Cookie dropping

Also known as: cookie stuffing

Cookie dropping (or cookie stuffing) is an unauthorized technique to generate revenue using affiliate marketing. Unlike legitimate uses of affiliate marketing, where affiliates work to get visitors interested in an advertiser's website or product, cookie dropping uses questionable techniques just to connect as many potential customers to their affiliate account as possible.

Often the visitor from the affiliate's website does not consciously click through to the advertiser's website. However, a cookie of the affiliate network is placed on his computer, which is linked to the account of the person applying cookie stuffing. Should the visitor later visit the advertiser's website on his own initiative and a conversion takes place, the applicable commission is still paid to the affiliate.

That the cookie is placed without conscious action by the visitor is the essence of cookie dropping. Various techniques are used for this purpose. Such as opening a pop-up or a frame with the advertiser's website when the visitor clicks on another link. Images, style sheets, JavaScript and Flash are also applied to have a cookie placed in the background.

By most networks, cookie dropping is actively combated. Since the affiliate does not perform any real performance to entice the visitor to convert, the advertiser is unnecessarily drained of advertising budget. Depending on the affiliate network 's attribution policy and cookie time, cookie stuffing can also come at the expense of other affiliates of the network who do play by the rules.

Cookie dropping is a form of affiliate fraud.