How attribution actually works

Key takeaway: Cookies are the default attribution. But ad-blockers and Safari aggressively kill cookies — so we have three back-up paths. None of them is foolproof, all of them help you.

Path 1 — the cookie (default)

Every visit to foan.me/r/<your-code> or any URL with ?ref=<your-code> or ?aff=<your-code> sets a cookie called foan_ref on the visitor's browser. The cookie sticks for 90 days.

When that visitor signs up, the signup endpoint reads the cookie and writes an affiliate_referrals row crediting you.

Pros: automatic, real-time, requires no action. Cons: ad-blockers, Safari ITP, private mode all reduce cookie persistence.

Path 2 — server-side click logging

Independent of cookies, every /r/<your-code> visit writes a row in our affiliate_clicks table. Even if the visitor's browser blocks cookies, we know they clicked.

The "Clicks" stat on your dashboard reads from this. Doesn't help with attribution directly, but it tells you whether your link's getting traffic.

Path 3 — manual claim (for edge cases)

If a customer signs up via direct typing (no cookie) but tells you "I came through your recommendation," email us at affiliates@foan.me with:

• The customer's email
• A timestamp of when you spoke to them
• Any DM/email thread proving the conversation

If we can corroborate (matching demo run on their domain via your link, etc.), we'll attribute manually. We've never refused a reasonable claim — we'd rather pay you than not pay you.

Path 4 — demo lead attribution (new)

Even anonymous demo runs count if they came through your link. When a prospect runs the demo on their own site after clicking your /r/<your-code>/demo/<their-domain> link, we tag the demo session with your code. If they sign up later (on any device), we cross-reference and credit you.

This is recently shipped. Some early sign-ups before this change won't show under the new "Leads" stat — those still count for "Signups" if the cookie made it.

Multi-affiliate tiebreaker

If a prospect clicks two affiliate links in 90 days:

• The most recent click wins.
• This is industry standard ("last-touch attribution").
• We're considering first-touch as an option for future affiliates, but for now: last-touch.

Refunds and clawback

If the referred customer cancels in their first 30 days and gets a refund, the commission gets clawed back from your balance. After 30 days, refunds don't claw back — the commission you've already accrued stays yours.

This happens automatically. If you want to know which referrals clawed back, check the affiliate_referrals list — they'll show status churned.

What you can see

Your dashboard shows every referral's status:

• signup — they signed up but haven't paid yet.
• trial — they're on a trial. (We don't run trials right now but the field exists for future.)
• converted — they're a paying customer. You're earning commission.
• churned — they cancelled. No more commission from this user.

You can email any of these users only if you know them — never use the dashboard as a contact list. Foan customers are paying us, not you.

Privacy note

We never share customer email addresses with affiliates without consent. If you see c***@example.com in your referrals list, that's intentional — only the affiliate who actually got this person to sign up should be able to see who they are. (You'll see your own referrals' emails in full.)

How to verify your link is tracking

Two-minute test:

1. Open a private/incognito browser window.
2. Visit foan.me/r/<your-code>.
3. Sign up for a Starter plan (cancel before payment if testing).
4. Check the affiliate_referrals list in your dashboard. You should see a row with your test email.
5. (Bonus) check the click count went up by 1.

If something looks off, email affiliates@foan.me with the timestamps. We'll dig in.

When to email the team

• "My referral isn't showing up after they signed up" — yes, email us. Send the timestamps.
• "My click count looks low" — possibly real (your link's not getting traffic), possibly an ad-blocker issue. Email us so we can correlate against server logs.
• "My commission rate looks wrong" — definitely email. Your rate is fixed at 20% unless we explicitly negotiated something else.