Stand-down compliance checklist for publishers, brands, and AMs

Use this as an operating checklist

Stand-down rules only help if every side of the relationship knows what to do. Use the sections below for software publishers, brands / compliance, and account managers who sit between them.

Checklist for software publishers (extensions, cashback, coupon tools)

Before launch or network approval

• Map every network and brand signal you must detect (afsrc=1, platform cookies, proprietary flags)
• Implement stand-down before any UI prompt or tracking click can fire
• Enforce soft-click: no automatic affiliate click without a clear user action
• Document the stand-down window (session + minimum minutes)
• Get written approval where terms require it before deploying shopping software

In production

• QA with a prior-partner click path: extension stays silent, cookies untouched
• QA with no prior referral: normal prompts still work
• Monitor for regressions when browsers change cookie or query handling
• Never ship “workarounds” that hide or strip stand-down signals
• Train support so “why didn’t my cashback pop up?” answers cite stand-down honestly

If you fail a review

• Pause the offending behavior immediately
• Provide a technical write-up of detection and suppression logic
• Accept commission reverses or temporary suspension as part of remediation

Checklist for brands and program owners

Terms and setup

• Enable network stand-down / template terms where available
• State that software publishers need prior approval
• Ban cookie stuffing, auto-redirects, and checkout hijacks explicitly
• Define enforcement: reverse, reduce, suspend, remove

Partner onboarding

• Ask coupon / cashback / extension applicants how they detect stand-down signals
• Require a demo of silent mode after a content-publisher click
• Keep a short list of approved software partners and review them on a schedule

Ongoing

• Spot-check journeys from creators and content partners through checkout
• Investigate sudden last-click share shifts toward known extension IDs
• Respond quickly when a publisher reports stolen attribution

Checklist for affiliate account managers

Weekly hygiene

• Review top converters among software-style partners for anomalous last-click rates
• Compare content-driven sessions that later convert under an extension ID
• Confirm new software applicants completed a stand-down tech review

When a partner complains

• Capture timestamps, landing URLs (including query params), and network click IDs
• Reproduce with and without the suspected extension installed
• Escalate with evidence, not anecdotes

Education

• Send publishers to clear explainers on stand-down and soft-click (share this series)
• Remind media teams that “more coupons at checkout” is not free traffic if it steals earlier partners

Red flags that usually mean a violation

• Overlay appears on checkout even after a creator or content click with a stand-down parameter present
• Extension activates cashback with no user click
• Attribution regularly flips to a toolbar partner in the final seconds of the session
• Partner refuses to explain how they detect afsrc or equivalent signals

Bottom line

Stand-down is not optional courtesy between publishers — it is how the affiliate channel stays fair enough for content and software models to coexist. Publishers should ship detection first. Brands should write it into terms and enforce it. AMs should treat stolen last clicks as a compliance issue, not a performance quirk.