First-Click Attribution

First-click attribution pays the affiliate who introduced the player, regardless of what they clicked later. It rewards demand creation — reviews, comparison content, community recommendations — over final-step interception.

Why it’s rare in practice

It requires recognizing the user at first touch and holding that identity for the whole journey, which cookie limits make fragile. Most programs approximate its intent differently: locking a player to the first registering affiliate for lifetime revenue share, while conversions themselves stay last-click. Know which model your agreement actually specifies before arguing about a stolen FTD.