Cookie Stuffing: What You Need to Know About Fraud in CPA Platforms

You’ve set up an affiliate program that seems to be working. But are you sure you’re attributing commissions to the right affiliates? Affiliate marketing
fraud is common. Toolbars, brand SEA, bad deduplication, or even non-existent and already paid orders—examples abound. But the number one fraud in affiliate marketing is cookie stuffing.

Cookie stuffing is the most common fraudulent practice that e-commerce businesses face when working with affiliate platforms. 

In this article, we explain everything you need to know about cookie stuffing: What is it? How do you identify it? How do you fix it? And most importantly, what benefits can you expect from an anti-fraud solution for your affiliate program?

What is cookie stuffing?

Cookie stuffing (or Cookie Dropping) is a fraudulent practice where third-party cookies are placed on a user’s browser without their knowledge or consent. It is particularly widespread in affiliate marketing and is used by fraudulent affiliates against advertisers who have already implemented affiliate programs, with the aim of attributing orders to claim illegitimate commissions. According to a study conducted by TrackAd among its clients in 2018, cookie stuffing represents over 60% of fraud in advertisers’ affiliate channels.

How does cookie stuffing work?

Cookie stuffing is quick to implement and operates on three principles:

• Inserting cookies without users’ knowledge
• Falsely attributing conversions (orders or leads)
• Generating fraudulent commissions.

Inserting cookies without users’ knowledge

The first step in cookie stuffing is the placement of the cookie. To do this, the fraudulent affiliate sets up malicious scripts that force the installation of tracking cookies on users’ browsers when they visit a website. Different methods can be used: JavaScript pop-ups, iFrame, Image, PHP script. Unfortunately, the user does not perceive the installation of these cookies.

Falsely attributing conversions (orders or leads)

The second step in cookie stuffing is falsely attributing conversions. When the user visits the site and completes a conversion action (either an order or a lead), the cookie attributes the conversion to the fraudulent affiliate, even though the user came from another marketing channel, whether paid or organic.

Generating fraudulent commissions

The third step in cookie stuffing is generating fraudulent commissions. Once the purchase is made and the order is falsely attributed, the order ID is sent to the affiliate platform partner, which requests status and commission from the advertiser before paying the fraudulent affiliate their commission.

Here is a scheme of the cookie stuffing process. 

Why is cookie stuffing a problem?

Cookie stuffing is problematic for advertisers who have set up affiliate programs for several reasons. It’s the most widespread fraud in affiliate marketing. The technical implementation of cookie placement takes only a few minutes, and it is very difficult to detect. Affiliate program statistics are skewed, preventing advertisers from making data-driven decisions. Now that you know what cookie stuffing is and why it’s problematic, it’s time to learn how to identify and fix it.

Cookie stuffing: how to identify and fix it?

Cookie stuffing is a subtle practice that is particularly hard to spot. To identify and remedy cookie stuffing in your affiliate program, you have two options:

• use the tools you already have to try to detect cookie stuffing;
• implement an anti-fraud solution to resolve it for good.

Manually detecting cookie stuffing

To manually detect cookie stuffing, you can rely on tools you’ve already implemented and try to spot anomalies. 

The best practice is to monitor your statistics and those of your affiliates and pay close attention to abnormal variations in:

• traffic
• bounce rate
• click-through rate
• conversion rate.

More concretely, you can spot cookie stuffing by comparing orders recorded by the e-commerce site with those captured by partner affiliate platforms, verifying their source, for example using an analytics solution. Be careful, though these tools only deduplicate orders based on the last click or last non-direct click. If the e-commerce site works with an affiliate platform with a post-click deduplication model, comparing orders with analytics solutions will be ineffective.

Overall, manually detecting cookie stuffing is labor-intensive and won’t guarantee the elimination of cookie stuffing from your affiliate channel. 

Identifying cookie stuffing with an anti-fraud solution

The best way to identify and eliminate cookie stuffing is by implementing an anti-fraud solution. But which solution should you choose?

A good anti-fraud solution to combat cookie stuffing should:

• Detect the presence of the affiliate platform in the conversion path
• Identify which interaction is the most recent if multiple affiliate platforms are present in the same conversion path
• Ensure that the winning click occurred within the pre-order period set with the affiliate platform (cookie time)

Furthermore, it’s recommended to have a detailed analysis of each affiliate’s traffic quality, an automatic arbitration tool, and a solution to block fraudulent affiliates.

Based on TrackAd’s experience with many large e-commerce sites, advertisers lose between 10% and 50% of their marketing budget spent on the Affiliate channel due to cookie stuffing.

It’s a good reason to address the issues of cookie stuffing, isn’t it? But what are the exact benefits?

Fixing cookie stuffing: what benefits can you expect?

Resolving cookie stuffing issues is essential for having an optimized and sustainable Affiliate channel. But what exactly are the benefits?

Here are 5 benefits of an affiliate program without cookie stuffing:

An optimized Affiliate budget

The first benefit of addressing cookie stuffing is optimizing the budget dedicated to the affiliate channel. Identifying cases of cookie stuffing allows you to save money on fraudulent orders and reinvest in campaigns and marketing channels that generate the best results. The outcome? Less wasted budget and more successful orders!

Better order authentication

Resolving cookie stuffing issues enables accurate authentication of orders within affiliate programs. Genuine and fraudulent orders are clearly identified, providing you with all the necessary data to reject commissions claimed by fraudulent affiliates.

Improved customer knowledge

Using anti-fraud tools to combat cookie stuffing provides more accurate conversion data. This means gaining a better understanding of the actual customer journey and identifying the most influential touchpoints in the customer’s decision-making process. These valuable insights help you personalize your affiliate strategies and enhance the customer experience!

A high-quality affiliate base

Fighting against cookie stuffing helps you build a high-quality affiliate base. It allows you to better track each affiliate’s performance, reward those who drive authentic orders, and ban fraudulent affiliates. More broadly, it helps you create a fair environment for your affiliates and fosters stronger relationships with them.

A sustainable affiliate channel

On a broader scale, eliminating cookie stuffing optimizes and ensures the sustainability of an affiliate program. By making data-driven decisions, you have everything you need to implement effective marketing strategies, manage your budgets, and choose your partners wisely and effectively.

Conclusion

Now you know what cookie stuffing is, how it works, and most importantly, why and how to get rid of it! If you suspect cookie stuffing in your affiliate programs, implement best practices and the right tools to remedy it quickly. Your channel, budget, and reputation will all benefit! To learn more, discover the anti-fraud solution that saves our clients 23% of their affiliate budget!

Cookie stuffing in 6 questions