Affiliate programs and cookies

Sales don't track without cookies?

[proboscis]

I'm a member of a major affiliate program and they have just told me that sales made to people who do not have cookies enabled will not be tracked.

Is this a common practice and can they track sales without cookies?

How many people actually disable cookies anyway, if it is very few then this isn't something to worry about...still over the years it could add up.

[SanDiego Art]

That is pretty much the only way it can be tracked, like most all other online marketing tactics. In order for the sale to count, it must be made from a) the same computer b) the same browser c) before cookies are deleted or expires.

When a user clicks your add, they are cookied with your affiliate code. Upon checkout, the merchant checks for your code and gives credit. If there is no cookie, then no credit is given to the affiliate and they assume it was a sale from an incoming link, search engine, blog, etc.

[proboscis]

Got it, thanks SanDiego Art.

[Chuck Hamrick]

You can also use first party cookies set by the server and session cookies. It depends on the affiliate tracking system you use.