Zen Rewards: Cashback Reminder (browser extension) Policy version 1.0 for extension version 0.1.0 Date: October 20, 2026 Publisher: Zen Rewards (myzenrewards.com), contact [email protected]

This page is the public description of how the extension avoids interfering with other affiliate publishers' tracking. It is written for affiliate network compliance teams (Awin, CJ Affiliate, Impact, Rakuten Advertising), for advertisers, and for members who want to know what the extension does. It is linked from the Zen Rewards publisher profile on each network.

1. Principle

The extension never activates cashback on its own. The only thing that creates a Zen Rewards click is a member clicking "Activate cashback". Before the extension offers that button on a store page, it checks whether the member arrived there through another affiliate link. If there is any sign of that, the extension stands down for the whole visit.

One rule set applies to every store, regardless of which network the store belongs to. An Awin signal makes the extension stand down on a CJ store, and so on. This is stricter than any single network requires, and it is deliberate: the extension does not try to work out which network a store uses before deciding to step back.

2. Signals checked

The check runs when a tab finishes loading a page whose domain matches a Zen Rewards partner store. It looks at two things: the landing page URL and the page's document.referrer.

2a. URL query parameters

If any of these parameters is present in the landing URL, the extension stands down. The check is on the parameter name (case-insensitive); the value does not matter unless shown.

Parameter	Network	Meaning
afsrc=1	Awin (also honoured by CJ)	Affiliate source flag
awc	Awin	Awin click reference
awin	Awin	Awin tracking parameter
sv1	Awin	Awin tracking parameter
cjevent	CJ Affiliate	CJ click event ID
cjdata	CJ Affiliate	CJ tracking data
irclickid	Impact	Impact click ID
irgwc	Impact	Impact tracking parameter
ranSiteID	Rakuten Advertising	Rakuten publisher site ID
ranEAID	Rakuten Advertising	Rakuten encrypted affiliate ID
ranMID	Rakuten Advertising	Rakuten merchant ID

2b. Referrer domains

If the page's referrer is on any of these domains, or a subdomain of them, the extension stands down. This catches redirects through a network's click server, including an Awin1 redirect.

Domain	Network
awin1.com	Awin
zenaps.com	Awin
anrdoezrs.net	CJ Affiliate
jdoqocy.com	CJ Affiliate
tkqlhce.com	CJ Affiliate
kqzyfj.com	CJ Affiliate
dpbolvw.net	CJ Affiliate
emjcd.com	CJ Affiliate
dotomi.com	CJ Affiliate
sjv.io	Impact
pxf.io	Impact
evyy.net	Impact
7eer.net	Impact
ojrq.net	Impact
linksynergy.com	Rakuten Advertising

The list in the source file is the authoritative one and includes further network domains. Networks may ask us to add domains at any time; see section 9 for how to request that.

2c. What is not checked, and why

The extension does not read cookies. It has no cookie permission. So it cannot look for a network cookie such as Rakuten's lsclick_mid. Instead it stands down on the Rakuten URL parameters and on any linksynergy.com referrer, which are set on the same click that would set that cookie. Rakuten's compliance team was told this in the testing request.

The referrer is only available when the store page sends one. If a browser or site strips the referrer and the landing URL carries no parameters, the extension cannot see the prior click. That is a limit of any extension that does not read cookies. Members are told to start from myzenrewards.com to be sure (section 7).

3. Behaviour under stand-down

When any signal in section 2 is found, for that tab and that visit:

• No reminder card is injected on the page.

• No content script runs beyond the one-line referrer report used to make this decision.

• The toolbar icon turns grey with no badge.

• "Activate cashback" is disabled in the popup.

• The popup explains why, with this text:

  Cashback for this visit is already being tracked by another source, so Zen Rewards has stepped back. To earn Zen Rewards cashback next time, start from myzenrewards.com or click Activate before you open the store.

Stand-down lasts for the visit. The decision is made per page load, so if the member later opens the same store in a new tab with a clean URL and no network referrer, the extension evaluates that visit on its own.

Nothing in the extension can override a stand-down automatically. The member can still shop; the extension simply does nothing on that visit.

4. What happens on Zen Rewards' own referral

When a member clicks "Activate cashback", the extension navigates the member's own tab to https://myzenrewards.com/eout/store/{id}. Zen Rewards records the click and redirects through the network's tracking link. The member lands on the store with the network's parameters in the URL and the network's click server as the referrer.

The extension does not special-case this. The landing page is evaluated like any other, and the stand-down signals are present, so no card is shown on that landing page. That is the correct result: the click has already been recorded, and there is nothing further for the extension to do.

The same applies when the member clicked a store link on myzenrewards.com directly, without the extension. The extension sees the network parameters and does nothing.

5. The 24-hour activated flag

After the member clicks Activate, the extension stores a local flag for that store domain for 24 hours. While it is set, the toolbar badge shows a check mark and the reminder card is not shown again on that domain.

This flag is cosmetic. It exists so the member is not asked to activate again a minute later. It is not used for tracking, is not sent to Zen Rewards or any network, does not affect any cookie, and does not override a stand-down. If the member arrives at the store through another publisher's link during those 24 hours, the stand-down applies as normal and no card is shown.

6. Where the extension does not run at all

• Search engine result pages. The extension does not match these as partner stores and injects nothing there.
• Checkout and cart pages. The extension injects nothing into checkout or cart flows and never auto-applies coupons.
• Any page whose domain is not in the Zen Rewards partner list.

The extension never auto-redirects, never opens background tabs, and never fires a tracked link without a click.

7. How a member can still earn cashback after a stand-down

The popup tells the member what to do. The options are:

1. Go to https://myzenrewards.com, find the store, and click through from there.
2. Next time, click "Activate cashback" in the extension before shopping, so the Zen Rewards link is the one that brings them to the store.

Zen Rewards does not ask the member to clear cookies or to re-enter the store through the extension after a stand-down.

8. Source code and tests

The stand-down decision is a pure function with no side effects, so it can be reviewed and tested on its own:

• Function: src/shared/standdown.js in the extension repository. It takes the landing URL and the referrer string and returns whether to stand down and which signal matched.
• Unit tests: tests/standdown.test.js. The tests cover each network's parameters and referrer domains, subdomains, letter-case variants, parameters in the query string and in the fragment, empty referrers, and the Zen Rewards own-referral case.

Network reviewers who want a build to test can request one at [email protected]. Zen Rewards will also add any test case a network asks for.

9. Requesting changes

If a network or advertiser wants a parameter or domain added, email [email protected] with the signal and the network it belongs to. Additions are made in standdown.js with a matching test, shipped in the next extension release, and recorded in the changelog below. Zen Rewards reports every feature change to the networks that require retesting before releasing it.

10. Changelog

Date	Policy version	Extension version	Change
2026-10-20	1.0	0.1.0	Initial policy. 11 URL parameters and 15 referrer domains across Awin, CJ Affiliate, Impact and Rakuten Advertising. Applied to all stores regardless of network.