An attribution window is the period after a click (or an impression) during which a subsequent conversion will still be credited to that click.
Definition
An attribution window is the period after a click (or an impression) during which a subsequent conversion will still be credited to that click. If the window is 30 days and a user clicks an affiliate link today, registers in three weeks and deposits in week four, the deposit is attributed to the affiliate; if the window were 7 days, it would not.
The window is set in the deal or the tracking platform and directly determines how much credit — and payout — a traffic source receives.
Different windows can apply to different events: a shorter window for the click-to-registration step and a longer one for registration-to-deposit, or separate windows for view-through versus click-through. There is no universally correct length; it is a negotiated trade-off between crediting genuine influence and not paying for conversions the source did little to cause.
In context
In iGaming, the gambling purchase decision is often not immediate — a user researches bonuses and reviews across several sessions over days or weeks before registering and depositing — so a very short attribution window systematically under-credits affiliates whose content influenced a decision that completed later. Affiliates negotiate the window as a key deal term, alongside the payout and the hold, and a hidden reduction from 30 days to 7 is economically equivalent to a payout cut.
The window interacts with the attribution model. Under last-click within a window, the affiliate whose link was clicked most recently before conversion wins; under first-click, the one who introduced the user.
Longer windows increase total attributed conversions but also increase overlap and disputes about which touch deserves credit. Practitioners align the window with the observed lag between click and conversion for the specific offer and GEO — measurable from cohort data — and document it precisely so reconciliation against the advertiser's numbers has a clear reference.
Worked example
An affiliate's cohort data shows the median time from first click to first deposit is 11 days, with a long tail to 40. On a 7-day window, about 35% of genuinely influenced deposits go unattributed. The affiliate negotiates a 30-day window, and its reported conversions — and payout — rise by roughly a third with no change in traffic.
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