Affiliate Operations
Part of Affiliate fraud and attribution disputes
Building a fair process for affiliate disputes
Set clear affiliate dispute rules, evidence requirements, deadlines, decision reasons and a route for review.
A fair affiliate dispute process sets out what publishers can challenge, what evidence they should provide, when they can expect a decision and how an error can be reviewed. The advertiser needs a consistent way to check the order, tracking and agreed rule before approving, declining or reversing commission.
Make the rules accessible
Define the commissionable event, referral window, credit policy, permitted placements, reversal grounds and the point at which a commission becomes final. Explain how competing partner or network claims are handled.
Awin requires advertisers to include their de-duplication policy in their programme Terms & Conditions, which should be accessible to partners. State where publishers can raise missing, incorrect or declined-commission claims.
Set internal review dates around the account’s actual timetable. Awin can automatically approve pending transactions after the configured validation period, and the maximum period depends on the platform plan or contractual agreement.
impact.com actions can be modified or reversed before they lock; locked actions require a different remedy. Check the relevant contract and account settings.
Key Dispute Resolution Metrics
- Validation Period (Awin)
- Configurable by platform plan or contract
- Action Locking (impact.com)
- Modifications only possible before locking; post-lock requires formal remedy
- De-duplication Policy Requirement
- Mandatory in Awin programme Terms & Conditions
Keep one case record
Assign a case reference and record the publisher, order reference, transaction IDs, dates, amount, original decision and applicable terms. Request only what is needed, such as a placement URL, click reference or suitably redacted purchase evidence. Restrict customer details to staff who need them.
Check the store order separately from the tracking claim. Confirm whether the purchase occurred and whether it was cancelled or refunded; then inspect referrals and competing claims. A publisher may have evidence of a real order even when no commission appears.
Awin Classic supports untracked, incorrect and declined transaction queries. On impact.com, some cashback and loyalty partners can submit an inquiry about an untracked action; the brand can accept, decline or request information. Feature availability differs.
Give a reasoned decision
- Acknowledge the claim and identify any missing evidence.
- Check the order, tracking record and terms that applied to the transaction.
- Let the publisher address a material inconsistency.
- Record the finding, evidence, rule and any commission correction.
- Provide a route to review a factual error or new evidence.
Use the reason the evidence supports. “Invalid traffic” does not explain a duplicate order, an expired referral window or a missing purchase. impact.com documents distinct invalid-conversion and reversal reasons; its categories are examples, not a required vocabulary for other platforms. Do not label a tracking fault as publisher misconduct.
Tell the publisher the outcome and practical basis for it without disclosing unnecessary customer or fraud-control information.
If the advertiser’s tracking was wrong, identify affected claims and the available adjustment or make-good route. If terms were unclear, clarify them prospectively with notice.
Record unresolved evidence honestly, and review recurring disputes to find rules or integrations that need attention.
