AWIN’s Conversion Protection Initiative: What It Means for Advertisers in 2025

AWIN has announced a significant update that could impact your affiliate marketing costs if you're not prepared.

From April 1st, 2025, AWIN will introduce a Conversion Protection Initiative (CPI) to combat conversion loss caused by ineffective tracking—especially among advertisers still relying on outdated browser-based methods.

What Is AWIN’s Conversion Protection Initiative?

In short, CPI is AWIN’s way of ensuring fair compensation for publishers when tracking fails on an advertiser’s site. When AWIN detects a conversion that wasn’t correctly attributed due to tracking limitations, the CPI kicks in, and AWIN covers the commission—but not for free.

This is where it gets important for advertisers.

If your site does not have S2S server-side tracking (also known as AWIN’s MasterTag with server-to-server integration) in place, you'll be charged an extra fee on top of your normal commission. AWIN is effectively disincentivising poor tracking setups, and rightly so—because missed conversions affect everyone in the performance chain.

How Much Could It Cost You?

AWIN will begin using modelled conversions to identify sales that would likely have been tracked correctly if server-side tracking had been in place. If your site lacks an approved server-to-server setup, these modelled conversions will trigger additional commission charges to your advertiser account—even if the sale wasn’t originally tracked.

Over time, these costs can add up significantly—especially for advertisers running large-scale affiliate campaigns without robust tracking in place.

What Should Advertisers Do Now?

To avoid these extra charges—and future-proof your affiliate setup—you need to:

• Implement server-side tracking before April 1st, 2025

• Ensure your setup is AWIN-approved

• Monitor your tracking accuracy and attribution health regularly

Need Help with Server-Side Tracking?

That’s where Shoplytics comes in.

We specialise in helping ecommerce businesses upgrade to modern, privacy-compliant tracking systems—including server-side integrations that meet AWIN’s standards.

Want to avoid unnecessary fees and maximise your affiliate ROI?

👉 Book a free, no-obligation call with our expert team today and let’s get your tracking sorted before the deadline hits.