Glossary
The affiliate tracking dictionary.
30 plain-language definitions of the words that run an affiliate program — EPC, postback URLs, sub-IDs, attribution windows, tracking domains, and the rest. Each one with a worked example and how it works in LimeliJourney.
Written by the team building the platform. No fluff, no gated PDFs.
A
3 terms
Advertiser
An advertiser is the company whose product an affiliate program promotes. It owns the offers affiliates run traffic to and defines the event catalog, the list of actions (like lead or sale) that count as conversions and get paid.
Affiliate Network vs Platform
An affiliate network is a marketplace that connects advertisers with affiliates and takes a cut of the volume it intermediates. An affiliate platform (or SaaS tracking software) is technology you run yourself to operate your own program, keeping the relationships and the margin.
Attribution Window
An attribution window is the maximum time allowed between a click and a conversion for that conversion to still be credited to the click. A conversion that arrives after the window closes is treated as unattributed.
C
10 terms
Click Fraud
Click fraud is the generation of illegitimate clicks, by bots, click farms, or manipulation, to inflate traffic numbers or drain budgets without any genuine intent to convert. Detecting and excluding it keeps affiliate metrics honest and payouts fair.
Click ID
A click ID is a unique identifier minted for every click on a tracking link. It is the key that ties a later conversion back to the exact click, and therefore to the affiliate who earned it. In LimeliJourney it travels as ll_cid.
Click Pixel
A click pixel is a small script installed on a landing page that records a click without a redirect. The affiliate links straight to the page with tracking parameters in the URL, and the script reads them, reports the click, and stores the click ID for later attribution.
Conversion Deduplication
Conversion deduplication is the process of preventing the same conversion from being counted or paid more than once. It catches re-fired pixels, page refreshes, and the same person or order arriving twice, so nobody is credited or paid for a duplicate.
Conversion Pixel
A conversion pixel is a small snippet placed on a thank-you or confirmation page that tells the tracking platform a conversion happened. It fires from the visitor's browser, usually as a 1x1 image, and passes the click ID so the conversion is attributed to the right affiliate.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the share of clicks that become conversions, calculated as conversions divided by clicks. A 2% rate means two conversions per hundred clicks. It measures how effectively a source, offer, or landing page turns interest into a payable action.
Cookieless Tracking
Cookieless tracking attributes conversions without relying on browser cookies, by passing a click ID from the landing URL through to the conversion, or by reporting server-to-server. It keeps attribution working as browsers restrict or delete cookies.
CPA (Cost Per Action)
CPA, or cost per action, is a payout model that pays the affiliate a fixed amount each time a defined action converts, such as a sale, a lead, or an install. The advertiser only pays when the action happens, which is why CPA is the dominant affiliate pricing model.
CPL (Cost Per Lead)
CPL, or cost per lead, is a payout model that pays the affiliate a fixed amount for each qualified lead (a signup, a form fill, an application) rather than for a sale. It is the standard model for lead-generation offers where the conversion happens before any purchase.
Creative
A creative is any promotional asset an affiliate runs to drive traffic: a banner, an HTML ad, an email template, a text ad, a link, or a video. Creatives belong to an offer, and each one can carry its own tracking so you see how much traffic it pulls.
E
1 termF
2 terms
First-Party Cookie
A first-party cookie is a cookie set by the same domain the visitor is browsing, rather than by a third-party domain embedded in the page. First-party cookies survive modern browser privacy protections far better, which is why first-party tracking domains are essential for affiliate attribution.
First-Touch vs Last-Touch Attribution
First-touch and last-touch are the two attribution models that decide which click gets credit when several affiliates send the same visitor. First-touch credits the earliest eligible click; last-touch credits the most recent click before the conversion.
G
1 termI
1 termO
1 termP
2 terms
Payout
A payout is the amount an affiliate earns for a conversion. It is the program's cost, set by the offer's terms, and (in a well-built platform) locked in at click time, so the terms an affiliate sent traffic under are the terms they are paid.
Postback URL
A postback URL is a server-to-server callback that reports a conversion by having one server send an HTTP request directly to the tracking platform, instead of firing a pixel in the visitor's browser. It carries the click ID and conversion details on the request.
R
2 terms
Redirect Token
A redirect token is a placeholder like #click_id# or #s1# that a tracking platform replaces with a click's real value before redirecting the visitor, so the destination page receives click data (the click ID, sub-IDs, affiliate ID, country) right on its URL.
RevShare (Revenue Share)
RevShare, or revenue share, is a payout model that pays the affiliate a percentage of each conversion's revenue rather than a flat fee. It aligns affiliate earnings with the actual value of the sale, so bigger orders pay bigger commissions.
S
4 terms
Server-to-Server (S2S) Tracking
Server-to-server (S2S) tracking records conversions by having the advertiser's server send the data directly to the tracking platform, with no pixel firing in the visitor's browser. It relies on a click ID passed at click time rather than on cookies.
Smart Link
A smart link is a single tracking link whose destination is resolved at click time rather than baked in, so the platform can route each visitor to the right landing page based on current configuration. Changing the destination updates every link already distributed, with no re-issuing.
Sub-ID (s1–s5)
A sub-ID is an optional label an affiliate appends to a tracking link to segment their traffic. LimeliJourney supports five (s1 through s5); they ride along on every click and are copied onto the conversions that click produces, so you can see which source within an affiliate performs.
Suppression List
A suppression list is a list of people or sources that should be excluded from marketing, from crediting, or from counting. In affiliate programs it commonly means contacts who must not be remarketed to, or traffic sources blocked from an offer, so partners don't get paid for excluded activity.
T
3 terms
Tracking Domain
A tracking domain is the web address that receives clicks, sets the attribution cookie, and accepts conversion pixels for an affiliate program. Using a domain you own, like track.yourbrand.com, makes the attribution cookie first-party, so it survives modern browser privacy protections.
Traffic Rules
Traffic rules decide, at click time, whether a visitor is served or blocked for an offer, based on conditions like country, device, referrer, URL parameter, or IP. They keep out geos you don't run, filter unwanted sources, and enforce targeting before a click ever becomes a cost.
Transaction ID
A transaction ID is a value unique to each conversion, typically an order or transaction number, sent on the conversion pixel. It deduplicates conversions: re-firing with the same transaction ID updates the existing conversion instead of creating a duplicate.
Know the words. Now see the work.
Every term here is something LimeliJourney measures for you. Book a demo and we'll walk your program through the platform, term by term, on your own data.