Cookie window
Day 41: commission paid. Day 63: nothing.
A cookie window is how long a referral stays attributed after somebody clicks an affiliate link. Click on day one with a 60-day window and a purchase on day 41 still pays the affiliate; a purchase on day 63 does not. It is the single setting that decides how generous your attribution is.
- 60 days is Referly's default
- Set it in days, up to a year
- Typed coupons ignore the window
Try it
Sixty days, and the sale on day 41
Commission paid
Day 41 falls inside the 60-day window, so the referral is still attached and the affiliate earns.
| Purchase day | Inside 60 days | Commission |
|---|---|---|
| Day 3 | Yes | $19.80 |
| Day 21 | Yes | $19.80 |
| Day 41 | Yes | $19.80 |
| Day 63 | No | $0.00 |
How a cookie window works
One field in your program settings. In Referly it is called Cookie Duration, it takes a number of days, and the default is 60.
The click writes the referral
Stored in the browser with an expiry date, twice: a cookie and local storage.
The buyer takes their time
Reads reviews, closes the tab, comes back next week. The referral waits.
Checkout checks the clock
A live referral pays the affiliate. An expired one pays nobody.
How long should a cookie window be
Long enough to cover your real buying cycle. No longer. Then publish it and leave it alone.
Match the buying cycle
If customers decide in a week, 90 days just pays for sales that were coming anyway.
60 days clears most considered purchases
That is why it is the default for subscription products.
Affiliates compare windows
A conspicuously short one reads as a program that does not want to pay.
In Referly
One field decides who gets paid
Cookie Duration sits in your program settings with a 60-day default. Type a new number and every click from that moment carries the new window.
See how attribution is configuredWhat breaks attribution before the window expires
The window is a promise about time, not about people. It breaks when the browser holding it goes away.
Device switches
Research on a phone, buy on a laptop. The referral never crosses.
Cleared storage
Private browsing, cookie clears and tracking blockers all strip it.
The two fixes
Coupon codes travel in the buyer's head. Cross-domain tracking carries the referral across your own domains.
This platform is quite simple and easy to use, and you can start attracting people to your affiliate program very quickly. A big plus is that the founder, Ayo, is super responsive.
Ilfat KhayrullinFounder
Related terms
All ten termsLast-click attribution
The rule that pays the commission to the last tracked link a buyer used.
EPC (earnings per click)
Earnings per click: what one click on a partner's link is worth, on average.
Affiliate network vs affiliate program
A network is a marketplace that hosts many programs; an in-house program is only yours.
Recurring commission
Commission paid on every renewal a referred customer makes, not just the first.