Definition

Deep link

A deep link is an affiliate link pointing to a specific page — a product, plan, or offer — rather than the merchant's homepage. Deep links convert dramatically better because visitors land on exactly what was recommended.

Networks implement deep links by embedding the destination in the tracking URL: Awin's ued parameter, Rakuten's murl, ShareASale's urllink, Webgains' wgtarget. That embedded destination is also the deep link's weakness — it dies whenever the target page does, independent of the program's health.