Adult Affiliate Marketing Glossary

Adult affiliate marketing has its own vocabulary — revshare, PPS, EPC, rebills, FHGs, subIDs, cascade billing. If you are new to the niche, the jargon can obscure decisions that directly affect your earnings. This glossary defines every term used across our guides and the FAQ. When a guide uses a term you don't recognize, it links back here.

Affiliate commission

The fee or commission rate paid to an affiliate for a completed action — typically a sale, signup, or lead. In adult affiliate programs, this is usually a percentage of the membership price.

Affiliate cookie

The length of time a referred visitor's actions are attributed to the affiliate who sent them. glowDOLLARS uses a 14-day cookie: if a visitor signs up within 14 days of clicking your link, you earn the commission.

Affiliate referral (second-tier)

A second-tier commission paid on the earnings of webmasters you refer to a program. glowDOLLARS pays 5% of a referred affiliate's signup and rebill earnings, for as long as they earn.

Cascade billing

A billing flow that passes a member through multiple payment processors in sequence, trying each until one approves the transaction. Used to maximize approval rates on high-risk transactions.

Conversion rate

The percentage of referred visitors who complete the desired action (usually a signup or sale). A 2% conversion rate means 2 out of every 100 clicks result in a signup. Conversion rate is one of the four numbers that determine affiliate earnings.

Deep link

An affiliate link that points to a specific page on a paysite (a scene, model, or join page) rather than the homepage. Deep links convert better because they match the visitor's intent more precisely.

EPC (earnings per click)

Earnings per click. The total commission earned divided by the number of clicks sent. EPC lets you compare traffic sources on a like-for-like basis, accounting for both conversion rate and payout. A source with a lower conversion rate but higher retention can have a higher EPC.

FHG (free hosted gallery)

A free hosted gallery — a pre-built promotional page provided by the affiliate program, hosted on their infrastructure, that an affiliate can link directly to. FHGs save you the effort of building your own landing pages.

Lead

A request by a visitor for information or assistance, often used as a conversion metric. In adult affiliate contexts, a lead is usually a signup or a pre-signup action.

Member lifetime (retention)

The time a referred member keeps their subscription active before cancelling. Longer member lifetime means more rebill commissions for the affiliate. Exclusive, high-quality content drives longer retention.

Minimum payout

The lowest earnings balance that triggers a payout. If a month's earnings fall below the minimum, the balance rolls over to the next period. glowDOLLARS rolls over sub-minimum balances so nothing is lost.

Paxum

A payment platform widely used in the adult industry for cross-border affiliate payouts. An alternative to traditional bank transfers for affiliates in regions where direct banking is difficult.

PPS (pay per sale)

Pay per sale. A payout model where the affiliate earns a flat fee for each signup, regardless of whether the member renews. PPS is predictable but caps the affiliate's upside — there is no recurring income. Compare to revshare.

Revshare (revenue share)

Revenue share. A payout model where the affiliate earns a percentage of every transaction for the lifetime of the referred member — including recurring rebills. glowDOLLARS pays 50% on first signups and 40% on lifetime rebills under revshare.

Rebill

A recurring charge to a member for renewing their subscription. Each rebill pays the affiliate the rebill commission (40% at glowDOLLARS). Stacked over time, rebills become a compounding income stream.

Shaving

The deliberate suppression or non-counting of legitimate affiliate conversions by a program, so the affiliate earns less than they are owed. A serious red flag; reputable programs do not shave.

SubID

A tracking identifier appended to an affiliate link to distinguish different placements (e.g. a specific banner on a specific page). SubIDs let you measure which placements convert and reinvest in the winners.

Trailer (promo video)

A short promotional video (usually 1-3 minutes) provided by the program for affiliates to embed on tube sites and social platforms. Motion content typically out-converts static banners for adult traffic.

Wise (formerly TransferWise)

A money-transfer service used for international affiliate payouts, often cheaper and faster than traditional bank wires for cross-border payments.