A tracker beyond iGaming: nutra, finance, dating and e-commerce
Payout models, events and risks in different verticals, and what a tracker needs so a network can work in several at once.
Affiliate marketing has long gone beyond casinos. Networks and media buying teams send traffic to nutra, financial products, dating, apps and online stores, often at the same time. The mechanics are the same everywhere: a click, a target action, a postback, a payout. What differs is the payout model, the events and the risks.
Payout models by vertical
| Vertical | Common model | Target action |
|---|---|---|
| iGaming | CPA, RevShare, hybrid | First deposit, NGR |
| Nutra | CPA per confirmed order | Order confirmed by the call center |
| Finance | CPL, CPA | Application, approval, disbursement |
| Dating | CPL, CPS | Sign-up, subscription |
| Apps | CPI, CPA | Install, in-app action |
| E-commerce | CPS, % of sale | Paid order |
Nutra
The key is approval: the call center does not confirm every order, and partners can be paid only for confirmed ones. So you need a hold until confirmation and pending, approved and rejected statuses with a reason. Nutra partners watch the approval rate of every offer closely.
Finance
A long funnel: application, review, approval, disbursement. Advertisers often pay different amounts for different steps, and a decision can take days. You need several events per click and a hold that matches the bank's or lender's review time.
Dating
Advertisers pay for a sign-up or the first subscription payment. There is a lot of incentivized and bot traffic, so anti-fraud on duplicates and devices matters more here than anywhere else.
Apps
An install is only the start; advertisers increasingly pay for an in-app action. Events come from the MMP as postbacks, and the tracker should match them by click ID, not by device.
E-commerce
The payout is a percentage of the order amount, sometimes a fixed fee for the first purchase. You need a postback with the amount and handling of refunds: a cancelled order should cancel the commission too.
What the tracker should handle
- Different payout models in one network: CPA, CPL, CPI, CPS, RevShare and hybrid.
- Several events per click such as sign-up, order and deposit, each with its own rate.
- Hold and statuses with a rejection reason.
- Anti-fraud that does not depend on the vertical: duplicates, proxies, bots.
- Rates by GEO and by partner, because the same vertical costs differently in different countries.
If you are just launching a network, start with the step-by-step plan: it is the same for any vertical.