ShareASale
Sets referral tracking cookies when visitors arrive via ShareASale affiliate links and fires conversion pixel events on merchant order confirmation pages. Captures click timestamps, referral sources, and transaction amounts to calculate and verify affiliate commissions within the ShareASale network.
Overview
ShareASale (now owned by Awin) is one of the largest affiliate marketing networks, connecting merchants with affiliate publishers who promote their products in exchange for commissions on referred sales. Its scripts set referral tracking cookies when visitors arrive through affiliate links and fire conversion pixels on order confirmation pages to attribute sales to the referring affiliate for commission calculation.
What This Script Does
ShareASale deploys scripts at two points in the customer journey:
- Referral cookie setting: When a visitor clicks an affiliate link, they pass through ShareASale's redirect (
shareasale.com/r.cfm), which sets a first-party cookie on the merchant's domain storing the affiliate ID, click timestamp, and campaign parameters. This cookie typically persists for 30-120 days depending on the merchant's program configuration. - Conversion pixel: On the order confirmation page, a tracking pixel fires to ShareASale's servers containing the transaction ID, order value, product details, and the cookie-stored affiliate ID. This attributes the sale to the referring affiliate.
- JavaScript tag: Some implementations use a JavaScript tag that provides additional tracking capabilities, including cross-device attribution and enhanced conversion validation.
- Data transmission: Transaction details (order value, product SKUs, coupon codes used) are transmitted to ShareASale/Awin for commission calculation and fraud detection.
Consent & Compliance
ShareASale falls under the marketing consent category. Affiliate tracking and conversion attribution are marketing activities that monitor and incentivize promotional referrals.
Under GDPR and ePrivacy, ShareASale's referral cookies require explicit opt-in consent. The persistent tracking cookies, cross-session attribution, and conversion pixel data collection constitute non-essential processing. The cookie persisting for 30-120 days is well beyond what the "strictly necessary" exemption covers. As part of the Awin network, ShareASale processes data under Awin's GDPR framework, but initial consent is still required.
Under CCPA/CPRA, the referral tracking data and transaction information shared with ShareASale constitute "sharing" personal information with a third party for advertising purposes.
Should You Block This Without Consent?
Yes. ShareASale scripts set persistent referral tracking cookies and fire conversion pixels that transmit transaction data to a third-party advertising network. Block all ShareASale scripts until the user grants marketing consent. Without consent, affiliate conversions are not tracked — consider server-side conversion postbacks as a consent-independent fallback.
Is ShareASale GDPR compliant?
ShareASale typically loads marketing trackers, which are not strictly necessary for your site to work. Under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, non-essential cookies and trackers must stay blocked until a visitor gives clear opt-in consent. So ShareASale can be fully GDPR compliant, but only if your site holds its scripts until consent is granted and lets visitors decline just as easily. Compliance depends on how your site loads ShareASale, not on ShareASale itself.
Consent Categories
Also Known As
Industries
Tracked Domains (1)
shareasale.comMarketingshareasale.com is a marketing domain operated by ShareASale, used to serve ads, build audiences, and measure ad conversions.
Cookies ShareASale Sets (1)
sas_aff_ShareASale affiliate-click attribution; suffix encodes the merchant ID.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Vendors
Manage consent for ShareASale
ConsentStack automatically detects and manages ShareASale trackers so your site stays compliant with global privacy regulations.