Rules for promotion
What is allowed, what is not, and what happens on a breach.
Merchants pay for customers you genuinely send them. The rules on this page come from the cli.gs terms of use and protect exactly that. They keep commissions honest for merchants and keep the network worth joining for publishers. Each programme can add its own rules on top, so always read its Terms as well.
In short:
- Promote only in the channels you stated in your application and the merchant approved.
- Label advertising. Don't use bots, self-referrals, cookie stuffing or spam.
- Say so in your application if you use paid traffic or bid on brand terms.
- On a breach you lose the commission. The merchant can revoke you, and cli.gs can suspend your account.
What you commit to
When you promote a programme, you agree to the following:
- Use the approved channels. Promote a programme only in the channels you stated in your application and the merchant approved. If you want to use a channel you did not state, clarify it with the merchant first.
- Label advertising. Mark advertising as such, for example with "ad" or "affiliate link". Unlabelled affiliate links are not allowed.
- Follow the programme's rules, especially bans on brand bidding, coupon sites or paid traffic.
- Obtain consent on your own pages. If you use cookies or similar technology there, getting your visitors' consent is up to you.
- Keep your data current. Your tax profile and Stripe account must be up to date. Without them we cannot pay you.
What is not allowed
The terms of use list these methods as prohibited in particular:
| Method | What it means |
|---|---|
| Automated clicks or conversions | Clicks or orders generated by bots or scripts. |
| Unapproved incentives | Rewarding people for clicking or buying, unless the merchant has allowed it. |
| Self-referral | Buying through your own link. |
| Cookie stuffing, hidden frames, automatic redirects | Triggering a click without a deliberate decision by the visitor. |
| Misrepresentation | Misleading claims about an offer, a price or the merchant. |
| Spam | Unsolicited mass messages. |
| Infringing the law | Breaking trademark, competition or data protection law. |
Brand bidding means bidding on the merchant's brand name in search ads. Many programmes forbid it. The application form asks about it directly ("I bid on brand terms"). If you do it, say so. The merchant then decides with full knowledge, and you avoid being banned later.
What cli.gs checks automatically
Some patterns are recognised automatically. They don't reject a conversion on their own. Instead they send it to a person for review:
- the click came from the publisher's own account,
- the click and the order came from the same IP address on the same day,
- the order followed the click faster than a real purchase takes,
- the click came from a crawler or headless browser, or was not counted,
- a browser pixel was fired from outside the programme's domains.
Bot clicks and click floods are also filtered out of your click statistics. See Statistics and conversions.
What happens on a breach
- No commission. Commissions from prohibited activity don't arise. Booked ones are reversed.
- The merchant can revoke you. Your link stops redirecting, and conversions from earlier clicks are no longer credited. You can see the status under Programs, tab Declined.
- cli.gs can suspend your account for breaches of the terms, suspected fraud or on official order. We state the reason where the law allows. During a suspension your links are inactive, and commissions and payouts are on hold. Once the matter is resolved, they continue or are unwound.
When in doubt
Clarify with the merchant before you try something the programme's terms don't cover. Keep their answer in writing. Honest details in your application are the best protection against a revoked link or a withheld payout later.