---
title: Identifying potential compliance risks
description: Identifying potential compliance risks
---

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1. [Commission Factory Help Centre](https://help.commissionfactory.com/?hsLang=en)
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3. [Compliance](https://help.commissionfactory.com/advertiser?hsLang=en#compliance)

# Identifying potential compliance risks

#### **2.1 Common compliance breaches**

Typical issues observed across affiliate programs include:

- Brand bidding (unauthorised paid search activity)
- Misuse of coupon codes
- Cookie stuffing or tracking manipulation
- Misleading or deceptive advertising
- Fraudulent transactions

##### **What is cookie stuffing?**

Cookie stuffing (also called cookie dropping) is when an affiliate places a tracking cookie on a user's browser without a genuine click or interaction. The affiliate then claims commission for any subsequent purchase, even though they played no real role in driving the sale.

**How to detect it:**

- Conversion rates from a specific affiliate are unusually high, especially with little or no referral traffic
- Transactions appear with no corresponding click data
- The referring URL shows no logical connection to your product or audience

**What to do:**

- Cross-check affiliate transaction data against click reports in the platform
- If you identify a pattern, gather evidence and submit a violation via the [Compliance Violation Tool](https://help.commissionfactory.com/how-to-use-the-in-platform-compliance-violation-tool-on-commission-factory?hsLang=en)
- Contact Commission Factory support or your account manager immediately if you suspect systematic fraud

 

#### **2.2 Indicators of suspicious activity**

The following signals should trigger an investigation:

- Unusually high conversion rates
- Sudden performance spikes
- Multiple identical transaction values
- High transaction volume from a single IP or timestamp
- Significant deviation from historical trends

Not all anomalies indicate fraud, but all should be reviewed.

 

#### **2.3 Paid search and brand bidding risk**

Paid search remains one of the most common compliance risks.

**What happens:** Affiliates bid on your brand terms and redirect traffic via affiliate tracking links.

**In practice:**

- Searching your brand shows ads promoting discounts or offers
- Affiliate ads appear above your official listings
- Traffic is routed through affiliate links before reaching your site

**Impact:**

- Increased paid search costs
- Loss of brand control
- Commission paid on existing demand

**Recommended actions:**

- Define a clear paid search policy in your T&Cs
- Regularly check branded search results
- Escalate unauthorised activity immediately

Brand bidding is often low-visibility but high-impact.

**Note:** Commission Factory uses automated monitoring tools to identify brand bidding activity across selected programs, particularly for high-risk or actively managed clients. Additional advertiser-side monitoring is recommended to ensure full visibility across all markets. This includes regularly searching core brand terms (including "brand + coupon/discount" variations), reviewing paid search results in your key markets, and checking whether ads redirect via affiliate tracking links. Monitoring tools can automate this process and flag violations for review.

##### **Monitoring tools for brand bidding detection**

Commission Factory's automated monitoring covers a range of programs. For additional coverage, especially across multiple markets, third-party tools can help you detect unauthorised paid search activity faster.

**What to look for in a monitoring tool:**

- Ability to monitor branded search terms across Google, Bing, and other engines
- Alerts for ads that redirect via affiliate tracking links
- Coverage across multiple geographic markets
- Scheduled or automated checks (daily or more frequently during peak periods)

**When you identify a breach through monitoring:**

- Capture a screenshot of the ad, including the visible URL
- Check whether the destination URL routes through an affiliate tracking link
- Note the search term, device, and market where the ad appeared
- Submit the evidence via the Compliance Violation Tool

Your Commission Factory account manager can advise on monitoring options suited to your program size and markets.

 

#### **2.4 Subnetwork and transparency risks**

Subnetworks can introduce scale but also reduce visibility.

**Key risks:**

- Limited insight into sub-affiliate activity
- Delayed response to compliance issues
- Difficulty tracing traffic sources

**In practice:**

- Strong performance with no clear attribution is a signal worth investigating
- Inability to identify which sub-affiliate drove a conversion

**Recommended actions:**

- Require transparency before approval
- Monitor subnetwork affiliates closely
- Remove affiliates that can't provide sufficient visibility

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