The affiliate glossary ↗AFFDude / Field notes
Lead scrubbing
In plain English
What does Lead scrubbing mean?
Rejecting leads that fail validation or quality checks before payment, legitimately or otherwise.
Advertisers scrub leads with fake numbers, duplicate emails or no follow-up response. Aggressive scrubbing is also how some advertisers quietly cut costs, which is why affiliates watch approval rates over time and why a network's willingness to fight for its affiliates matters.