Quick answer: This iGaming affiliate glossary explains the terms casino and sports betting affiliates meet every day: deal types (CPA, RevShare, Hybrid), revenue terms (GGR, NGR, negative carryover), player terms (FTD, qualified player, LTV), tracking terms (click ID, postback, S2S) and traffic and compliance terms (GEO, brand bidding, self-exclusion).
I'm Rihards, founder of Seven Affiliates, and I've spent five years in iGaming. Every term below is one you'll see in an affiliate agreement, a dashboard or a manager's email, usually all three before lunch.
Affiliate marketing has its own language. Let's call it Affiliatish. [Opens tiny phrasebook. Drops it.]
It's mostly acronyms, it changes every year, and fluent speakers throw it around at conferences to watch newcomers nod bravely. By the end of this page, you'll nod because you actually understand.
Deal and commission terms
These decide how you get paid, so they're the words to learn first. The core three are defined almost word for word in Gambling.com Group's annual filing, which is about as official as affiliate vocabulary gets.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| CPA (cost per acquisition) | "A single cash payment for each referred player that satisfies certain agreed upon criteria" |
| RevShare (revenue share) | "A percentage of the NGR produced by a pool of referred players" |
| Hybrid | "A combination of revenue share and CPA per referred player", usually a smaller CPA plus a smaller RevShare |
| Baseline | The minimum a player must deposit (or wager) before a CPA is paid |
| CPA cap | The maximum number of CPA players a program will pay for in a period |
| Tiered RevShare | A RevShare percentage that rises as your monthly volume or revenue grows |
| Sub-affiliate commission | What you earn on affiliates you refer to a program |
If you only learn one row, learn the CPA one, specifically the words "agreed upon criteria". That's where most arguments between affiliates and programs live. Our guide to CPA vs RevShare goes deeper, and it has more jokes than a glossary is technically allowed.
Revenue terms
If you're on RevShare, these decide how big the number is before your percentage touches it. Spoiler: smaller than you'd like.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| GGR (gross gaming revenue) | Roughly what players lost: stakes minus winnings |
| NGR (net gaming revenue) | GGR minus deductions such as bonuses, chargebacks and payment fees. iRev says it's "typically 15–25% lower than GGR" |
| Admin fee | A deduction some programs take from revenue before calculating RevShare |
| Negative carryover | When a losing month's negative balance is "carried into the next period and set against future earnings" (Blask) |
| Lifetime RevShare | RevShare paid for as long as a player keeps playing, rather than for a fixed period |
Negative carryover is the one to ask about before you sign. One lucky player can eat next month's commission, like a houseguest who also eats the leftovers you were saving. In Affiliatish, this is called "a learning experience".
Player terms
These describe the people you send and what they're worth. Operators think in players. Affiliates think in players and whether they'll pay rent.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Registration (reg) | A player who signed up but may not have deposited |
| FTD (first-time deposit) | A player's first deposit, and the main signal most campaigns are judged on |
| NDC (new depositing customer) | Another name for a player who has made a first deposit |
| Qualified player | A player who has met the CPA criteria, such as the baseline |
| LTV (lifetime value) | What a player is worth over their whole time with the operator |
| Churn | Players who stop playing |
| VIP | A high-value player. In a 2024 study, the top 1% of British online gaming accounts produced 41.64% of operator net revenue |
That VIP number is why RevShare fans get misty-eyed.
On CPA, a VIP pays you the same as a player who deposited once and wandered off. On RevShare, you share in what they generate. [Wipes eye. Blames allergies.]
Tracking terms
This is the plumbing. Nobody finds it exciting until it leaks, and then it's the only thing anyone talks about for a week.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Click ID | A unique ID your tracker gives each click, so conversions can be matched back to it |
| Sub ID | A field in your tracking link where you pass the click ID or your own labels |
| Postback | "A URL that one server calls to notify another server that a conversion happened" (AnyTrack) |
| S2S (server-to-server) | Tracking where the program's server reports conversions directly, instead of a browser pixel |
| Pixel | A small piece of code that fires from the player's browser and depends on cookies |
| EPC (earnings per click) | Your total commission divided by total clicks over a period |
| CPC and CPM | What you pay per click, and per thousand impressions, when buying traffic |
Two of our guides cover this properly: how to set up a postback URL, and why you should scale only when EPC exceeds CPC. Read them in that order, ideally with coffee, possibly with a small biscuit.
