How to create a capping?

A capping is a ceiling that limits a partner’s activity on one performance indicator: clicks, conversions, revenue or commissions. Once the ceiling is reached, conversions keep being recorded, but the publisher is no longer credited with commissions.

You set a capping on a specific partnership or on a group of publishers, for the duration and the period of your choice.

Where to find your program cappings

Capping has no menu of its own. It is a collapsible section inside your program configuration.

1. In the sidebar, open Manage programs, then click your program name.
2. Click Configuration.
3. At the top of the page, open the Commission Rules tab.
4. Expand the Capping section, below the sections dedicated to rules and groups.

MANAGE MY PROGRAMS

My program

Configuration

My affiliates

Medias

Clicks

Conversions

Payments

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Creating a capping step by step

Click New capping. A panel opens on the right and guides you field by field: each block appears only once the previous one is filled in.

1. Partnership: search for the partner or the group to cap. The list separates groups from partnerships, and only offers active partnerships.
2. Type of capping: pick the indicator to cap. The available choices depend on the rules applied to your target, see the table below.
3. Applied to the rule: select the rule concerned, or All rules. This field does not appear for a Clicks capping, which always covers every rule.
4. Capping: enter the ceiling. Only whole numbers are accepted, no decimals. For a monetary ceiling, also select the currency.
5. Period: Daily, Weekly, Monthly or All period.
6. Starting from and Ending at: the start date defaults to today and cannot be earlier. The end date is optional.
7. Tick Send notification to affiliates concerned if needed.
8. Click Create capping.

The panel used to edit an existing capping shows exactly the same fields, already filled in. It is the clearest way to get your bearings before creating your own.

The four capping types

If a type you expect is missing from the list, the target does not have the matching rule. Check the group rules first, or the partner’s custom rules.

What the period really counts

• Daily: the counter resets to zero every day.
• Weekly: the counter resets to zero every week.
• Monthly: the counter resets to zero every month.
• All period: the counter accumulates from the start date, with no reset.

Group capping and individual capping

You can cap a whole group, then cap one publisher inside it. The panel warns you: “This group capping takes priority over individual capping.”

Both ceilings must stay consistent. A red max or min note appears next to the Capping title to show the limit you must respect. Outside that limit, creation is refused.

What happens when the ceiling is reached

• The capping switches to the Reached status and its progress shows 100%.
• Conversions keep being recorded, but they no longer generate commissions for the publisher.
• In Conversions, those rows carry the Overcap label. To isolate them, open the extra filters of the page with the settings icon, then use the Capping: All filter.
• The detail of a conversion offers a See capping link that takes you back to the ceiling responsible.
• The status given to those conversions comes from your rule, through the Status of overcap conversions field (accepted, pending or refused).

Following your cappings day to day

The table in the Capping section lists every ceiling, the most active ones first. Four statuses are possible.

Three filters sit above the table: a free search, a Status filter and a Partnership / Group filter. The status filter does not offer cappings that have not started yet, so use the search to find them.

The icons at the end of each row let you edit or delete a capping. When editing, the target, the type and the rule are locked: only the amount, the currency, the period, the dates and the notification stay editable.

The emails sent around a capping

• On creation, if you tick Send notification to affiliates concerned, an email goes to every publisher targeted. Editing the capping triggers the same email.
• At 80% of the ceiling, Affilae alerts you, the advertiser, by email.
• At 100%, the alert goes to you and to the publishers concerned, whether the box was ticked or not.

The publisher also sees the ceiling in their own interface, from My partnerships then See my rates, with the current progress.

Why set a capping

• Hold your budget. You decide in advance the maximum amount of commissions a partner or a group can generate over a period.
• Test a new publisher safely. A low ceiling for the first weeks lets you assess traffic quality before opening up.
• Keep measuring. Conversions beyond the ceiling are still recorded on your side, so you keep seeing the real volume delivered.
• Split a shared budget. A group capping sets the global envelope, individual cappings share it out inside the group.

Best practices

• For a first capping, start with a Commissions ceiling on a Monthly period: it is the closest thing to a budget.
• Check the Progress mid period rather than at the end. You still have time to raise the ceiling if performance justifies it.
• Keep the Clicks capping for programs that pay per click, otherwise the ceiling does not protect your budget.
• A capping cannot start in the past. To cover a month already under way, create it today and account for what has already been generated.
• Document your ceilings for your publishers, in your program terms. Transparency is an argument when you recruit.

Use cases

• A fashion store testing a cashback site. It sets a Commissions capping of 300 EUR on a Monthly period for that single partner, with no end date. The ceiling renews every month until it is deleted.
• An advertiser framing their “Cashback” group. They first set a group capping at 2,000 EUR per month, then share it out with individual cappings inside. The panel reminds them of the remaining limit with the red note.
• A site limiting a cost per click partner. It creates a Clicks capping of 10,000 clicks on a Daily period. Beyond that, the day’s clicks are still tracked but no longer paid.

Related articles

• Commission Rules Configuration
• Create a publisher group
• Editing a publisher’s commission group
• Understanding conversion statuses
• How are clicks counted?