Not every traffic source is right for every affiliate program. Some businesses want to limit where affiliates can promote their products, whether for brand safety, compliance reasons, or strategic focus. Blocking social media referrals lets you control exactly which platforms can generate tracked conversions.
Why Block Social Media Referrals?
There are several reasons you might want to restrict social media traffic:
- Brand control: Prevent your product from being promoted in contexts you can't monitor
- Compliance requirements: Some industries have restrictions on social media advertising
- Channel focus: Concentrate your program on content creators, bloggers, or email marketers instead
- Quality concerns: Social media traffic sometimes converts at lower rates or attracts lower-quality customers
How to Block Social Media Referrals
- Navigate to your Affiliate Program Settings
- Scroll to Tracking Settings
- Find Block Social Media and toggle the switch to On
- Select which platforms to block:
- Twitter/X
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Save your changes
How Platform Detection Works
When a visitor clicks an affiliate link, Affonso checks the referring URL to identify the traffic source. If the referrer matches a blocked platform, the referral is not tracked and no commission is generated.
The visitor can still access your site and make a purchase - they just won't be attributed to the affiliate.
Selective Blocking
You don't have to block all social media. Pick and choose based on your needs:
- Block TikTok only: If you're concerned about brand presentation on short-form video
- Block Facebook and Instagram: To prevent paid advertising through affiliate links
- Allow YouTube and LinkedIn: To focus on professional and long-form content creators
What Affiliates See
Blocked referrals simply don't appear in affiliate dashboards. Affiliates won't know their social media traffic is being filtered unless you communicate this policy.
Communicating Your Policy
Be transparent with affiliates about channel restrictions:
- Update your affiliate program terms to list prohibited channels
- Mention restrictions in your onboarding emails
- Explain the reasoning - affiliates are more likely to comply when they understand why
Best Practices
Start permissive: Only block channels that cause actual problems for your business.
Monitor before blocking: Review your referral sources to understand where traffic comes from before making restrictions.
Combine with positive guidance: Instead of just blocking channels, suggest where you want affiliates to focus their efforts.
Need help setting channel policies? Contact support for guidance on optimizing your affiliate program's traffic sources.
