Examples

Affiliate.txt usage examples

All names and terms below are fictional. The examples show how one public record helps participants make decisions and investigate disputes.

Example 01

Online store

The store works with content sites, cashback services and loyalty programs, while prohibiting brand bidding.

shop.example/.well-known/affiliate.txt

version: 0.1
program: North Shop Partners
website: https://shop.example
contact: [email protected]
updated: 2026-09-17
policy: https://shop.example/partner-rules
disputes: https://shop.example/partner-appeal

[offer retail]
status: active
landing: https://shop.example
payout: 7% confirmed order
cookie: 30d
allowed: content, cashback, loyalty
forbidden: brand-bidding, cookie-stuffing,
  forced-redirect, misleading-creative
assets: https://shop.example/partner-assets

Example 02

Financial offer

The product supports content and comparison traffic, with explicit disclosure and geography requirements.

bank.example/.well-known/affiliate.txt

version: 0.1
program: Example Bank Affiliate
website: https://bank.example
contact: [email protected]
updated: 2026-09-14
policy: https://bank.example/affiliate/policy

[offer debit-card]
status: active
landing: https://bank.example/card
payout: fixed per approved card
geo: RU
allowed: content, comparison
required: ad-label, risk-disclosure
forbidden: brand-bidding, incentive,
  prefilled-application, false-approval-claim

Example 03

A rule changes

The advertiser bans a new traffic source. The publisher and network see the date, while anti-fraud can verify whether the rule existed when the event occurred.

The advertiser updates the file

updated: 2026-09-17 and adds toolbar-traffic to prohibited sources.

Tools detect the change

The network alerts connected partners and the publisher pauses that traffic source.

The dispute uses a version

An earlier event is checked against the previous version. A new rule is not applied retroactively.

Scenario

A publisher chooses an offer

A cashback service wants to connect a store. Instead of registering in several networks just to inspect terms, it finds the official affiliate.txt and compares traffic rules, attribution and contacts.

The network dashboard remains the place for onboarding and settlement, while its copied rules can be checked against the advertiser's public source.

What remains open

Questions for the next version

Partner IDs

How can IDs across networks be linked without exposing unnecessary data or enabling abuse?

Version history

Is a changelog link enough, or should every published version have an immutable archive?

Evidence

How can evidence remain verifiable without turning the format into an unsubstantiated blacklist?

Your example

Suggest an example

Describe a situation where a rule was missing, outdated or interpreted differently by the parties.

How to contribute