# What is a paid recommendation? A paid newsletter referral

A paid recommendation is a newsletter referral arrangement where payment depends on the program’s stated terms and the referral’s status.

A publisher may pay to acquire subscribers through another newsletter, or earn money by referring readers to a partner. The program determines which referrals qualify for payment.

## Following a referral to its payable state

Hypothetical program sequence, not a claim about SparkLoop’s current rules: 100 referrals are submitted, 82 meet the named program’s verification criteria and 75 are payable under the campaign terms. Reconcile the invoice to the program-defined payable state, not automatically to all signups.

## Submitted, verified and payable are different

At an illustrative $2 per payable referral, the example’s 75 payable referrals cost $150, not $200 for all 100 submissions. To judge the purchase, separately measure how many of the acquired readers remain useful readers or customers. Payment eligibility is not the same as audience value.

## Track payment and reader value separately

A campaign can pay for many accepted referrals that never become active readers. Record the cost, the number of paid referrals, and later reader behavior for the same group. That lets you calculate the price of a signup and the price of an engaged reader without conflating them.

[Newsletter subscriber acquisition cost calculator](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/tools/newsletter-acquisition-cost/)

## Related terms

[Subscriber verification](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/dictionary/verification/)

## Continue reading

[SparkLoop referrals: why a qualified referral may still go unpaid](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/articles/sparkloop-budget-screening/): It shows how SparkLoop’s campaign budget and screening shape payable referrals.

## Sources

https://help.sparkloop.app/en/articles/7118861-understanding-paid-recommendation-budgets

https://help.sparkloop.app/en/articles/7118861-understanding-paid-recommendation-budgets

Editorial method: https://digitalpublishingnews.com/how-we-use-ai/

Canonical: https://digitalpublishingnews.com/dictionary/paid-recommendation/