Does your Smart Commissions page appear blank?
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If you have not used Smart Commissions previously, then the Smart Commissions timeline and table will appear blank, as there will be no previous rules to migrate through. Any Event Commissions remain active, and accessible within Commissions Management.
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If you have used Smart Commissions previously for your program, but only for publisher based rules (i.e. specific publishers, or publisher types), and with no generic ('all publisher') rules, the default Smart Commissions homepage view may appear blank. By default, the page shows rules that apply to All Publishers. You will need to Select Group from the dropdown to then view the relevant rates applicable to the Publisher Commission Group.
Q: How do I decide whether to use a General, Group or Publisher Commission?
A: Use a General Commission for your baseline program rate that applies to all publishers. Use a Group Commission when you want to offer tailored rates to a defined set of publishers (for example, content partners vs. voucher partners). Use a Publisher Commission when you need a bespoke rate for an individual partner, without changing the rest of the group.
Q: Can I run multiple commission rules at the same time?
A: Yes. You can have multiple active Smart Commission rules, each with their own schedules and conditions. When a transaction is tracked, Webgains evaluates the rules in order: any Top priority rules first, then the remaining rules from top to bottom. The first rule whose conditions are met is applied. Other matching rules are ignored for that transaction, so only one Smart Commission rate is used.
Q: Can I schedule promotions or temporary commission boosts?
A: Yes. Use the Schedules option when creating a commission rule to set a start and end date, or to add multiple non‑overlapping schedules. This is ideal for short‑term promotions, peak trading periods or seasonal campaigns. Outside the defined schedule dates, that rule is skipped and the next applicable rule in the list is applied instead.
Q: What happens if I change a commission rule – is it applied to historic transactions?
A: No. Changes to a Smart Commission rule only affect future tracked transactions from the point the update is saved (or from the start of a future schedule you configure). Historical transactions and already-approved commissions are not recalculated.
Q: Why isn’t my new commission rule being applied?
A: Common reasons include:
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The schedule dates haven’t started yet, or have ended.
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The rule appears below another rule that already matches first.
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One of the conditions (e.g. product, customer type, custom data) is not actually present or doesn’t match the values in your tracking. (E.g. the tracked item ID/SKU does not match what was added to the commission rule).
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The transaction is being matched by a Top priority rule instead.
Review the rule order, dates and conditions, and check the transaction data being sent in your Webgains tracking script.
Q: How do Smart Commission rules work with voucher commissions?
A: If you have Voucher Commission rates configured, those will apply to eligible voucher‑driven transactions first. Where no specific voucher rate exists, the system falls back to your Smart Commission rules.
Q: What is the impact of setting a rule as “Top priority”?
A: Marking a rule as Top priority moves it into a special category that is always evaluated before all other rules. This is useful for must-win scenarios such as key partner guarantees or time-sensitive promotions. Because Top priority rules take precedence, you should keep their conditions as specific as possible.
Q: How granular can my conditions be (e.g. products, customer types, custom data)?
A: Conditions can be set at multiple levels – such as all products, specific SKUs or categories, particular customer types (e.g. new vs returning) and custom data fields passed through the tracking tag. The more specific your conditions, the more tightly targeted your commission strategy can be. Just ensure the values you use in conditions exactly match what is sent in your tracking.
Q: What happens if no Smart Commission rule matches a transaction?
A: If a transaction doesn’t match any of your active Smart Commission rules, then the ‘Default’ rule is applied.
If your program existed prior to 2026, the Default will be as per your Default Event Commission (set within Commissions Management). If you have since created a Default commission type within Smart Commissions, this will be the new Default.
Q: Will a publisher see which Smart Commission rule they’re on?
A: Yes, publishers will see the commission rate/s that applies to them from within their platform view. They will not see commission rules that are not available to them.