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Referral Program

Applies to: Publishers · Optional feature — available when your network has it switched on

Invite people to the network and earn a commission on what they spend. Everything you need is on one page: your personal referral link, ready-made banners, and a running count of who you've referred and what it has earned.

What this is#

Publisher → Referral gives you a unique referral URL. Anyone who signs up through it is permanently linked to your account, and you earn a share of what they go on to spend. The page shows two figures — Referred Users and Total Earnings — and a set of Referral Banners in several languages and sizes that you can place on your own site.

Referral commission is credited as your referred advertisers make payments, so the number grows over time rather than at signup.

When you'll use this#

  • You have an audience of publishers or advertisers who'd find the network useful.
  • You write about ad tech, affiliate marketing or monetisation and want an income stream from it.
  • You want a banner on your site promoting the network alongside your ad zones.

Step by step#

  1. Open Referral from the publisher menu.
  2. Copy Your Referral URL with the copy button. It looks like https://yournetwork.example/signup?referral=12345 — the number is your account.
  3. Share it anywhere: your site, a blog post, a newsletter, a forum signature, a direct message.
  4. Anyone who completes signup on that link is credited to you.

Your referral URL and what it has brought in so far.

The link only credits you when the visitor signs up through it. Someone who reads your post, closes the tab and signs up directly a week later won't be attributed.

Use a referral banner#

  1. Scroll to Referral Banners.
  2. Pick a banner in the size and language that suits the page you'll put it on.
  3. Click Copy Code to copy its embed code.
  4. Paste that code into your site's HTML where the banner should appear.

The banner already carries your referral link, so clicks through it are credited to you automatically.

Track your results#

Figure What it counts
Referred Users Accounts that signed up through your link.
Total Earnings Commission earned so far from what those accounts have paid in.

Options reference#

Element What it is
Your Referral URL Your unique signup link. The trailing number is your account ID.
Copy Code Copies a banner's embed code to your clipboard.
Referral Banners Network-supplied creatives, listed by language and size.
Referred Users How many accounts you've brought in.
Total Earnings Your accumulated referral commission.

Referral earnings are paid out through the same route as your other publisher income — see Earnings & Payouts.

Example#

Turning an audience into referral income. Marta runs a blog about site monetisation.

  1. She opens Referral and copies her referral URL.
  2. She writes a post comparing ad networks and links to the network with her referral URL.
  3. For the sidebar she takes a 300×250 banner in English, copies the embed code, and drops it into her template.
  4. Over the next month five readers sign up. Referred Users shows 5.
  5. Total Earnings starts at zero and grows as those advertisers fund their accounts — because commission is booked on what they actually pay in, not on the signup itself.

Tips#

  • Put the link where intent is high. A referral link inside a post explaining why the network is useful converts far better than a bare banner.
  • Match the banner language to the page. The banner list is organised by language for exactly this reason.
  • Expect a delay. Referred Users moves at signup; Total Earnings only moves once those accounts spend.
  • Check the link you pasted. The ?referral= part is the whole mechanism — a link that lost its query string credits nobody.
  • Don't spam. Networks reverse commission on referrals that turn out to be fraudulent or self-referred.

Troubleshooting#

Symptom Likely cause Fix
"The referral program is not currently active" Referrals aren't enabled for your account or your network Ask your account manager
Someone signed up but isn't counted They didn't use your link, or the ?referral= parameter was stripped Test your own link in a private window and check the signup URL keeps the parameter
Referred Users went up but earnings are still zero Commission accrues on what referred accounts pay in, not on signup Give it time
"No referral banners available" Your network hasn't published banner creatives Use the referral URL directly, in your own creative
The banner shows nothing on my page The embed code was altered, or a script blocker is in the way Re-copy the code and paste it unchanged
I referred myself Self-referrals aren't credited Expected