A smartlink is a single affiliate tracking URL that sends each visitor to a different offer depending on who they are, typically based on country, device, operating system, browser, carrier or time of day. Instead of picking one offer per placement, the affiliate sends all traffic to the smartlink, and the network or tracker chooses the destination, usually optimizing toward the highest EPC.
How it works
When a click arrives, the routing engine reads the visitor's attributes (IP geolocation, user-agent, language), filters the offers that accept that profile and selects one. Selection can be rule-based, such as "Android users in Germany go to offer A", or automated, where the system tests offers and shifts traffic toward whichever earns most per click. Visitors who match no offer go to a fallback destination.
Example
A smartlink carrying the affiliate's ID and a sub-ID for the traffic source (illustrative URL):
https://track.example-network.com/smart?aff_id=4821&sub1=pushfeed_07
Example routing behind that link:
| Visitor | Destination |
|---|---|
| UK, Android | Mobile game install offer |
| BR, desktop | Finance lead-gen offer |
| US, iOS | VPN app trial offer |
| Any other geo | Fallback offer |
Why it matters
Smartlinks suit affiliates who buy broad, mixed traffic such as pop, push or social, where building a separate campaign per geo and device is impractical. They cut wasted clicks from unsupported geos and remove manual offer rotation.
The trade-offs are control and compliance. Affiliates do not choose which brand their audience sees, which can clash with ad-platform policies or their own content. Brands may receive traffic that was never aimed at their product, so they need clear rules on allowed sources and should monitor quality per sub-ID. For regulated offers such as gambling and finance, an affiliate who does not know which brand a visitor will land on cannot check that the promotion meets that brand's licensing and advertising rules.
Related: tracking link, EPC, country blocking, sub-ID.