across different browsers and privacy settings.

The industry standard cookie duration is 30 days, meaning a user has 30 days from clicking an affiliate link to complete a purchase for the commission to be attributed. Cookie durations can vary by brand so it is worth checking individual programme terms in the Advertiser Directory.

Note that users clearing their browser cookies will end the tracking period regardless of how much time remains.

Missing transactions can happen for several reasons including ad blockers, browser privacy settings or technical issues on the advertiser's confirmation page. The first step is to check your publisher dashboard to confirm whether the sale has been recorded.

If a sale is genuinely missing, a transaction query can be raised directly through the Awin platform. The transaction queries guide at the Awin Help Center explains the different query types and how to submit one.