Conceptually Tracking is Simple
An affiliate sends a user to an advertiser and the user buys something generating a commission. A referral must be recorded, and a sale must also be recorded and allocated to that referral. Therefore, memory is needed between the two events:
record of referral → memory joining the two → record of sale
Embrace the Memory Cookie
Almost all affiliate tracking stores this memory in a cookie or local storage. As checkout pages are typically secure, they remain reliable and less prone to inadvertent degradation. The first question when addressing tracking issues should typically be: "Is the memory cookie present?" Moonpull published perspective on the memory cookie in this article.
Tracking Integration
Technical integrations become complex quickly, though having language to describe typical implementations is achievable for all parties. This proves especially important when advertisers partner with multiple networks across various territories.
Beyond terms like "memory cookie," understanding concepts like the "Affiliate Network identifier" matters significantly. Moonpull outlines its approach in this article.
Cookie and Privacy Consent
Consumer protections leading to consent processes are prevalent across many territories, with far-reaching implications for affiliate marketing. They prevent tracking tags and cookies -- the vital memory component -- from appearing without consent. Moonpull estimates "40% of UK affiliate traffic is now subject to user consent," as outlined in this article on Cookie Compliance.
Consent processes don't require intimidating implementations. Many compliant approaches exist, including Californian "do not sell my data" buttons and brand-consistent consent gathering. Some examples appear in this article on Cookie consent banners.
Cookies and local storage remain essential for short and medium-term tracking environments.
Memory and the Tracking Arsenal
Memory proves essential for tracking "back to the click," making cookies and local storage vital components. This likely remains true long-term as well.
Cookie Deprecation Impact
Cookie deprecation on Chrome will impact every third-party tracking method and all businesses relying on such tracking may "have to adapt from January." Managing both deprecation and consent requirements applying to first-party tracking creates a challenging dual burden.
Google likely will utilize estimates or modeling in GA4. Hellopartner's article offers a nice summary linking to affiliate marketing, reporting on November 2023 Publisher Roundtable discussions hosted by Moonpull. As an update, Google has further complicated matters in late 2024 by applying consent to third-party cookies, though timing and details remain unclear.
The Tracking Half-Life
Tracking implementation breaks one small piece at a time across advertiser pages. Issues may go undetected individually but accumulate over time. Examples include untagged new offers or redirects that fail to pass the affiliate network identifier to final pages.
Spotting Common Breakage Points
Identifying tracking breakage is straightforward when knowing where to look. Moonpull highlighted numerous breakage occurrence methods in a blog article with tips to fix tracking issues.
Detective and Preventive Monitoring
Financial institutions reference preventative and detective controls; tracking losses warrant similar thinking. Detective controls applied days, weeks, or months post-promotion show anomalies but cannot retrospectively record events missed after occurrence.
Preventative controls involve pre-promotion checks. For instance, before sending 10,000 clicks to an offer page, publishers should verify tracking functionality through test purchases or confirming proper memory cookie establishment. Moonpull Link Assurance specifically supports this.
New Offers and Deeplinks Risk
Most major advertisers maintain good first-party tracking on homepages but may lack tracking on certain deeplinks or offers due to accidental oversight. During 2023, an international advertiser featured a timely homepage promotion without first-party tracking for weeks -- it happens.
Quality Tracking Benefits
Advertisers with good tracking build superior programs. Affiliate managers easily identify what works well and what requires improvement.
Source of Truth for Affiliate Tracking
In 2024, brand affiliate managers must explain affiliate tracking to colleagues more than ever. Discrepancies with brands' other online marketing platforms (including GA4 or Adobe) will increase as brands manage consent and deprecation. Robust affiliate tracking solutions positioned as reliable sources of truth strengthen channel acceptance even when overall appraisal occurs via ecommerce-wide measurement.
Awin's article offers critical guidance for affiliate managers navigating changes from Universal Analytics to GA4 and impacts on affiliate tracking. CJ Affiliate similarly provides detailed advice and best practices for managing tracking issues.
Third Party Tracking
False Reassurance Risk
Third-party tracking functions admirably when first-party methods fail or are absent. While third-party tracking currently works on Chrome, potential danger exists -- a "cliff" where first-party solutions prove compromised only when sales supposedly generated through those methods dry up, having actually been third-party driven. Time to rectify varies, though no channel party wants to experience such events.
Publisher Involvement Matters
Publishers plan navigating consent and deprecation implications atop ongoing breakages. Brands and networks leading conversations facilitate better programs as publishers concentrate investment where confidence exists. Financial market commentary discusses "flight to quality" during turmoil; similar patterns likely emerge in affiliate marketing during 2024-2025.
Preparing Tracking for the Future
A comprehensive advertiser and affiliate management agency checklist includes key auditing points. The hierarchy in affiliate tracking warrants review. This list remains non-exhaustive; conversations with tracking providers and publishers are highly encouraged.
- Ensure first-party tracking implementation throughout the website
- Confirm through regular testing to avoid inadvertent surprises
- Ensure 404 redirects pass tracking parameters through
- Include affiliate tracking checks for new categories, navigation, offer, and promotion landing pages
- Check third-party tracking links and prepare removal ahead of full deprecation
- Assess cookie consent platform impact on publisher partner attribution
- Communicate tracking change plans to publishers
2024 poses challenges for many affiliate marketing participants. With adequate planning and partner communication, these obstacles become navigable. Publishers will migrate toward advertisers successfully managing these elements in the resulting "flight to quality."
Update
As tracking environments evolve responding to browser and legal changes, read this article alongside: