How affiliate marketing works on Merkle Tree Affiliates

Updated 9/13/2026

The four-step flow

  1. Promote. You grab a tracking link for any active campaign in the network. Drop it in your blog, video description, Telegram channel, Twitter bio — wherever your audience is.
  2. Click. When somebody clicks that link, our tracker records the click with your affiliate ID, drops a cookie (length set per campaign), and redirects them to the advertiser.
  3. Convert. When that visitor signs up, deposits, or completes whatever event the advertiser pays on, we record the conversion and credit you the commission.
  4. Get paid. Conversions sit in pending during the holding period (set per campaign — typically a couple of weeks). Once approved, they move to your available balance. Once you cross the minimum payout, request a withdrawal — we send it via Stripe Connect, PayPal, Bank transfer or crypto.

Attribution: first-click vs last-click

Some advertisers pay the first affiliate who referred the user (loyalty-friendly). Others pay the last affiliate before conversion (works better for direct-response). The setting is per-campaign and visible to you before you promote.

Sub-IDs — track what is converting

Every tracking link supports 5 free-form sub-IDs (s1–s5). Use them to split-test creatives, traffic sources, landing pages, or channels. The reports filter by every sub-ID independently so you can A/B-test in production. See the affiliate guide on Building tracking links + using Sub-IDs for the full walk-through.

Multi-tier referrals

Refer another affiliate to the network and you earn a referral commission whenever they earn — plus a smaller bonus on anyone they refer. Exact rates are shown on your Referrals dashboard (they're set network-wide by the admin and updated from time to time).

Ready to start? Apply for an affiliate account.

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