Affiliate Program Agreement

1. Definitions

In this Agreement, "Company" refers to Sentinel SERP; "Affiliate" refers to the individual or entity accepted into the Sentinel SERP Affiliate Program; "Referral" means a unique visitor who arrives at sentinelserp.com through the Affiliate’s unique referral link or coupon code and subsequently makes a qualifying purchase; "Commission" means the percentage-based payout owed to the Affiliate for each qualifying Referral; "Net Revenue" means the gross sale price minus taxes, refunds, chargebacks, and payment-processor fees.

2. Program Enrolment

• Participation in the Affiliate Program is by application only. Sentinel SERP reserves the right to accept or reject any application at its sole discretion without providing a reason.
• Applicants must provide accurate personal, business, and payout information. Submitting false or misleading information is grounds for immediate termination.
• Each individual or entity may hold only one affiliate account. Duplicate accounts will be merged or terminated at Sentinel SERP’s discretion.
• By submitting an application, the Affiliate agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement upon approval.

3. Referral Tracking & Attribution

• Referrals are tracked via a first-party browser cookie placed when a visitor clicks the Affiliate’s unique referral URL (sentinelserp.com/<affiliate-code>) or visits any page with the ?ref=<code> query parameter.
• The default cookie duration is 30 days. If a visitor clears cookies or uses a different browser or device, attribution may be lost; Sentinel SERP is not liable for missed attributions resulting from end-user behaviour.
• Referrals may also be attributed via the Affiliate’s coupon code when a customer applies it at checkout, regardless of cookie state.
• If a visitor has been referred by multiple Affiliates, the last valid referral (most recent cookie or coupon) receives credit.
• Sentinel SERP uses server-side tracking and reserves the right to invalidate any referral it reasonably determines to be fraudulent, self-referral, or otherwise non-genuine.

4. Commission Structure

• Affiliates earn a commission on each qualifying Referral based on their individually assigned commission rate, which is set by Sentinel SERP upon approval and may be adjusted at any time with 14 days’ written notice.
• The default commission rate is up to 20 % of Net Revenue per sale. Exact rates are displayed in the Affiliate Dashboard and may vary based on the Affiliate’s performance, traffic quality, and volume tier.
• Lifetime recurring commissions. The Affiliate Program operates on a lifetime recurring model: for subscription products, the Affiliate earns the commission on the initial sale and on every successful renewal payment the referred customer makes, for as long as that customer’s subscription remains active. No fixed expiry or renewal cap applies unless the Affiliate is explicitly placed on an alternative plan in the Affiliate Dashboard.
• Commission on actual transaction value. Each commission is calculated as the Affiliate’s percentage rate applied to the actual amount paid by the customer on each transaction, not the list price. If a customer renews at a discounted rate (promotional pricing, grandfathered plan, coupon, etc.), the commission for that renewal is calculated on the discounted amount.
• Partial refunds and full refunds. If a customer receives a partial refund within the refund window, the commission for that transaction is recalculated on the remaining net amount and any excess commission is clawed back. If a full refund, chargeback, or dispute occurs, the commission for that transaction is reversed in full.
• Sentinel SERP may offer promotional commission bonuses at its discretion. Any bonus terms will be communicated via email or the Affiliate Dashboard and are time-limited unless stated otherwise.

5. Prohibited Conduct

The following activities are strictly prohibited and will result in immediate termination, forfeiture of unpaid commissions, and potential legal action:

• Self-referral: Using your own affiliate link or coupon code to purchase products for personal use or for entities you control.
• Cookie stuffing: Forcing referral cookies through iframes, pop-ups, pop-unders, auto-redirects, browser extensions, or any other means that do not require a genuine, conscious click by the visitor.
• Paid search brand bidding: Bidding on "Sentinel SERP", "Sentinel SERP", or confusingly similar variations in any search engine advertising platform (Google Ads, Bing Ads, etc.) without prior written permission.
• Trademark misuse: Registering domain names, social media handles, or app store listings that contain or are confusingly similar to Sentinel SERP’s trademarks.
• Misleading claims: Making false, exaggerated, or unsubstantiated claims about Sentinel SERP’s products, pricing, performance guarantees, or endorsement status.
• Spam: Distributing referral links via unsolicited bulk email, SMS, push notifications, or messages on social platforms that violate the platform’s terms of service.
• Incentivised clicks: Offering monetary rewards, gift cards, contest entries, or other incentives solely for clicking a referral link (as opposed to genuinely recommending the product).
• Coupon abuse: Publishing affiliate coupon codes on third-party coupon aggregator sites (e.g. RetailMeNot, Honey, CouponBirds) without prior written approval.
• Malicious software: Distributing malware, adware, spyware, or any software that modifies a user’s browser behaviour to insert referral attribution.
• Illegal content: Promoting Sentinel SERP on websites or channels that contain pornographic, hateful, violent, or otherwise illegal or ethically objectionable content.

