Most affiliate reports contain clicks, registrations and FTDs, and stop there. That tells you what a partner delivered, not what it was worth. Affiliate quality lives in what the cohort does after the first deposit. These are the KPIs that measure it, roughly in order of predictive power.
The share of first-time depositors who deposit again within 30 days. It is the single best early separator between players and bonus tourists. Below 25% you are mostly buying one-off deposits; above 40% is elite. If you track only one quality KPI, track this one.
What the cohort is actually worth after bonuses and costs, per depositor. Thirty-day NGR is an early signal; ninety-day NGR is the verdict. Compare it directly against what you paid per FTD, because that comparison is your real ROI, and payback beyond 12 months is venture risk dressed up as marketing.
Revenue can hide a dead cohort: two whales carry the NGR while 90% of players are gone. Day-30 activity exposes that concentration. Industry norm sits around 15-25% still active; best-in-class programs reach 30-40%.
High bonus cost means the traffic plays for the promo, not the product. Above 35% of deposits the bonus is eating the cohort. Pair it with bonus allocated versus wagered: a big allocation with little wagering is the classic bonus-hunting signature.
Turnover shows engagement that NGR can mask. High wagering with low NGR means margin is leaking through bonus terms or game mix. Low wagering with decent NGR means a few players lost big once, and the next cohort will not repeat it.
The pre-deposit intent test. Around 20-30% is healthy; high-intent SEO traffic converts at 70% or more. Very low reg-to-FTD means low-intent or incentivized traffic, and a qualified-CPA clause belongs in that contract.
These are not averages, they are penalties. Published research puts the base rate of new registrants turning high-risk within 90 days at roughly 7.3%; an affiliate cohort well above that needs a compliance review regardless of revenue. Duplicates above a few percent are clawback territory. Chargebacks arrive months after the CPA was paid, which is why they get missed. A KYC pass rate under 85% means the traffic is unqualified or fraudulent.
Individually these numbers invite debate; combined into a weighted score with tiers they force a decision: scale, keep, renegotiate, or investigate. That is exactly what the free calculator does, including the deal-economics math for CPA versus revenue share contracts.
Score an affiliate free →Related: What is a good registration to FTD rate? · CPA vs revenue share · Methodology