<b>What counts as a "duplicate" lead, exactly?</b>

<b>What counts as a "duplicate" lead, exactly?</b>

Q: I'm getting dinged for duplicates but these feel like different people. How is duplicate defined?

A: "Duplicate" is broader than "same person twice," and that's why honest affiliates get caught off guard. Advertisers deduplicate on whatever identifier they trust, and they rarely use just one:

— Hashed email or phone: the same user signing up again, even across your different campaigns.
— Device fingerprint: same browser and hardware profile, different email — counted as one.
— IP plus time window: multiple signups from one address in a short span, common with shared Wi-Fi or family devices.

The last one trips up legitimate traffic. A household, a co-working space, or a mobile carrier's shared IP can produce real, distinct people who get merged into a single "unique."

What helps: if you run placements where shared IPs are normal — campuses, offices, public hotspots — flag it to your manager so they can set the dedup window appropriately instead of crushing your uniques.

Short version: duplicate can mean device or IP-window match, not just repeat email. Shared connections are the usual false positive.

Still stuck? Drop your case in the comments.