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Browser extension as an affiliate

Also called browser extension affiliate, cashback extension, coupon extension, toolbar affiliate, shopping extension.

Short answer

A browser extension as an affiliate is a browser add-on that finds discount codes or cashback and inserts its own affiliate click along the way. It typically activates on the store's basket or checkout page, after the customer has decided to buy.

Definition of Browser extension as an affiliate.

Technically, the extension is a program in the browser that can see which domain the customer is on. If it recognises a store it has an agreement with, a box appears – often promising to try discount codes automatically. If the customer clicks the box, an affiliate click is made and the customer gets a new click ID, which under last-click attribution replaces whatever was there before.

For the customer the value is real enough: discount codes found and cashback paid out afterwards. For the store there is also an argument – the customer does not have to leave the checkout page to hunt for codes on their own, and some of the baskets that would otherwise have been abandoned are completed.

The conflict is about incrementality and about order. The extension comes last in the journey, after the ad, the review or the search result has created the demand. Under last click it therefore gets the commission, while the channel that created the customer gets nothing. That is not fraud in itself, but it is why many stores address the channel in their program terms.

How a store assesses a browser extension

Four questions settle it. When is the click inserted – before the customer has added to basket, or on the checkout page? Does the click require an active action from the customer, or does it happen by itself? Can the traffic be separated out in reporting from the store's other affiliates? And does the customer actually get a discount, or is a box simply shown that found nothing?

The answers point to a term that can be followed. Some stores allow the channel at a lower rate, others only outside campaign periods, others not at all. The decision belongs in the program terms, where the affiliate can read it in advance.

How it goes wrong

  • 01

    The click happens without any action from the customer

    An extension that opens an affiliate click in the background without the customer having pressed anything is doing cookie stuffing. That does not change because the action is wrapped in a box about discount codes.

  • 02

    The store only measures the last click

    If only the last click is measured, a channel activated on the checkout page will always look like the most effective one. Without a test that switches the channel off for a period, the budget moves the wrong way.

  • 03

    Codes that do not exist

    A box promises to try discount codes, runs through 12 expired ones and inserts its click anyway. The customer got no discount, the store paid commission, and the affiliate who actually sent the customer got nothing.

At Affilyflow

Browser extension as an affiliate in practice

Affilyflow has one attribution model: the click ID the conversion carries. A click inserted late in the journey therefore replaces an earlier click in exactly the same way as any other click. There is no partial crediting and no alternative model that can be switched on to split the commission differently.

If a store does not want that kind of traffic, the way to handle it is to write it in the program terms and block the affiliate if it happens anyway. A blocked affiliate cannot earn commission, whichever way the sale comes in, because the block sits in the database and not in the user interface.

Frequently asked questions

How does a discount code extension make money?

By being an affiliate. If the customer uses the extension on a store's site, an affiliate click is made, and if the customer then buys, a commission is triggered for the extension's owner. With cashback, part of the commission is shared with the customer, and the rest is the earnings.

Do browser extensions steal commission from other affiliates?

Under last-click attribution the most recent click gets the commission, and an extension activated on the checkout page typically comes last. If the click results from the customer pressing something, it is an ordinary click – whether the channel is allowed at all is decided by the program terms. If the click happens without the customer's action, it is cookie stuffing.

Can a store ban browser extensions in its affiliate program?

Yes. The store states its position in the program terms, and if an affiliate breaches it, the affiliate can be blocked. Enforcement is manual: a click from an extension looks like an ordinary click in the tracking and cannot automatically be told apart from one.

Is a cashback extension the same as a cashback site?

No. A cashback site requires the customer to start with them and click through to the store from there. A cashback extension sits in the browser and is activated when the customer is already inside the store. The difference means everything for where in the customer journey the click lands, and therefore for who gets the commission.

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