A referral period is the time frame agreed between an affiliate and a publisher in which cookies will stay on the user’s browser. This will help in configuring payouts and fees to the publishers. After the contract’s expiration, the advertiser will not need to pay the affiliate for referrals anymore.
The referral period varies across different affiliate marketing programs. It may be 60 days, 90 days, or 120 days for some depending on the contractual agreement between both parties.
The browser cookies track the affiliate’s referrals, which lasts for the duration of the referral period. If the referral period is 60 days, for instance, whoever the affiliate refers to must sign up within 60 days of the referral for it to be valid.
Also, suppose another affiliate sends the details of the same user to the advertiser’s website. In that case, their cookie will take the place of the first person (if the user is yet to sign up or purchase anything), and their referral period starts to count again.
So, affiliates get a commission on each referral for actions that the referral takes, such as signing up or purchasing a product, within the referral period.
