Gathering Evidence to Share with Affiliates and Networks

when you find fraud (hijacking, fake voucher sites, or unauthorised extensions), you must share evidence with the affiliate directly or via your network this is the quickest way to stop the activity and reclaim commission this guide shows you what to gather and where to find it in marcode two types of situations 1\ direct publishers (easiest) who they are affiliates you work with directly, often found brand bidding what they need the evidence you've collected what happens they can take action immediately because they control the activity example a legitimate voucher site on your programme that started brand bidding without permission 2\ subnetworks or cashback platforms (more complex) who they are publishers who manage multiple sub publishers or users the challenge they need to identify which specific person in their network is responsible what they need every possible identifier marcode has extracted what happens they use the ids you provide to look up who it is in their system, then take action example a subnetwork like "shoplooks" where you can't see who the actual promoter is the critical issue missing affiliate ids sometimes fraudsters send traffic directly to your website using only a click id or site id , no traditional affiliate id visible why this is a problem you can't immediately identify who they are makes it much harder to identify creates extra steps in enforcement important they still get paid commission even using these minimal identifiers the solution go via your affiliate network they can look up the click id/site id in their system to identify the culprit marcode will capture the necessary details; it might just need this extra step what evidence to gather from marcode the evidence marcode collects is indisputable because it includes timestamped detections complete url redirect chains google tracking links tied to specific ad accounts screenshots of search results multiple detections over time for direct publishers (with affiliate ids) minimum evidence needed affiliate id advertiser name detection dates example ads for example the affiliate id and click id are present, and we know the referral url, which is the name of the publisher who is claiming to have sent the traffic for subnetworks/cashback (missing or unclear ids) share every identifier marcode extracted site id (rakuten) click id (awin/impact com) click ref (partnerize) sub id click ref (awin) affiliate id (if present) any other tracking parameters however, you may only have one of these, such as the click id, which means you can't directly identify the affiliate sometimes in the example below we just have a click id, this means we will have to go via the affiliate network we can tell from the utms that the hijacker is using topcashback, however partnerize (the affiliate network) will need to use the click ref to identify the user common cashback platforms include topcashback, quidco, honey, rakuten rewards (ebates), igraal and others where to find evidence in marcode step 1 navigate to the right report for hijacking go to hijacking affiliates tab for discount site fraud go to coupon affiliates tab for browser extensions go to extension report step 2 customise columns to show all ids you need to add columns to see all the identifiers extracted how to do this click the settings/columns button in the report (a gear icon) add relevant id columns for your networks affiliate id site id click id sub id click ref network specific parameters (cj data, kelkoo id, etc ) link to docid 26awqetet9yutabbuputd contains a full guide on customising columns step 3 export the evidence option 1 export to excel click the download button in the report includes all visible columns contains complete tracking urls includes detection timestamps option 2 view in interface all data visible in marcode can share screenshots useful for email communication step 4 access detailed ad analysis for each advertiser/affiliate, you can access complete redirect chain all urls in the path where each parameter was added final destination how to access click on the second tab in the resport (in this case hijacking affiliates) click on the example ad in the report view "ad click url chain" tab see the full analysis walktghrough below using evidence in email templates all these identifiers are available as dynamic fields in email templates link to docid\ r5wyslhqw78nhzuew mgi create templates with dynamic fields what to send to different recipients to direct publishers include their affiliate id advertiser name detection dates and frequency example ad copy optional full ad analysis template approach "we've detected ads from \[advertiser] using your affiliate id \[id] please review the attached evidence and confirm you'll stop immediately " to subnetworks or cashback platforms include both the subnetwork and your affilaite network and send the below all extracted ids (see step 2 above) advertiser name detection timeline note that affiliate id may be missing template approach "we've detected unauthorised activity from \[advertiser] based on our analysis, the following identifiers were used \[list all ids] please identify which user in your network is responsible and take appropriate action " via your affiliate network when to use this route affiliate ids are missing subnetwork is unresponsive you need network support what to provide all extracted ids exported excel file what they'll do look up the ids in their system identify the publisher facilitate enforcement timing usually resolved within 3 7 days, depending on the network common scenarios scenario 1 clear affiliate id present → contact publisher directly → share affiliate id + evidence → request immediate action scenario 2 only click id/site id available → gather all available ids from marcode → contact via your affiliate network → they'll identify the publisher scenario 3 subnetwork with affiliate id → contact subnetwork directly → provide affiliate id + all other ids → request they identify their sub publisher scenario 4 browser extension → check extension report → look for affiliate id or extension specific id (like kelkoo id) → follow same process based on what's available pro tips always export before you communicate having the raw data is crucial if there are disputes check multiple date ranges fraudsters may have been active longer than you think document everything keep records of what evidence you sent and when (this is why docid\ txyapmjoj0j4vn6wmwz80 are so powerful) follow up if no response subnetworks should respond within 5 business days use your network's leverage if direct contact fails, your affiliate network can apply more pressure next steps ready to take action? docid\ txyapmjoj0j4vn6wmwz80 use dynamic fields and templates to automate evidence sending when to warn vs ban decide your approach working with subnetworks detailed guidance docid\ nnvzhun b5wivmimobxx2 track your enforcement 💡 remember the more identifiers you provide, the faster the issue gets resolved always share every id marcode has extracted, even if some seem redundant subnetworks and networks need multiple data points to match their records