Approving & Rejecting Affiliates

Control who joins your affiliate program by reviewing and approving affiliate applications. This guide covers the approval workflow and best practices.

Affiliate Approval Modes

Automatic Approval (Default)

When you invite affiliates directly:

1. You send invitation
2. They accept
3. They’re immediately active

Best for: Trusted partners you’ve already vetted.

Manual Approval

For public signup programs:

1. Affiliate applies
2. Application pending review
3. You approve or reject
4. If approved, they become active

Enable in Settings → Campaigns → Require approval

Reviewing Applications

Application Queue

1. Go to Affiliates
2. Look for pending applications (badge shows count)
3. Click to review individual applications

Application Details

Review information like:

• Name and email
• Website/social profiles (if collected)
• Audience information
• Promotion methods
• Previous experience

Making a Decision

For each application:

• Approve: Affiliate becomes active
• Reject: Application denied
• Request More Info: Ask follow-up questions

Approval Criteria

Consider These Factors

Factor	Why It Matters
Audience fit	Will their audience buy your product?
Content quality	Does their content reflect well on you?
Traffic/reach	Can they drive meaningful volume?
Promotion methods	Are they ethical and brand-safe?
Experience	Have they done affiliate marketing before?

Red Flags

Watch out for:

• No website or very low traffic
• Spam-heavy promotion plans
• Questionable content
• Mismatched audience
• History of affiliate fraud

Communicating Decisions

Approval Message

When approving, affiliates receive:

• Confirmation email
• Access to their dashboard
• Instructions to get started

Rejection Message

When rejecting, consider:

• Being professional and courteous
• Providing a brief reason (optional)
• Suggesting improvements
• Leaving door open for future

Example:

“Thank you for your interest in our affiliate program. After reviewing your application, we don’t feel it’s the right fit at this time. We encourage you to apply again in the future if your platform evolves.”

Managing Active Affiliates

Disabling Affiliates

If an affiliate violates terms or underperforms:

1. Go to Affiliates → Active
2. Find the affiliate
3. Click menu (⋮) → Disable
4. Confirm the action

Disabled affiliates:

• Can’t earn new commissions
• Lose portal access
• Existing commissions honored
• Can be re-enabled later

Re-enabling Affiliates

To restore a disabled affiliate:

1. Go to Affiliates → Disabled
2. Find the affiliate
3. Click menu (⋮) → Enable

Fraud Prevention

Self-Referral Detection

Prevent affiliates from earning on their own purchases:

1. Go to Settings → Affiliate
2. Enable Self-referral detection
3. System blocks matching email addresses

Suspicious Activity

AffiliateBase flags potentially suspicious affiliates based on:

• Unusual click patterns
• High refund rates
• Geographic anomalies
• Device fingerprinting

Review flagged affiliates in Affiliates → Suspicious

Investigating Fraud

If you suspect fraud:

1. Review click and conversion data
2. Check IP addresses and locations
3. Look at customer quality (refund rates)
4. Compare to other affiliates’ patterns
5. Disable if confirmed

Affiliate States

State	Description	Actions Available
Active	Can earn commissions	Disable, edit
Disabled	Blocked from earning	Enable, delete
Suspicious	Flagged for review	Investigate, approve, disable
Pending	Awaiting approval	Approve, reject

Best Practices

Set Clear Terms

Before affiliates apply, communicate:

• Program rules and restrictions
• Prohibited promotion methods
• Brand guidelines
• Consequences of violations

Be Responsive

Review applications promptly:

• Within 24-48 hours ideal
• Sets professional tone
• Keeps motivated affiliates engaged

Document Decisions

Keep notes on why you rejected applicants:

• Helps with future applications
• Protects against disputes
• Improves consistency

Quality Over Quantity

Better to have fewer quality affiliates than many poor ones:

• Higher conversion rates
• Better brand representation
• Less fraud risk
• Easier management

Troubleshooting

Application Not Appearing

1. Verify public signup is enabled
2. Check spam filters
3. Confirm form submission succeeded

Can’t Disable Affiliate

1. Check you have admin permissions
2. Verify affiliate isn’t already disabled
3. Contact support if issues persist

Disabled Affiliate Still Earning

1. Changes may take minutes to propagate
2. In-progress sessions may complete
3. Verify disability status in dashboard

Next Steps

• Set up commission rates
• Configure affiliate tiers
• Learn about tracking attribution