Configuring affiliate network parameters

Affiliate parameters allow adment to identify which affiliate is responsible for a detected violation. Without them, adment still detects unauthorized ads on your branded keywords and shows you the advertiser name, so you already have a partial picture of who is behind the ad. With parameters configured, every detection that contains a tracked affiliate link also shows the affiliate tracking platform name and the affiliate ID directly in the table.

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What a parameter is

When an affiliate sends a user to your website through a tracking link, the URL contains a parameter that identifies who the affiliate is. A parameter is a piece of information attached to a URL after a question mark.

For example:

yourwebsite.com?referral_code=id123xyz

In this URL, referral_code is the parameter name and id123xyz is the affiliate's unique identifier. When a user arrives with this URL and makes a purchase, your tracking system reads the parameter and attributes the sale, and the resulting commission, to that affiliate.

Parameter names are not standardised. Affiliate tracking platforms each have their own defaults, and any program can use any parameter it likes to identify an affiliate, so this is always case by case. adment needs to know which parameter names your program uses so it can read them when it follows the redirect chain of a detected ad.

Where to configure parameters

Go to Settings, then click Affiliate parameters under the Brand Protection section. You will see a list of your currently configured parameters with two columns: Parameter and Affiliate tracking platform.

Adding a parameter

Click the empty row at the top of the list with the placeholder text aff_id and Tune. Enter the parameter name exactly as it appears in your affiliate tracking URLs in the left field. In the right field, enter the name of the affiliate tracking platform that uses this parameter. The platform name is optional but recommended. It helps adment label detections with the correct tracking platform so you immediately know where the affiliate ID comes from.

Click Add more to add additional rows for each parameter your program uses. When you are done, click Save Changes.

Common parameters by tracking platform

These are the most widely used affiliate parameters across major tracking platforms:

• aff_id : Tune
• irpid : Impact, one of the most common parameters you will see
• aff_c : Impact
• ps_partner_key : PartnerStack
• PID : often used for internal tracking programs
• referral and referral_code : common for internal referral programs

If your tracking platform is not listed above, check your platform dashboard or ask your account manager which URL parameter it uses for affiliate tracking.

What are UTM parameters

UTM parameters are a standardized set of tracking tags originally developed for Google Analytics. They are added to URLs to track where traffic comes from and are used across many marketing channels, not just affiliate programs.

The standard UTM parameters are:

• utm_source : identifies where the traffic came from, for example google, newsletter, or affiliate
• utm_medium : identifies the type of channel, for example cpc, email, or affiliate
• utm_campaign : identifies the specific campaign name
• utm_content : identifies which specific ad or link was clicked
• utm_term : identifies the keyword that triggered the ad

In the context of affiliate tracking, utm_medium is the most commonly used UTM parameter. Some programs use utm_medium=affiliate or utm_medium=partner to tag affiliate-driven traffic. If your program uses UTM parameters for affiliate attribution rather than a dedicated tracking platform parameter, add utm_medium or whichever UTM tag your program uses to your parameter list in adment.

How adment uses your parameters

When adment detects an ad on your branded keywords, it clicks the ad and follows the full redirect chain to the final destination URL. It then reads every parameter in that URL and checks them against your configured parameter list. If it finds a match, it extracts the affiliate ID value and displays it in the Affiliate ID column of the Ad Hijackers and Brand Bidders tables alongside the tracking platform name you configured.

This is what turns a detection from "someone is bidding on your brand" into "affiliate ID 12345 from PartnerStack is bidding on your brand", giving you a specific affiliate to contact.

Keeping your parameters up to date

If you start working with a new affiliate tracking platform or change how you track affiliates internally, remember to update your parameter configuration in adment. Detections that happen before a parameter is added will not retroactively show affiliate IDs. Only new detections going forward will benefit from the updated configuration.

You can also add affiliate ID values manually in the dashboard, which is useful for older detections or for cases where the affiliate is identified outside the tracking URL.