Two rules decide whether a sale you influenced pays you: how long after a click the sale still counts, and which partner gets credit when several were involved. Programs call these the cookie window and the attribution model.
The cookie window
When a reader clicks your link, the program remembers that you sent them. If they buy within the window, the sale is yours. Windows vary enormously. In our directory, Amazon Associates allows 24 hours, extended to 90 days for items added to the cart in that first day; HubSpot and WP Engine allow 180 days.
Longer is better for you, but it matters most where buyers take their time. Nobody researches a phone charger for a month; plenty of teams evaluate a CRM for one.
Attribution: who gets the credit
Last click is the industry default: the most recent affiliate click before purchase wins. If a reader finds a product through your review, then searches for a coupon and clicks a coupon site’s link, the coupon site is paid.
First click rewards whoever introduced the customer. It is rarer and usually found in programs run on the brand’s own software. Programs can switch: when Semrush moved its program to Impact, it compared its old first-click setup, which used a very long cookie, with last-click attribution and a 120-day cookie, and adopted the latter.
A few programs split credit across partners, but most still pay one partner per sale.
Why tracking breaks, and what replaces cookies
Browsers have steadily restricted tracking. Safari, for example, limits how long cookies created by page scripts can last. Ad blockers, private browsing and switching from phone to laptop all lose clicks too. The industry’s response is to rely less on browser cookies:
- Server-to-server tracking, also called postback, records the click and the sale between the brand’s server and the platform, without depending on the browser.
- First-party tracking stores the referral on the brand’s own domain, which browsers treat more kindly.
- Coupon codes tied to a partner credit sales even with no click at all, which is why podcasts and video favor them.
What publishers should do
- Prefer programs whose window fits how long your readers deliberate.
- Ask whether a program uses server-side tracking. If it doesn’t, expect to lose some sales.
- Test your own links after setup and after site changes. A broken redirect pays nobody.
- For audio, video and offline mentions, ask for a personal code.
What brands should do
- Match the window to your real buying cycle. A short window on a long sale tells content partners not to bother.
- Implement server-side tracking; it protects partner trust and your data.
- Write clear rules for coupon and cashback sites, which otherwise collect last-click credit for sales other partners created. Many brands pay them a lower rate or restrict them to exclusive codes.
Rule of thumb: the longer your buyers deliberate, the more a long window and server-side tracking are worth to the partners creating that demand.