Definitions for terminology used across the Trackdesk platform. If you don't find a term you need, use the search box at the top of this page.

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The number of times a tracking link is clicked. A foundational metric for measuring affiliate campaign performance.

Successful actions taken by visitors after clicking a tracking link, such as completing a purchase, signing up, or filling out a form. Each conversion is what triggers an affiliate payout.

The kind of action being tracked. For an e-commerce brand, conversion types might be Cart (when goods are placed in a shopping cart) and Sale (a completed purchase). For a SaaS company, the goal could be Subscription. Trackdesk has three default conversion types (Lead, Sale, and Free trial), which you can use as-is or customize.

The state of a conversion. A conversion in Approved status can be included in settlements; conversions in other statuses cannot.

All available statuses are listed below, with their names and codes:

The gross income generated by a specific conversion. Used to calculate affiliate payouts when payout is set to Percentage.

The total value of the purchase made by the end customer. Useful when revenue should include some overhead. For example, if you're an affiliate network that takes a share from the total order value before calculating affiliate payouts.

The amount you pay an affiliate for a given conversion. Can be calculated dynamically by percentage from revenue (for example, 10% of every order) or set as a fixed value (for example, $1 per registration).

The three values are independent: Sale amount is what the customer paid, Revenue is what you (the tenant) record as your gross take, and Payout is what you pay the affiliate. In most setups Revenue equals Sale amount, but networks that take a share before paying affiliates set Revenue lower than Sale amount.

The percentage of clicks that result in conversions. For example, 1 conversion from 10 clicks gives a conversion rate of 10%.

The amount left after payouts are subtracted from revenue.

The sum of revenue divided by the number of conversions.

The sum of revenue divided by the number of clicks.

The sum of payouts divided by the number of clicks.

The amount paid to parent affiliates on top of the affiliate payout for each successful conversion. See also: MLM (sub-affiliate, parent affiliate).

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A server-side time limit between a click and the conversion it would attribute to. If the conversion arrives after the limit, Trackdesk refuses to attribute it, even if the visitor's cookie is still valid. Configurable per tenant and per offer; leave blank for unlimited.

A unique identifier Trackdesk generates for every tracked click. The CID is the primary way conversions are tied back to the click (and therefore to the affiliate who drove it).

How long the tracking cookie stays in the visitor's browser. When it lapses, the browser drops the cookie and no further clicks from that visitor can be attributed via that cookie. Browser-side equivalent of attribution expiration.

A promotional code attached to an advertiser (revenue origin). When a customer uses the coupon, Trackdesk attributes the conversion to the affiliate the coupon belongs to. Useful when click tracking isn't possible (offline, podcast, influencer).

An optional URL extension that lets an affiliate target a specific page on the advertiser's landing page (for example, a product page) instead of the default landing URL. Subject to validation rules; see the Deep Link article for details.

Tracking mode where the affiliate's link goes straight to the advertiser's landing page; the click is recorded by a script on the page.

An identifier the advertiser supplies (instead of a Trackdesk-generated CID) to match a conversion to a click. Useful for server-to-server flows where the advertiser controls the click identifier on their side.

A URL configured on an offer that affiliates can send traffic to. Offers can have one or many; redirect-tracking offers can pick a landing page per visitor based on geo, OS, device, or language.

The human-readable identifier shown in the UI (for example, aff_a1b2c3). Distinct from the internal UUID used in URLs and APIs.

A conversion status reserved for conversions that fall outside the offer's quality thresholds (low conversion-to-click ratio, suspect traffic). See the Tracking Quality Control article for details.

Tracking mode where the affiliate's link points at a Trackdesk redirect domain. Trackdesk records the click and then redirects the visitor to the chosen landing page. Required for geo, OS, device, or language-based landing-page routing.

Trackdesk's internal name for the entity that revenue comes from. On a network-type tenant this maps one-to-one with an Advertiser; on a non-network tenant there's a single default revenue origin representing the tenant itself.

