Affiliate ads on your brand terms
BrandGuardUpdated
An affiliate may receive credit for a sale after a branded search. That does not establish whether the affiliate caused the sale or whether its advertising breached your agreement.
On this page
Follow the route
- 01
Branded search
A shopper searches for your brand.
- 02
Affiliate route
An ad directs the shopper through a tracked referral.
- 03
Sale and attribution
A purchase may be credited to the affiliate.
Verify the relationship
A competing offer
The destination offers another business’s product.
Check the offer and owner.
A possible affiliate
The route includes tracking and leads to your website.
Confirm against partner records.
Review the programme
| Check | Evidence needed |
|---|---|
| Identity | Partner record and ownership of the advertising route. |
| Permission | The agreement in force, including brand-bidding and territory clauses. |
| Attribution | Referral, conversion and commission records for the same period. |
| Incrementality | A suitable comparison or test of sales with and without the affiliate exposure. |
| Response | Contractual process and legal review before withholding or recovering commission. |
Identity
- Evidence needed
- Partner record and ownership of the advertising route.
Permission
- Evidence needed
- The agreement in force, including brand-bidding and territory clauses.
Attribution
- Evidence needed
- Referral, conversion and commission records for the same period.
Incrementality
- Evidence needed
- A suitable comparison or test of sales with and without the affiliate exposure.
Response
- Evidence needed
- Contractual process and legal review before withholding or recovering commission.
Check at more than one time
Three moments in an illustrative day
09:00
Check: no ad
11:00
Ad appears between checks
13:00
Check: no ad
The two checks miss the appearance at 11:00.
Do not equate a tracking redirect with a Google policy breach. Review the destination, advertisement and programme rules separately.