Cloacking vs not

[heather2]

I know it's been discussed before but what is your opinion on cloaking the affiliate IDs? If you think it's a good idea, then which method is really the best? Basic redirection or java scripts?

Thanks!

[Lynn Terry]

On your affiliate site, I would definitely recommend "cloaking". You can do a simple mouseover code that should work just fine. For example, with this link:

<a href="http://www.resumemachine.com/cgi-bin/aff.cgi?a=resumelines">ResumeMachine</a>

Just add this to the code:

<a onmouseover="window.status='www.resumemachine.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status='';" href="http://www.resumemachine.com/cgi-bin/aff.cgi?a=resumelines">ResumeMachine</a>


That way, when a visitor mouses over the link, they see 'www.resumemachine.com' in the status bar (lower left).

[heather2]

[heather2]

[Lynn Terry]

Not really. I just think it makes things look cleaner & neater.

If you really want to deceive your visitors, you'll recommend junk. Or sell their email address to a spammer.

Most of the time your visitor is redirected so quickly to the merchant site that they dont even notice the affiliate link. It's not really that big of a deal. (IMO)

[CorpRebel]

[dshipe]

In my opinion, anyone who would know to check the status bar of the browser for the "true" link would certaintly know enough to view the source HTML. Therefore, cloaking with the mouse over trick is essentially useless.

[5starAffiliatePrograms]

Hi all,

There are lots to methods of link cloaking and some valid reasons for doing it including trying to prevent affiliate theft or avoid parasites that overwrite affiliate links.

Just be VERY careful and test your links to be sure they still track. Some methods of cloaking or re-directing won't pass your cookie properly. One of the popular ways of hiding affiliate links uses an I-frame and I-frames are against the TOS of some programs. Some link cloaking software on the market auto-sets a cookie and cookie stuffing is unethical and against the TOS of many programs too.

My favorite way to re-direct is using subdomains - IF your host gives you unlimited subdomains, which mine does and that's why I chose them.

Shareasale is my favorite affiliate network for many reasons - so I'll use that link as an example.

My raw affiliate link - mouse over to see it - very ugly!


My subdomain link: mouse over to view.

Now click and see what happens. There is a very fast redirect where my affiliate ID shows for a split second but then it resolves to the Shareasale home page. Most end users would have no idea it was an affiliate link and would not even notice.

If you are looking for a host with unlimited subdomains, I use Hostgo. They are pretty good and hosting starts at only 6.95 a month.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

[heather2]

Thanks Linda! I never would have thought of that. Very ingenious!

[Troy]

I am starting to cloak my links using javascript, as I have heard that Google and other search engines are starting to filter out websites that have alot of affiliate links. I agree with Lynn. eVen doing a document.write java can hide thise links from engines, as far as I know, they still don't read java, Right?

[nuttymarketer]

Hey guys,

Do you think that Google and Yahoo give negative point to a page if it have affiliate links.

I do not think so. How it is possible.

Arvind Kumar