How tracking works

What this is

Tracking is the system that connects a visitor who clicks your referral link to a conversion the merchant later reports, so a commission can be calculated and credited to you.

Why it matters

Understanding the pieces, referral links, clicks, sessions, and conversions, helps you troubleshoot when a sale does not appear to be credited to you.

How it works

1. You create a referral link for a program you are approved in. The link points to the merchant's website (or a specific destination you choose) and carries a unique referral code.
2. When someone clicks your link, a referral click is recorded and a referral session begins, which is how the attribution window is measured. See Attribution and Coupons.
3. If that visitor completes a qualifying action on the merchant's site within the attribution window, for example a paid order, the merchant's tracking integration or manual reporting produces a conversion, which is linked back to your original click through the session.
4. A conversion can then generate a commission, according to the program's commission rules, which appears with its own status. See Understanding Commissions.
5. You can optionally attach a Tracking ID to a referral link to label where that traffic comes from; see Tracking IDs and Referral Links.

What happens next

Your Overview page and each program's page show your clicks, conversions, tracked revenue, and commission totals, along with a breakdown by traffic source when you use Tracking IDs.

Common mistakes

Do not assume every click becomes a conversion. Attribution requires the visitor to convert within the program's attribution window, and some events legitimately never convert.

In short

A click starts a session, a qualifying action within the attribution window becomes a conversion, and a conversion can generate a commission under the program's rules.