Affiliate Link
TL;DR – An affiliate link is a unique tracking URL assigned to a publisher that records clicks and attributes conversions — sales, leads, installs, or unique clicks — back to them so they earn a commission. It is the single most fundamental tool in affiliate marketing. Without an affiliate link, there is no tracking. Without tracking, there are no commissions. Every commission a publisher earns on Involve Asia starts with someone clicking their affiliate link.
What Is an Affiliate Link?
An affiliate link is a specially formatted URL that contains a publisher’s unique tracking identifier. When a user clicks the link, the tracking system records the click, identifies the publisher, and sets attribution data — a cookie or Click ID — on the user’s browser or the advertiser’s server. If the user completes a qualifying action within the attribution window, the conversion is credited to the publisher and a commission is recorded.
Affiliate links look like standard website URLs — but they contain additional parameters that make them trackable. These parameters are invisible to the end user but essential to the attribution process.
An affiliate link does three things simultaneously:
- Directs the user to the advertiser’s website or a specific page within it.
- Identifies the publisher whose link was clicked.
- Initiates tracking so that any qualifying action within the cookie period earns a commission.
What an Affiliate Link Looks Like
A standard affiliate link on Involve Asia contains several components embedded in the URL structure:
Example affiliate link structure:
https://invol.co/[publisher_id]/[offer_id]?url=[destination]&subid=[optional_tracking]
Breaking it down:
| Component | What It Does |
|---|---|
Base domain(invol.co) | Involve Asia’s tracking domain — all clicks route through this before reaching the advertiser |
| Publisher ID | Unique identifier for the publisher — links the click to their account |
| Offer ID | Identifies which advertiser offer the link belongs to |
| Destination URL | The page on the advertiser’s site the user will land on (for deeplinks) |
| SubID (optional) | A custom parameter the publisher adds to track which specific content piece, campaign, or channel drove the click |
When a user clicks the link, they are briefly routed through Involve Asia’s tracking server — which records the click and sets attribution data — before being redirected to the advertiser’s site. This happens in milliseconds and is invisible to the user.
Related Terms: Deeplink · Cookie Period · Conversion · Attribution Window · Affiliate Earnings
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