A redirect link that automatically picks the best landing page across multiple offers based on configurable rules. Distinct from offer-level redirect tracking.

Trackdesk's internal name for an affiliate's tracking identity (sometimes shown as source_id or "source public ID" in the UI/API). For everyday use it's interchangeable with "affiliate"; the distinction matters when reading API responses or activity log entries.

A unique URL generated for an affiliate to share. Encodes the offer, source (affiliate), and landing page; can optionally include a deep link, AffS parameters, and other context.

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The Enabled, Pending, or Disabled state of an affiliate (or advertiser) account. Controls whether the user can sign in. Distinct from Traffic status.

An entity designated as the origin of revenue for incoming traffic in the network variant of Trackdesk. In plain terms, the network's customer whose product is being promoted by affiliates.

Five custom parameters that advertisers can attach to a conversion (vs AffS, which the affiliate sets on a click). Use them to pass advertiser-side data (order tags, product categories, customer segments, and so on) into the conversion record for later reporting.

A user who generates traffic (clicks and conversions) for landing pages. Affiliates are assigned to a specific tenant (a single affiliate can be assigned to multiple tenants) and have their own dedicated platform view.

Admin roles. An affiliate manager handles a portfolio of affiliates; a super affiliate manager can also manage other managers.

An HTTP URL configured on an affiliate, an offer, or globally, that Trackdesk calls when a conversion's status changes (most often when it becomes Approved). The affiliate's tracking system receives the notification and can record the conversion in its own database. Useful for affiliates who run their own tracking software in addition to Trackdesk.

A grouping that defines how affiliates are paid. You can have one tier for all affiliates or define multiple tiers and move affiliates between them to adjust commission rates per group.

Five custom parameters that affiliates can attach to clicks. Use them to pass affiliate-side data, such as a click ID from the affiliate's own system, or the sub-source or origin of the traffic (for example, which social media platform). Other tracking platforms often call these parameters by similar names: sub1-5, aff_sub1-5, and so on.

An offer visibility mode where affiliates can see the offer but must request access before they can generate links for it. Sits between Public (everyone can run) and Private (admin assigns).

When a coupon code is used at checkout, the conversion is attributed to the affiliate the coupon belongs to, regardless of which affiliate (if any) drove the click.

An asset (image, video, code snippet, link) provided in an offer to help affiliates with promotion.

A user-defined notification triggered when a chosen metric crosses a threshold (for example, an email if conversion count drops 20% day-over-day).

In Trackdesk's referral feature, an MLM affiliate hierarchy lets one affiliate (the parent) earn commissions on conversions generated by another affiliate they recruited (the sub-affiliate). The parent's commission is paid on top of the sub-affiliate's payout.

A configuration that manages revenue and payouts on your affiliate platform. Offers support fixed and dynamic payouts, recurrence rules, country-specific payouts, creative assets, and more. Each offer can be treated as a campaign with its own conditions.

A rule in the Payout Builder that modifies revenue and/or payout for matching conversions. The user-facing name is "custom payout"; the internal/API name is "pricing adjustment". Worth knowing because activity-log entries use both.

A bulk record of payouts for a specific affiliate over a given timeframe. Once generated, it provides the total payout and commissions owed to the affiliate for approved conversions and commissions. Note that creating a settlement does not trigger payment by itself; payments must be processed separately, either manually or through the integrated automated payout feature.

A workspace or project on Trackdesk. The unique tenant ID generated during registration is used as an identifier for interacting with other systems and APIs.

Rules that automatically move affiliates between commission tiers based on their performance (for example, promote to Tier 2 after 50 approved conversions).

Separate from Account status. Controls whether Trackdesk records traffic (clicks and conversions) from the affiliate. An affiliate can be Enabled for login but have their Traffic status Disabled.

An integration that sends instant notifications from Trackdesk to other web applications whenever specific events occur.