Tracking & Links

How Tracking Works

When a visitor clicks on a creative or link on your site, the following happens:

The cookie stores your PartnerID and links the click to a later purchase. As long as the cookie is valid, transactions are attributed to you — even if the customer orders days later.

Cookie Duration

The cookie duration (e.g. 30 days) is set by your affiliate manager. You can find the value under Program → Information in the "Overview" tab. The longer the cookie duration, the more time the customer has to place an order — and the higher your chance of earning a commission.

Last-Cookie-Wins

If a customer clicks through multiple partners, the last click counts (Last-Cookie-Wins). The newest cookie overwrites older ones. That's why it's important that your links and creatives are prominently placed.

Link Types

Depending on which tracking method your program uses, your partner links look different:

Standard Links (go.cgi)

The most common link type. On click, QUALITYCLICK redirects the visitor via go.cgi, sets the cookie and forwards to the target page:

https://partner.your-site.com/go.cgi?pid=27&wmid=22&cpid=1&target=default

You don't need to build this link yourself — it's provided ready-made when you copy the creative code or use the deeplink generator.

Anchor Links

For programs with anchor tracking, your links look like normal URLs with an anchor at the end:

https://www.shop.com/product.html#Q4S02C12

The anchor contains encoded tracking information:

• Q + number = Your PartnerID (encrypted)
• S + text = Your SubID (optional)
• C + number = The CreativeID

A JavaScript on the target page (getpid.js) reads the anchor and sets a first-party cookie. The advantage: the link looks organic to search engines and has no redirect.

Referrer Links

For programs with active referrer tracking, you can use simple links without a PartnerID:

https://www.shop.com/

Tracking works as follows: your visitor's browser automatically sends the URL of your page (the "referrer") to the shop. A script on the shop matches this URL against the domains stored in your partner account and attributes the click to you.

go.cgi — Parameter Reference

If you want to build your own links (e.g. for newsletters, social media or custom landing pages), use go.cgi with the following parameters:

Example: Building a Custom Deeplink

https://partner.your-site.com/go.cgi
  ?pid=27
  &wmid=cc
  &cpid=1
  &subid=newsletter_april
  &target=https://www.shop.com/offer.html

• wmid=cc means: no predefined click target, but a direct URL as target
• subid=newsletter_april marks the click for your SubID statistics

SubIDs — Your Own Analysis

SubIDs are freely chosen identifiers that let you distinguish your own traffic sources and analyze them in the SubID statistics.

Examples of useful SubIDs:

• header_banner / sidebar_widget / footer_link — Placement on your site
• newsletter_kw14 / facebook_april — Marketing channel and period
• compare_phones / review_laptop — Content context

SubID with Standard Tracking

Append the parameter &subid=YOUR_SUBID to the creative link:

https://partner.your-site.com/go.cgi
  ?pid=27&wmid=22&cpid=1&subid=top_banner&target=default

SubID with Anchor Tracking

Insert the SubID before the C, starting with S:

https://www.shop.com/product.html#Q4Stop_bannerC12

Nofollow

Some affiliate managers enable the nofollow attribute for your partner links. In this case, your creative codes contain the attribute rel="nofollow". This means search engines won't follow the link — it has no impact on tracking or your commission, but protects the shop from potential negative SEO effects from outgoing links.