The dominant attribution model in affiliate marketing, which credits the publisher whose affiliate link was clicked most recently before a purchase conversion. How it works: a buyer clicks an affiliate link from Publisher A on Day 1; on Day 8, the same buyer clicks an affiliate link from Publisher B (a coupon site); the buyer purchases on Day 8; Publisher B receives full commission attribution; Publisher A receives no credit despite potentially introducing the buyer to the brand. Why it's the default: last-click is simple to implement with standard cookie-based tracking; the last cookie written before purchase overwrites prior affiliate cookies (in single-cookie systems); it creates clear, unambiguous attribution with no commission splitting or conflict. Problems with last-click: systematically undervalues content publishers who introduce brands to buyers early in the purchase journey; systematically overvalues promotional publishers (coupon, cashback, deal sites) who intercept buyers at the checkout moment; creates perverse incentives for publishers to participate in last-click capture behavior (browser extensions, checkout page injection) rather than building genuine audience relationships. Alternatives: multi-touch attribution (distributes commission across all publishers who touched the buyer's journey); first-click attribution (credits the publisher who introduced the brand); position-based attribution (higher weight to first and last touch, lower weight to middle touches). Platform support: Impact Radius supports configurable multi-touch attribution models; most other networks default to last-click with limited configurability.
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