Conversion hold: why you need it and how to choose the period
Why an affiliate network does not pay instantly, how hold protects your margin and how to explain it to partners without disputes.
Hold is the period during which a conversion waits for approval and stays out of the partner's payable balance. For a network it is the main protection against losses: the advertiser may reject part of the traffic after review, and by then the money would already be gone.
Why you cannot pay instantly
Advertisers do not review traffic instantly. In iGaming, for example, they need time to see whether the player is real, met the baseline and has no duplicate accounts. If the network pays the partner before that decision, every rejection comes out of its margin.
Conversion statuses
| Status | Meaning | What the partner sees |
|---|---|---|
| Hold | Waiting for review | In stats, not in balance |
| Approved | Confirmed by the advertiser | Amount moves to the balance |
| Rejected | Traffic not accepted | In stats, with the reason |
How to choose the hold period
Start from the advertiser's review period: your hold should not be shorter. Then consider:
- partner history: new partners usually get a longer hold, trusted ones a shorter one;
- offer and geo: more fraud means longer review;
- payout model: RevShare follows the advertiser's settlement period.
How to talk about hold with partners
Disputes come from confusion, not from hold itself. State the hold period in the offer description, show the status of every conversion and always give the rejection reason. A partner who sees “rejected: duplicate device” argues far less than one who just sees a lower number.
Hold and anti-fraud
Hold gives you time; anti-fraud gives you grounds for a decision. Send suspicious conversions to review, not to payout. See the article on fraud types.