Online Marketing Glossary: Cookie
Cookie:
- Small file stored on a visitor’s computer that records information. For affiliate programs, cookies have two functions: to keep track of what a customer purchases and to track which affiliate was responsible for generating the sale and is owed a commission.
The vast majority of affiliate programs use cookies. When a visitor clicks on an ad, a cookie is placed on their computer that says where they came from. When they make a sale, the cookie fires off information to the merchant to tell them who the credit should go to. Cookies have a shelf life and often expire after 90 or 180 days. This allows the cookie to fire off information about the referring website for up to that amount of days if they come back and make their sale later. This also applies when generating leads.
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Glossary Definition From ABC’s of Online Marketing by Alexandra Wharton, Issue 22, Revenue Magazine
Online Marketing Glossary: Affiliate Fraud
Affiliate Fraud:
- Bogus activity generated by an affiliate in an attempt to generate illegitimate, unearned revenue.
Commonly referred to as Black Hat activity, unfortunately there are lots of tactics that unethical affiliates can use to generate revenue. Click fraud, redirects, adware, software programs, tool bars, etc. There are many active affiliates out there that are working to bring ethics to the forefront of the affiliate marketing community. Some great resources if you’re interested in reading up on what’s going on today in the affiliate industry regarding ethics and fraud, check out:
- Affiliate Fair Play
- UNEthical Affiliates Sub-Forum at ABestWeb
- Parasiteware Sub-Forum at ABestWeb
- Cookies, Adware, & Spyware Forum at 5 Star Affiliate Programs
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Glossary Definition From ABC’s of Online Marketing by Alexandra Wharton, Issue 22, Revenue Magazine
