How to read offer terms: hold, caps, traffic requirements

An offer card is a contract in shorthand. A webmaster who reads only the payout signs a contract without looking at the terms — and then is surprised by the hold, rejected leads and a blocked source. Let’s break down what the key lines of an offer actually mean and how to read them before launch, not after.

The payout is not the price of the question

The payout is the amount for a confirmed action, not for a lead. Two key caveats change everything: the action must be confirmed (approval), and it’s the advertiser who confirms it, by their own criteria. So comparing offers by the raw payout is a mistake: an offer with a lower payout but stable approval and lenient requirements is often more profitable than an “expensive” one with strict terms.

Hold: when the money becomes yours

A hold is the period during which the advertiser checks traffic quality. As a rule, most Shakes offers have no hold; there is a conditional hold for new partners lasting 3-4 weeks, which can be lifted at the manager’s discretion.

Caps: the ceiling nobody talks about

A cap is a limit on leads per period: per offer, per GEO, sometimes per specific webmaster. The practical meaning is simple: once you exceed the cap, you’re pouring traffic into nowhere — leads above the limit may not be paid. Before scaling, always check the current cap with your manager, especially on popular offers where the limit gets taken fast.

Traffic requirements: where it gets subtle

The “sources and restrictions” section is the most underestimated one. The standard set of restrictions: no brand traffic, no incent, no cashback schemes, no doorways, no misleading creatives. But the devil is in the details:

• “social traffic allowed” doesn’t mean “any social traffic allowed” — clarify the formats;
• creatives that promise something the landing page doesn’t deliver are a common reason leads get rejected;
• violating the requirements means not only unpaid leads, but also a risk to your account.

Pre-launch checklist

1. Payout and target action — what exactly you’re paid for.
2. Hold — depends on how long you’ve been working with the affiliate network.
3. Cap — is there a limit, and is it enough for your volume.
4. Sources — is yours allowed, and in what format.
5. Creative restrictions — what you can’t promise.
6. GEO — does your traffic match the accepted regions. If the offer card has no answer for any of these points — that’s not a trifle, it’s a question for your manager. At Shakes, managers are responsible for making sure the terms are clear before launch: bring the offer you’ve got your eye on and go through it against this checklist together — it takes ten minutes and saves your test budget.