Hi,
I don’t know about cookies but as for your question as to how much a sponsor can be trusted to give you credit on all income earned from your efforts … I can positively say to you that it is money well-spent to send players thru and then upon confirming they have shown up as tracked to your accounts … to send them thru again …. and later again to see if you’re getting credit for deposits.
Many times i have caught programs not showing either any or only part of the money the player has deposited and lost to the program.
Since I don’t have any positive proof of such situations about any current programs I won’t throw any stones at this time mostly because I’m too tired to remember where I’ve got such proof tucked away … if I even still have it all …. this because lets face it … the only thing I need to prove is to myself they’re not worth listing … so I have little reason to pursue it further although at the time when I discovered the situation I did post about it … and in fact many times it was myself who was depositing thru another aff’s links when this sort of nastiness came to light so the disclosure came naturally thru simple posts stating there was a problem …
but yes it does happen and yes I personally am of the mind that when one deposit shows up and the next doesn’t. .. .or only part of an amount shows up … that it is intential theft by the program in question and not some sort of glitch. But that’s my opinion and I’m sure there were times when it really was a glitch but I’m also just as sure there were times (likely moreso) when it was simply as it looked. Theft.
Given time under your belt and a sincere effort towards it … you can establish relationships with players … preferably of sizeable stature … where you can by simple correspondence have enough tangents to be able to spot a cheating sponsor without too much more involved.
anyway … its money well spent to check. of that I’m certain and I think you’re actually losing much more by not spending a little to find out where you stand with sponsors. You still likely won’t catch everything but it only takes once …
ps. if you do catch somebody and don’t make it public, please remember I gave this advice and PM me. This is the sort of info that is very important. At least to me. 