The Hidden Cost of Outdated Tracking: Most brands think their affiliate programs are working just fine—as long as sales keep rolling in, why change anything? But what if your program is bleeding money without you even realizing it? By relying on last-click attribution, brands are ignoring critical revenue signals, misallocating commissions, and potentially driving away their most valuable affiliates.

If you’re only rewarding the last-clicked affiliate, you’re not seeing the full picture. And that’s costing you real revenue.

The Affiliate Industry’s Growing Reputation Crisis

The affiliate marketing industry is facing a serious reputation crisis, with shady tracking practices and unfair commission models coming under scrutiny. A prime example is the recent PayPal vs. Honey lawsuit, covered by The Wall Street Journal, which exposed how cashback and coupon extensions may be inflating commissions and misleading consumers. Cases like this highlight why brands need more transparency in their affiliate tracking.

Without multitouch attribution, brands risk falling into the same trap—paying out commissions to the wrong partners while missing the affiliates who actually drive conversions.

The Problem: Last-Click Attribution Rewards the Wrong Affiliates

Last-click attribution gives 100% credit to the last affiliate link clicked before a purchase. Sounds fair? Not really. Here’s what happens:

• An influencer writes an in-depth review, creating trust and awareness.
• A potential buyer clicks the influencer’s affiliate link but waits to purchase.
• Right before checkout, they search for a discount code and click on a coupon site.
• The sale happens—but the influencer gets nothing.

This means brands are overpaying coupon sites and underpaying real sales drivers like influencers, bloggers, and review sites. Worse, the affiliates who actually influence buyers will eventually stop promoting your brand if they don’t see fair compensation.

The Revenue You’re Leaving on the Table

If you’re still relying on last-click tracking, here’s what you’re missing:

• Wasted Commission Spend: You’re paying commissions to coupon sites for sales that would have happened anyway. Wouldn’t you rather invest that money in partners who actually drive demand?
• Losing Your Best Affiliates: Influencers, bloggers, and content creators won’t stick around if their contributions aren’t recognized. They’ll take their audience—and your potential customers—elsewhere.
• Misjudging Your True Sales Drivers: Without multi-touch attribution, you have no way of knowing which affiliates are truly generating new demand versus those who just show up at the last second.

The Solution: Multi-touch Attribution with ReferZone

Instead of giving all credit to the last affiliate, ReferZone’s multi-touch attribution tracks the full customer journey, ensuring commissions go to the affiliates who actually drive sales.

Here’s how ReferZone helps brands make smarter commission decisions:

Multi-touch Attribution: Track every touchpoint, from first-click awareness to final conversion, and distribute commissions accordingly.

Optimize Commission Spend: Stop overpaying coupon sites and start rewarding affiliates who bring in new customers.

Retain Top Affiliates: When influencers and bloggers see fair compensation, they’ll stay engaged and continue promoting your brand.

Customizable Commission Models: With ReferZone, brands have full control over how commissions are allocated—whether it’s first-click, multitouch, or a custom model tailored to your needs.

The Future of Affiliate Marketing is Smarter, Not Just Bigger

Brands that adopt multi-touch attribution aren’t just being fair to affiliates—they’re making data-driven decisions that improve profitability and strengthen long-term partnerships.

Don’t let outdated tracking hold your brand back. Sign up for ReferZone and start making every commission dollar count.