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Affiliate programs - link cloaking questions

freekdl
Posts: 23
Joined: 25 Jan 07
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Affiliate programs - link cloaking questions

Hi,

I've read all the posts about affiliate link cloaking, but I still have some questions about it.
I made a demo site to illustrate the methods I've used, I will describe them first & ask questions later.

you can find the site at (broken link removed)

method 1
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Here I redirected using the method I found in this post: https://www.affilorama.com/members/forum ... c.php?t=23

method 2
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Here I just link to another page on my domain, but the affiliate product page loads in a full page frame.

method 3
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I learned this while reading the adwords blackbook. When you click the link 'method 3' take a look at your status bar. I put a little script in my code that places a cookie on the visitors computer, so that they don't even HAVE TO click my affiliate link. Notice that I just linked to http://www.salehoo.com in method 3, i don't have to use my affiliate code because the cookie was installed before someone clicked the link :twisted:


Now my questions:

1) When you use method one, people can't bypass your commission, but they can still hijack it right? Or am I getting this the wrong way?
Once the affiliate product page is loaded, your affliate code is still visible, and if they replace it with theirs and reload the page, then my cookie will be replaced, right?

2) If I use method 2 only for my affiliate product pages, and not for my index page or any other page, will I have trouble getting my site ranked in search engines? A lot of people say that frames suck & that you never should use frames etc, but I think this is the easiest way to hide your affiliate code :( This way people never get to see it & that's what I want, I don't want people to know that somebody is making money on them.
I'm also pretty sure that a lot of people will think that the product is part of your site, because it's in a folder on the same domain..

3) Can I get into trouble using method 3? Can people report you or something? I won't be stuffing pages with these scripts, because I will have a seperate page for each affiliate product I'm trying to sell..

Thanks a lot, after this post I will be a link cloaking expert :wink:
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Last edited by ampie g on 28 Jan 10 5:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: broken link removed
 

PremiumMember
chatyak86
Posts: 1085
Joined: 17 Jun 06
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The proper way to do this without worry of any backlash is simple.

Create a folder on your site.
Save a page called index.php in it.

The only code you put on that page is this.

<?php $URL="http://www.example.com";

header ("Location: $URL");

?>

Adrian,
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freekdl
Posts: 23
Joined: 25 Jan 07
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That's what I did for method 1, but I'm not completely happy with this..
Once your visitor sees the affiliate product page, your code is still visible in the address bar.
I know a cookie with my aff info is saved, but they can still replace my aff code with their aff code & refresh the page..
That way I will be losing my commission, right?

Thanks
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PremiumMember
sean06
Posts: 1004
Joined: 16 Jun 06
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True, but a lot of people already know this. If you are a clickbank affiliate, wouldn't you realise you could use your own link when you went to the order page?
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Free Training Videos reveal how I make 6 figures while travelling the world
 
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chatyak86
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freekdl wrote:That's what I did for method 1, but I'm not completely happy with this..
Once your visitor sees the affiliate product page, your code is still visible in the address bar.
I know a cookie with my aff info is saved, but they can still replace my aff code with their aff code & refresh the page..
That way I will be losing my commission, right?

Thanks


The amount of ppl doing this is so small it will have little to zero affect on you.

Adrian,
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Moderator
superaff
Posts: 354
Joined: 09 Sep 06
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I was using frames before, but I stopped since I lost some commissions with this method.

I am using the php script now, and I am happy with it.

For 3, you need to chack the Tos of your affiliate program.

==> don't use frames, use PHP instead.
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freekdl
Posts: 23
Joined: 25 Jan 07
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ok, i will go for the PHP method :wink:
thanks for the replies
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icj1
Posts: 99
Joined: 18 Feb 07
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Adrian - or anyone, please can you explain a little more how this page/php you suggest, integrates into web design editor when using dreamweaver? (I'm using the design option, rather than html at the moment) thanks
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chatyak86
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icj1 wrote:Adrian - or anyone, please can you explain a little more how this page/php you suggest, integrates into web design editor when using dreamweaver? (I'm using the design option, rather than html at the moment) thanks


You can't do it in design mode... click the code tab and paste the code I wrote out into a blank page.
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