Glossary
Attribution, in plain terms
The concepts behind affiliate and conversion attribution, from App Store Server Notifications to server-to-server postbacks. Short, factual, and linked to the guides that put them to work.
Attribution
Conversion attribution
Conversion attribution is the practice of crediting a sale, install, or subscription to the marketing touchpoint that caused it, so you know which affiliate or channel actually drove revenue.
Affiliate attribution
Affiliate attribution is conversion attribution scoped to affiliates: it credits each sale or install to the specific affiliate whose link drove it, which is what a commission is calculated from.
App Store
App Store conversion tracking
App Store conversion tracking is the practice of tying an iOS app install or in-app purchase back to the marketing that drove it, using Apple's own server-side signals rather than device fingerprinting.
StoreKit 2 appAccountToken
The appAccountToken is a UUID your app attaches to a StoreKit 2 purchase. It appears in the signed transaction and in App Store Server Notifications, letting your server tie a purchase to a known user or affiliate without fingerprinting.
App Store Server Notifications v2
App Store Server Notifications v2 (ASSN v2) are signed, server-to-server messages from Apple about purchase and subscription lifecycle events. Each is a JWS payload delivered to a URL you configure in App Store Connect.
SKAdNetwork
SKAdNetwork is Apple's privacy-preserving framework for attributing app installs to ad campaigns. It reports aggregated, delayed conversions with no user-level or device-level data.
App Store Server Notification forwarding
Notification forwarding is how an App Store Server Notification v2 reaches Attribloom: your server relays Apple's signed payload to your Attribloom forwarding URL, HMAC-signed, so attribution can be confirmed from Apple's own event.
Subscription offer code
A subscription offer code is an Apple mechanism for giving a referred user a discounted introductory price, used as the redeemer reward while keeping the reward attached to subscribing rather than installing.
StoreKit sandbox vs production
StoreKit sandbox and production are Apple's two purchase environments. Sandbox and TestFlight purchases are always sandbox; a real App Store purchase is production. Attribution behaves differently in each, so tests must match the environment an app is registered for.
Shopify
Payouts
Commission hold period
A commission hold period is the time a confirmed commission waits before it becomes payable, so refunds and chargebacks can be caught before any money is paid out.
Commission clawback
A commission clawback reverses a previously credited commission when the underlying conversion is refunded, cancelled, or charged back, so an affiliate is only ever paid on sales that stick.
Double-entry ledger
A double-entry ledger records every commission, hold, payout, and clawback as balanced entries in integer minor units, so balances always reconcile and no money is created or lost by a rounding or duplicate error.
Compliance
FTC affiliate disclosure
FTC affiliate disclosure is the legal requirement that a material connection between an endorser and a brand, including affiliate commissions and AI-generated endorsements, be disclosed clearly to the audience.
Apple guideline 3.2.2
Apple App Review guideline 3.2.2 governs incentivized behavior. For referrals it means a reward may attach to a post-install action such as subscribing, but never to the install itself.
Links
Server-to-server postback
A server-to-server postback is a signed HTTP request your backend sends to an attribution platform when a conversion happens, instead of relying on a browser pixel. It is tamper-resistant and works where cookies do not.
Deferred deep link
A deferred deep link carries context, such as which affiliate referred a user, across an app install so the app can read it on first launch. It bridges the gap between a tap on a link and a fresh install.