Traffic terms
These describe where your players come from and what you're allowed to do to find them.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| GEO | The country (or region) you're targeting |
| Tier 1, 2, 3 | Ad-industry groupings of countries by wealth and competition. There's no official list |
| Brand bidding | Buying search ads on a brand's name, usually banned by casino programs without permission |
| TM+ | "Bidding on keywords that combine a brand's name with additional search terms" (PaidMediaAffiliates) |
| Direct linking | Sending ad clicks straight to the operator's site instead of your own page |
| Incrementality | Whether a click or player would have happened without you |
For the full picture, see our guides to tier 1 countries and brand bidding rules. Fluent Affiliatish speakers can say "TM+ incrementality on tier 1 GEOs" without laughing. Please don't become one of them.
Compliance terms
These are the words regulators use, and regulators are not known for their sense of humour, so this section keeps its jokes to a minimum. [Tiptoes.]
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Self-exclusion | When a player blocks themselves from gambling. Marketing to them is a breach |
| GAMSTOP | A free UK service that lets people "Block yourself from online gambling" across sites and apps (GAMSTOP) |
| KYC (know your customer) | The identity checks operators run on players |
| Wagering requirement | How many times a bonus must be played through before it can be withdrawn. In Great Britain it's capped at 10x from 19 January 2026 (Gambling Commission) |
| Significant conditions | The key terms of an offer that must be shown clearly in an ad |
| Licensed operator | A gambling company authorised by the regulator in that market |
Our guide to compliance rules for gambling affiliates covers these market by market, with the actual rule text quoted. It's the least funny page on our blog, and I mean that as a compliment to it.
Sports betting terms
If you promote sportsbooks, add these to your Affiliatish. They mostly describe how much people bet and how much the sportsbook keeps.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Handle | The total amount wagered |
| Hold | The share of handle the sportsbook keeps as revenue |
| Vig (or juice) | The sportsbook's built-in margin in the odds |
| Odds formats | Decimal, fractional and American ways of showing the same odds |
Handle and hold explain why sportsbook RevShare can swing month to month. When the favourites all win, the sportsbook has a bad weekend, and so does your RevShare. Football fans call this "a great weekend". Affiliates on RevShare call it something shorter.
How these terms work at Seven Affiliates
We're building a curated network of private iGaming offers for casino and sports betting affiliates. In Affiliatish, our standard terms read like this:
| Term | At Seven Affiliates |
|---|---|
| Deal types | CPA, RevShare and Hybrid |
| RevShare basis | NGR, 35% by default |
| Negative carryover | None |
| Brand bidding | Not allowed unless the specific offer explicitly allows it |
| Tracking | Real-time, in your dashboard |
Offer-specific terms are agreed privately with your account manager. If a word in your agreement isn't on this page, ask. Nobody minds, and it's much cheaper than finding out the hard way.
FAQ
What does FTD mean in affiliate marketing?
FTD stands for first-time deposit: a referred player's first deposit with the operator. It's the main conversion most casino and betting campaigns are measured on.
What is the difference between GGR and NGR?
GGR is gross gaming revenue, roughly what players lost. NGR is net gaming revenue, which is GGR minus deductions such as bonuses, chargebacks and payment fees. RevShare is usually calculated on NGR.
What is negative carryover?
Negative carryover means a negative monthly balance is carried into the next period and set against your future earnings. Some programs use it, some cap it, and some, including Seven Affiliates, don't use it.
What is a hybrid deal?
A hybrid deal combines a CPA payment with a revenue share on the same players, usually a smaller CPA plus a smaller percentage than either deal on its own.
What is a GEO in affiliate marketing?
A GEO is the country or region you target with your traffic. Your GEO affects what players are worth, what traffic costs, and which rules apply.
Fluent in Affiliatish now? See how the Seven Affiliates iGaming affiliate program works, then apply here.