IAB Australia’s March 2025 update from their Affiliate & Partnership Marketing Working Group focuses on providing clear ways of working for advertisers, affiliates and partners, and the third parties supporting these partnerships. This IAB Australia resource, "Affiliate Marketing Commission Validation: Recommended Practices," zeros in on the importance of transparency and outlines best practices for ensuring advertisers pay for true results and affiliates are being rightly compensated.
Unclear expectations, inaccurate tracking, and even the risk of fraud undermine the potential of this channel. This guidance is designed to set affiliate programs up for success rather than impose restrictions. By fostering trust and collaboration, these IAB Australia recommendations aim to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders, ensuring sustainable growth and credibility within the affiliate marketing landscape. Ideal for both newcomers and seasoned advertisers, it is a must-read for anyone exploring and expanding their affiliate marketing efforts.
Key considerations include:
📣 Defining commissionable actions: Advertisers should explicitly define eligible transactions, excluded costs (GST and shipping), non-commissionable products, and other important details on affiliate sign-up pages.
📣 Best Practices on Attribution & De-Duplication: De-duplication impacts how orders are attributed in an affiliate program and ensures efficient payments and fair recognition of affiliate contributions.
📣 Managing Different Affiliate Types: Affiliate programs encompass a range of promotional methods beyond influencers and coupon codes. Each affiliate type requires clearly communicated policies and guidelines.
📣 Open & Proactive Communication: Affiliates are adaptable, but abrupt changes can negatively impact their efforts. Advertisers must be accessible and communicative to both affiliates and networks, fostering trust and collaboration.
📣 Future-Proofing with Mobile & App Tracking: Affiliate tracking must be seamlessly integrated into mobile sites and apps to ensure proper attribution. Implementing app tracking enhances the customer journey and boosts conversion rates. Failure to do so can result in untracked affiliate sales and limited performance.
Anyone can download the IAB Australia Affiliate Marketing Commission Validation Recommended Practices here
IAB Australia also offers a collection of other reports and guides for marketers new to affiliate marketing and those who would appreciate a refresher:
Affiliate & Partnership Marketing – Industry Review 2025
Affiliate Marketing Knowledge Series
Guide to Tracking Affiliate Partnerships
Navigating Affiliate Marketing Attribution in Google Analytics 4
“These IAB Australia recommendations come at a perfect time to explore what affiliate marketing looks like in 2025. Affiliate marketing has long since expanded beyond influencers and coupon codes. The advice in this guide sets a strong foundation of expectations and accountability for all parties involved, resulting in fruitful engagements that exceed everyone’s expectations.”
-Tina Trenkner-Meade, Head of Commerce for Omnicom Media Group NZ.
Tina is a member of the IAB New Zealand’s Retail & E-Commerce
Working Group.
Please note: IAB New Zealand receives no compensation for external links in this blog post. We offer these links to provide our members access to helpful resources.