opinion wanted on affiliate cookies priority!

4 replies
I am currently coding an affiliate plugin for profitstheme and everything is working fine but I need opinions on how to prioritize the affiliate cookie.

I have it set up so a new affiliate can set a URL in their settings and any people coming from that site can be detected and a cookie placed on their machine with the affiliates ID. This is so affiliates don't have to use affiliate links if they don't want to, they can just link to my site from the site that they have saved in their profile.

an affiliate can also use the affiliate url (eg. domain.com?ref=clp-aff65). My plugin detects the ?ref= bit and cookies the visitor with the affiliate id (clp-aff65)

the thing is, what is the best practice for keeping/overwriting cookies?

What to do here?
if someone has already been referred to the site by an affiliate (say, affiliate ABC) but didn't buy. they get a cookie on their machine for 30 days that identifies affiliate ABC as their referrer.

if they buy the product within 30 days then ABC gets the commission

Instead of buying though, suppose the user leaves the site and then a few days later, they click on some other affiliates link (say, affiliate XYZ) should I overwrite the cookie so that if the user buys on this visit, XYZ gets the commission rather than ABC?

your opinion would be very welcome!
#affiliate #cookies #opinion #priority #wanted
  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    My opinion, FWIW, is that the last referring affiliate should get the credit. They are, after all, the one that influenced the sale.
    Signature

    The 2nd Amendment, 1789 - The Original Homeland Security.

    Gun control means never having to say, "I missed you."

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4542024].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author origin
    Hi Andy!

    Are you writing it so that the cookie does not get overwritten if it already exists on the machine?

    Most aff programs I know credit the LAST cookie in anycase.

    I suspect that you will have a better selling point for your theme if you let the cookie overwrite. I know for one I would want my cookie there in stead, hence using your theme. Let them overwrite is what I vote.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4542125].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Most affiliates are used to a "most recent cookie gets the sale" principle (because it's what ClickBank and others have been using for so many years), so it may make sense to do it that way, partly to avoid explanations and misunderstandings.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4542438].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author andybuk
        Originally Posted by SteveJohnson View Post

        My opinion, FWIW, is that the last referring affiliate should get the credit. They are, after all, the one that influenced the sale.
        Originally Posted by origin View Post

        Hi Andy!

        Are you writing it so that the cookie does not get overwritten if it already exists on the machine?

        Most aff programs I know credit the LAST cookie in anycase.

        I suspect that you will have a better selling point for your theme if you let the cookie overwrite. I know for one I would want my cookie there in stead, hence using your theme. Let them overwrite is what I vote.
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        Most affiliates are used to a "most recent cookie gets the sale" principle (because it's what ClickBank and others have been using for so many years), so it may make sense to do it that way, partly to avoid explanations and misunderstandings.
        I was kinda thinking the same thing! glad to know that I was on the right track!

        thanks very much for your replies
        Signature

        Andy

        http://www.commentluv.com
        creator of the CommentLuv plugin for WordPress. Now gone premium!!
        And the WSO Plugin WP Mail Ads

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4542694].message }}

Trending Topics