When I introduced the Conversion Protection Initiative (CPI) at PI LIVE Europe last October, I said it was time to draw a line in the sand.
For too long, affiliate tracking has fallen short of what modern marketers and our partners deserve. Outdated setups, broken attribution, and uncredited sales were silently undermining the trust and fairness our channel is built on.
CPI was our answer. A commitment to enforce stronger, more accurate tracking through mandatory server-to-server (S2S) and in-app integration, and to introduce a probabilistic fallback model where those upgrades couldn't yet be met. Because it's not enough to talk about performance. We have to protect it.
Just a few months since its official launch, I want to share what's changed and thank those who've already stepped up to be part of that change.
The results so far
Thanks to your action, we've now upgraded or augmented tracking for over 3,000 advertisers. That's more than 70% of the way to our original goal for 2025.
Because of those upgrades, we've already:
- Recovered over one million conversions that legacy tracking would have missed
- Tracked and attributed over $100 million in revenue back to our advertisers
- Redirected almost $9 million in commission to the partners who drove those sales
In one recent internal study, 22% of tracked conversions in a sample of 25,000 sales were only visible thanks to S2S. That's the scale of the issue, and the opportunity.
And the benefits go beyond technical accuracy. Advertisers who rolled out in-app tracking are seeing a big commercial impact on their programs too:
- +37% in revenue
- +34% more sales
- +29% higher order values
- +81% uplift in conversion rates
A sincere thank you
To those Awin advertisers who've already taken the steps to become CPI-compliant, I have a very simple message: thank you.
It's not always easy upgrading infrastructure, but your commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability is already paying off. Not just for your business, but for your partners and the wider industry.
We knew that change requires support, so I'm proud that our team secured exclusive discounts and integrations with top-tier tracking and measurement providers, including Button and Stape to make implementation as simple and cost-effective as possible.
We'll continue investing in these partnerships to make CPI adoption even smoother.
Leading industry change
I've been encouraged to see major brands like AO.com, Three, and VW Bank leading the way by upgrading their tracking setups. Health & beauty brand Boots was an especially early advocate, joining me on stage at PI LIVE Europe for that original announcement.
Since then, we've seen other platforms including the likes of Rakuten, TimeOne, and Admitad launch similar efforts. That tells me CPI isn't just the right thing for Awin, but for the industry too.
As Gerhard Trautmann, CEO of global shopping engagement platform Atolls, puts it: "It's progressive steps like Awin's CPI that will secure the future of affiliate marketing."
What's next?
CPI isn't just a campaign. It's a new operating standard that's built into Awin’s policies, processes, products, and platform.
We remain focused on helping all of our advertisers reach compliance by the end of 2025. If you're yet to make the upgrade to S2S, in-app tracking, or both, now is the time. Our CPI Resource Hub is packed with guidance, and our teams are here to walk you through every step.
CPI reflects what I believe affiliate marketing should be: transparent, ethical, performance-driven and future-ready.
Thank you for being part of that vision.