Cookie stuffing
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In short
Setting an affiliate's tracking cookie without the shopper clicking that affiliate's link, so it gets credit and commission for a sale it didn't refer.
What it means
Cookie stuffing means setting an affiliate's tracking cookie without the shopper clicking that affiliate's link. Under last-click attribution, the last cookie wins the commission. The classic method loads tracking invisibly. Rakuten Advertising's policy calls a hidden merchant page or 1×1 pixel deceptive and bans software forcing clicks.[Rakuten Advertising, Jul 2026] (opens the source) Software on the shopper's device can do it too, by opening an affiliate link in a background tab at a moment the shopper didn't choose. Two eBay affiliates were charged with wire fraud in separate 2010 cases.[Benjamin Edelman, Jul 2026] (opens the source)
On your store
A shopper comes to your store straight from your newsletter. At checkout, an app on their phone opens an affiliate link in the background, and the order is credited to that app.
Why it matters
Benjamin Edelman says merchants are the main payers: they pay commission on traffic they would have received anyway, and another publisher who referred the shopper can lose the credit.[Benjamin Edelman, Jul 2026] (opens the source) In July 2026 he alleged that a setting in the Phia shopping app fired affiliate links with no shopper action, mostly at the cart or checkout. In his tests it ran on iOS and stayed off for Chrome.[Benjamin Edelman, Jul 2026] (opens the source)
What Benson does
Attribution integrity flags orders where an extension's affiliate click landed after the shopper arrived from another referrer.
Sources
- 1Rakuten Advertising, “Affiliate Network Policies”, Jul 2026. rakutenadvertising.com (opens the source)
- 2Benjamin Edelman, “Forced Clicks and Stand-Down Violations by Shopping Plugin Phia”, Jul 2026. benedelman.org (opens the source)
Read next
Related terms
- Affiliate hijackingWhen an extension or publisher adds its own affiliate click late in a visit another partner referred, so the commission moves to it.
- Last-click attributionA crediting rule that gives the whole sale, and the whole commission, to the last affiliate whose link the shopper clicked before buying.
- Stand-downA rule that a coupon or cashback extension stays quiet when another affiliate already referred the shopper, so it doesn't take the commission.
- Attribution windowHow long after a shopper clicks an affiliate link an order can still be credited to that affiliate and earn it commission.
