Affiliate
Forensics

Services

Investigation, prevention and recovery.

Use us for a one-off audit when something doesn’t add up, as a gatekeeper before you sign new partners, or as a standing investigative function your team can call on.

S-01Flagship engagement

Affiliate programme audit

A full forensic review of your affiliate channel. We look at every partner, every tracking touchpoint and a reconciled sample of orders to establish what your commission is actually buying, and where it’s leaking.

  • Partner-by-partner risk scoring
  • Cookie and click timing analysis
  • Redirect-chain and referrer tracing
  • Voucher and cashback overlap
  • Cross-channel deduplication review
  • Commission structure stress-test
  • Terms and compliance gap analysis
  • Quantified leakage by partner
Best for
Programmes that have never been independently audited, or where performance “feels too good”.
Typical duration
3–6 weeks
Deliverable
Findings report, partner risk ledger, evidence packs, debrief
S-02Targeted

Cookie stuffing & click hijacking investigation

When you suspect a specific partner, or a pattern you can’t explain, we run a focused investigation to prove or disprove it. We reproduce the behaviour in controlled environments and capture it frame by frame and request by request.

  • Hidden iframe, pixel and pop-under detection
  • Forced-redirect and auto-click capture
  • Browser extension and toolbar testing
  • Clickjacking and overlay analysis
  • Geo, device and time-cloaking checks
  • Brand-term PPC monitoring
Best for
A suspicious partner, a sudden spike, or a tip-off you need verified.
Typical duration
1–3 weeks
Deliverable
Evidence pack with recordings, captures and a written conclusion
S-03Technical

Retargeting & tag analysis

Your own website is part of the attack surface. We audit every third-party script that fires on your pages, especially retargeting, partner and affiliate tags, to find which ones are claiming credit, dropping cookies or sharing data they shouldn’t.

  • Full tag inventory per page type
  • Piggybacking and daisy-chained scripts
  • Affiliate pixels on non-affiliate traffic
  • Retargeting partners claiming organic sales
  • Tag manager governance review
  • Data leakage and consent exposure
Best for
Brands running several retargeting or “performance” partners alongside affiliates.
Typical duration
1–2 weeks
Deliverable
Tag map, risk findings, governance recommendations
S-04Preventive

Publisher due diligence

Vet partners before they’re approved, or before you move them to a higher commission tier. We check who they really are, where their traffic really comes from, and whether their history raises concerns.

  • Ownership and network footprint checks
  • Traffic source verification
  • Historic and linked-domain review
  • Sub-affiliate exposure
  • Content and disclosure compliance
  • Red-flag summary with recommendation
Best for
High-value partner approvals, tier upgrades and exclusive deals.
Typical duration
Days per partner
Deliverable
Partner dossier with approve / conditions / decline
S-05Analytical

Attribution reconstruction

Using your order, analytics and network data, we rebuild real customer journeys to show which commissions were incremental and which went to partners who appeared at the last moment.

  • Order-level journey reconstruction
  • Existing-customer and brand-search overlap
  • Click-to-conversion latency analysis
  • Last-click overwrite detection
  • Incrementality estimates by partner
  • Commission model recommendations
Best for
Finance and marketing leaders deciding how much the channel is really worth.
Typical duration
2–4 weeks
Deliverable
Attribution report and revised commission model
S-06Preventive

Programme design review

The cheapest fraud to deal with is the fraud your programme never allowed. Before you launch, relaunch or switch networks, we review your set-up the way an attacker would.

  • Programme terms and prohibited methods
  • Commission and tier structure
  • Cookie windows and validation periods
  • Deduplication across paid channels
  • Voucher code governance
  • Network selection and contract review
Best for
New programmes, network migrations and new-market launches.
Typical duration
1–2 weeks
Deliverable
Risk-rated recommendations and a revised terms draft
S-07Retainer

Ongoing monitoring

Fraud adapts. Partners that were clean last quarter change their methods. A monitoring retainer gives you recurring checks, alerts on new anomalies, and an investigator on call when something looks wrong.

  • Scheduled partner re-testing
  • Brand-bidding surveillance
  • Anomaly review on network data
  • New-partner screening
  • Monthly risk briefing
  • Priority investigation hours
Best for
Programmes after an initial audit, or with high partner churn.
Typical duration
Rolling, monthly or quarterly
Deliverable
Monthly briefing, alerts, on-call investigation
S-08Recovery

Dispute & clawback support

Finding fraud is only useful if you can act on it. We prepare evidence in the format your network expects, support you through reversal and dispute processes, and help you have the difficult conversation with the partner.

  • Network-ready evidence submissions
  • Commission reversal support
  • Partner conversation briefing
  • Expert written statements
  • Terms enforcement guidance
  • Post-dispute tracking fixes
Best for
Brands with evidence, or suspicion, that need to recover commission already paid.
Typical duration
Case by case
Deliverable
Submission packs and ongoing support

Common questions

Before you get in touch.

Do you need access to our affiliate network account?

Read-only access or exports are helpful but not essential to start. Much of our evidence capture happens externally, the way a real customer would encounter a partner. We’ll tell you exactly what data helps during scoping.

Will our partners know they’re being investigated?

No. Investigations are covert by default. Partners only become aware if you choose to act on the findings.

Do you work with a specific affiliate network?

We are network-agnostic and have no commercial relationship with any network or publisher. That independence is the point.

What if the audit finds nothing?

Then you have independent assurance that your programme is clean, which is worth having before a budget increase, a board review or a network renewal. Most audits also surface set-up and terms improvements even when partners are behaving well.

How is pricing structured?

Audits and investigations are scoped and quoted as fixed-fee engagements after an initial call. Monitoring is a monthly retainer. We’re happy to discuss performance-linked elements for larger programmes.

Not sure where to start?

Tell us what doesn’t add up.

A short, confidential call is usually enough to tell whether you need an audit, a targeted investigation, or nothing at all.

Request an audit →