Most referrals are simple: one partner, one link, one customer. But as a program grows, customers start arriving through more than one partner — a newsletter mention, then a YouTube review, then a comparison site. Someone has to get the commission. Your attribution rule decides who.
The two common rules
First click credits the partner whose link the customer clicked first, within the cookie window. Later clicks from other partners do not change it.
Last click credits the partner whose link the customer clicked most recently before signing up. Each new click from a different partner takes over the referral.
Both are simple, explainable and widely used. Neither is “correct”; they reward different behaviour.
What first click rewards
First click rewards discovery. The partner who introduced your product to someone who had never heard of it gets the credit, even if the customer took a month and three more articles to decide.
It suits programs where:
- partners are educators, newsletters and communities that create awareness;
- customers take time to decide;
- you want to discourage partners from “intercepting” customers at the last moment.
Its weakness is that a partner who once posted a link can collect credit for customers who were really convinced by someone else.
What last click rewards
Last click rewards conversion. The partner whose recommendation finally moved the customer to sign up gets the credit.
It suits programs where:
- partners are review and comparison sites, or deal sites you allow;
- customers decide quickly;
- you want to reward the partner closest to the decision.
Its weakness is that it invites late interception: coupon and deal sites that rank for “[your product] discount” can capture customers other partners already convinced. If you use last click, decide carefully which kinds of partners you allow.
The window matters as much as the rule
Attribution only applies inside the cookie window — the time after a click during which a signup still counts. A 30-day window with first click means a partner keeps the customer for 30 days after their click; after that, anyone’s click can win.
Browser limits shorten windows in practice. Safari keeps cookies set by a script for about a week without interaction, so for Safari visitors the effective window is short whatever you set. Promo codes, which credit the partner on payment, are unaffected.
Leads that never pay
A related question: how long does a referred signup stay with a partner if it never pays? A free account created through a partner’s link two years ago should probably not earn them a commission when the customer finally upgrades after finding you on their own.
A lead lifetime handles this: if a referred signup has not paid within, say, 90 days, it expires, and the partner is no longer credited. Leads that paid, earned a commission or started a trial should not expire — they are real customers.
A worked example
Maya reads a newsletter on March 1 and clicks its link to your pricing page, but does not sign up. On March 10 she watches a YouTube review and clicks the reviewer’s link. On March 12 she signs up from a comparison site’s link and pays.
- With first click and a 30-day window, the newsletter is credited: its click on March 1 is the first inside the window.
- With last click, the comparison site is credited: its click on March 12 is the most recent before the signup.
- If Maya used Safari and the newsletter’s cookie was written by script, it may already be gone by March 12, and first click falls back to the next surviving click. If she paid with the reviewer’s promo code and nobody else had referred her, the reviewer would be credited instead.
Neither outcome is wrong. Write down which one your program intends, so partners can predict it.
Codes and manual decisions
Promo codes cut across attribution. If a customer pays with a code assigned to a partner and no one else referred them, the code wins. If someone else already referred them, decide which takes precedence and say it in your terms.
Some disputes will still need a human. A clear rule makes those rare, and a written policy makes them quick.
How to choose
- Content and community partners, longer decisions → first click, 60–90 day window.
- Review and comparison partners, fast decisions → last click, 30 day window, and a clear policy on deal sites.
- Mixed → first click as the default, with promo codes for partners who need certainty.
Whatever you choose, apply it to the whole program, state it in your terms in one sentence, and do not change it lightly. Partners plan their promotion around it.
Doing this in Affiligato
Programs use first click by default. Switch a program to last click and the partner of the most recent click inside the cookie window is credited instead. The cookie window is a program setting, and a lead lifetime makes referred signups that never paid stop crediting their partner after the number of days you choose; leads that paid, earned a commission or started a trial do not expire.
Promo codes assigned to partners credit them on payment when no one else referred the customer. Every click records its country, device, browser and UTM source, medium and campaign, so when two partners’ paths cross you can see which placements each one contributed.