6. Payouts, 30-Day Hold & Clawback

• Earned commissions are displayed in the Affiliate Dashboard as two separate balances: Lifetime Earned (all commissions ever attributed, including those still on hold or later reversed) and Withdrawable Balance (the subset that has cleared the hold window and is available to withdraw).
• 30-day holdback. Every commission — both first-sale and recurring renewal commissions — enters a mandatory 30-day hold beginning on the date of the underlying customer payment. This hold exists to match the 30-day money-back guarantee Sentinel SERP extends to customers: if the customer requests a refund during the window, the related commission is reversed instead of paid out. Each renewal resets its own independent 30-day clock for the new commission generated by that renewal.
• Once a commission successfully clears the 30-day hold without being reversed, it automatically moves into the Withdrawable Balance and becomes available for payout.
• Clawback after clearance (rare). In the rare event that a chargeback, dispute, or bank-initiated reversal is raised after the 30-day hold has cleared and the commission has moved into the Withdrawable Balance or been paid out, Sentinel SERP will recover the corresponding commission as follows:
  • If the Affiliate still has sufficient wallet balance, the clawback amount is deducted directly from the wallet.
  • If the wallet balance is insufficient (e.g. the Affiliate has already withdrawn), the uncovered amount is recorded as an outstanding deficit against the Affiliate’s account and is automatically netted against the next commissions earned until fully settled. Deficits do not bear interest and are visible to the Affiliate in the dashboard.
  • Sentinel SERP may in its discretion invoice the Affiliate directly for a deficit that has remained uncleared for more than six months, or offset the deficit against any other balance Sentinel SERP owes the Affiliate.
• The minimum withdrawal threshold is $50.00 USD (or as displayed in the Affiliate Dashboard if a different amount has been set).
• Payouts are processed via the method selected by the Affiliate: PayPal or bank wire transfer. The Affiliate is responsible for any transaction fees charged by the receiving institution.
• Payout details (PayPal email or bank account) must be verified by Sentinel SERP before the first withdrawal is processed. Once verified, changes to payout details require a support request for re-verification to prevent fraud.
• Sentinel SERP processes withdrawal requests within 15 business days. Processing times may be extended during high-volume periods or when additional verification is required.
• Affiliates are solely responsible for reporting and paying any taxes owed on commissions earned. Sentinel SERP does not withhold taxes unless legally required by the Affiliate’s jurisdiction.

7. Intellectual Property & Branding

• Sentinel SERP grants the Affiliate a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use Sentinel SERP’s name, logo, and approved marketing materials solely for the purpose of promoting the Affiliate Program.
• The Affiliate must not modify, distort, or alter Sentinel SERP’s logos or branding. All use must comply with any brand guidelines provided.
• The Affiliate may create original content (blog posts, videos, reviews) that references Sentinel SERP, provided the content is truthful and clearly discloses the affiliate relationship as required by applicable law (see Section 8).
• The licence granted under this section terminates immediately upon the Affiliate’s removal from the program.

8. Disclosure & Compliance

• The Affiliate must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Endorsement Guides, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) CAP Code, and equivalent regulations in the Affiliate’s jurisdiction.
• The Affiliate must clearly and conspicuously disclose the affiliate relationship in every piece of content that contains affiliate links. A disclosure such as "This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you." placed before any affiliate link is generally acceptable.
• The Affiliate must comply with all applicable data protection laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) when collecting or processing visitor data in connection with the Affiliate Program.
• Failure to maintain proper disclosures may result in warnings, commission withholding, or termination.

9. Term & Termination

• This Agreement is effective upon the Affiliate’s acceptance into the program and continues until terminated by either party.
• Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time, for any reason, by providing written notice (email is sufficient).
• Sentinel SERP may terminate immediately without notice in the event of a material breach, including any violation of Section 5 (Prohibited Conduct).
• Upon termination:
  • All pending commissions within the 30-day hold period are forfeited if termination is due to a policy violation.
  • If the Affiliate terminates voluntarily or is terminated without cause, approved commissions above the minimum withdrawal threshold will be paid out within 30 days.
  • The Affiliate must immediately cease using Sentinel SERP’s branding, remove all affiliate links, and discontinue any representation of an ongoing relationship with Sentinel SERP.

10. Limitation of Liability

• Sentinel SERP provides the Affiliate Program on an "as-is" basis. Sentinel SERP makes no warranties regarding uptime, tracking accuracy, commission amounts, or conversion rates.
• In no event shall Sentinel SERP’s total liability to the Affiliate exceed the total commissions actually paid to the Affiliate in the 12 months preceding the claim.
• Sentinel SERP is not responsible for lost commissions due to cookie deletion, ad blockers, browser privacy settings, affiliate link cloaking failures, or network outages.
• The Affiliate agrees to indemnify and hold Sentinel SERP harmless from any claims arising from the Affiliate’s promotional activities, including but not limited to misleading advertising, trademark infringement, or data protection violations.

11. Modifications to This Agreement

Sentinel SERP reserves the right to modify this Agreement at any time. Material changes will be communicated via email to the address on file and/or posted in the Affiliate Dashboard at least 14 days before taking effect. Continued participation in the program after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. If the Affiliate does not agree with the changes, they may terminate participation as described in Section 9.

12. Governing Law & Disputes

• This Agreement is governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which Sentinel SERP is incorporated, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
• Any dispute arising under this Agreement shall first be attempted to be resolved through good-faith negotiation. If negotiation fails, disputes shall be submitted to binding arbitration under the rules of the relevant arbitration body in Sentinel SERP’s jurisdiction.
• Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent irreparable harm.

13. Contact

For questions about this Agreement or the Affiliate Program, contact us at [email protected] or through the support ticket system in your customer portal.