aekaplan

I know there are some software programs out there, but what do you Warriors do? Use programs or code? Would you mind sharing how to do this? Thanks so much!

Sleaklight

I just purchased this 2 days ago and love it!

Non Affiliate Link: Affiliate Link Script - Hide and Track Your Affiliate URL Links with PHP Link Cloaker
Affiliate Link: PHP Link Cloaker

There's a demo on the site, just add in your URL, the text you want displayed and it's done. Shows you total clicks and total unique clicks as well. Real nice, simple, easy script.

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jpdwil

Looked at PHP Link Cloaker.

Here is my problem. I'm running a ringtone offer. I bought ringtoneburn(dot)com and set up domain forwarding and masking to my affiliate link.

Google doesn't accept this because I want my visible link to be RingtoneBurn(dot)com.

Will this tool help me here?

Please let me know, and if you have an affiliate link for it pm me and I'll use yours if this is what I am looking for.

jpdwil

Whoops. Just saw that it does not work with GoDaddy! What should I do?

WasabiHound

Tinyurl works a treat for simple link cloaking. Not great for SEO though.

Neil

Jared Alberghini

I use a free tool to cloak my affiliate links:

Free & Simple Affiliate Link Cloaker

Kenster

sorta a noob question - what exactly do you cloak for? so the CPA networks can't track your traffic, say if you are doing some blackhat stuff? I've read that people can steal affiliate links, how? Or is cloaking just to make URL smaller like TinyURL.

sorry if this is too off topic for the thread

aekaplan

Kenster, you cloak your links so it isn't immediately obvious that you're sending your traffic to an affiliate page.

Jared, thanks for that useful website!

The real question I have is how to do this:

Instead of displaying your affiliate link, it shows something like

yoursitename.com/recommends/xyzproduct

Does anyone know how to do that?

Thanks again for all your responses!

Bujuk

This is how I cloak my link.

First I create a folder within my site then created and place a small php file. I prefer index.php but you put any name. then just place the following code in the file.

<?php
header("Location:http://www.youraffiliatelink.com/");
exit;
?>

just replace the "youraffiliatelink.com to your affiliate link. just point your link to that folder. so when your visitor click the link, the php file will redirect them to your affiliate page. very fast and quick redirect.

affgem

Hi,

There are many scripts available to cloak affiliate links. You can use them to hide your affiliate link.

Want New & Exclusive CPA Offers ??

jpdwil

I really need to know how to get by Google with domain forwarding? Any suggestions?

aekaplan

affgem, could you possibly recommend some of those scripts or provide some links? Thanks mate.

PabloVTB

Best free cloak link service I used so far:
CloakedLink.com - Free Link Cloaking / Referrer Hiding Service

ryansjones

I can't really afford to get fancy link cloaking software, so I usually use either tinyurl or viralurl to cloak my affiliate links. For affiliate links I get through commission junction, they actually have a feature that cloaks your links for you when copying banner ad codes

http://www.xboxfreak.ws
watch viral videos about animals at http://rjanimalvideos.blogspot.com
Connect with me on viral networks at http://viralnetworks.com/profile/uid...yan_Jones.html

wii4u

Other services that allow to shorten your URL are:
SnipURL dot com

and

BudURL dot com

BudURL is one of the best URL shortening services on the web as it also gives you tracking stats (clickthroughs).

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Bujuk

personally I dont like tinyurl as your website url will not be there in the link. I believe visitors are more cautious whenever they see a link to other website, as compared to a link within your website.

if you are using wp and have lot of urls to cloak, then probably can consider gocode. it is a small plugin. all you need to do is to add 2 short code inside your .htaccess file, activate your plugin and you are ready to go. you can get the plugin here :
WordPress › GoCodes WordPress Plugins

gocode as well as the php method that I've mentioned earlier will retain your website url. it looks more credible.

fortony

I would like to know the same thing. Is there a way to hide the fact that someone is clicking on an affiliate link without totally changing the link to something like tinyurl? For example, if someone clicks on an affiliate link to Clickbank, is there a way to hide your affiliate ID at the end?

Sorry if anyone answered this and I did not understand. Perhaps what I am asking is impossible??

Bujuk

In fact both methods that I share will hide our affiliate ID. both will keep the link as our own website links. ie www.mywebsite.com/myproduct but when the visitor click the link, he/she will be directed to the cb or other merchant with our id intact. one good aspect of this method, we can promote different product without changing our earlier post/sale page (assuming we are in the same niche). hope this help.

NewbiesDiary

hey folks - just read thru all the posts here and all the features you are looking for in a link cloaker have been built into Cloak'n'Rotate - plus heaps more.

I had trouble with sites like offto.net and tinyurl etc - you run the risk of all your links being blocked if someone does the wrong thing with their link - ie a trojan virus is hidden behind offto. net/thisismylink - then when they get caught, the whole domain is labeled as a virus - including your links.

Plus, they really don't look professional!

Check out cloak'n'rotate - http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...-summit-2.html

nithemoneymachine

Gah! I'm trying to use one of the free cloaker tools but the html thing doesn't work with my "BLOG" and I have no idea how to make it work... I'm utterly confused

anybody got an idea of a free way to cloak my affiliate link on my BLOG ? I just can't understand this.

And it says upload to your site. This is a blog not a site. Help?

p.s. I have a MAC

aekaplan

Just want to update everyone, I tried Bujuk's first suggestion and it worked perfectly. Thanks Bujuk!

Vrindavan

>> offto

- any other services that use generic domains

- is it better to frame the site like offto or just redirect/forward to the affiliate site

Web Hosting

kenmorgan

The most efficient way to cloak is using redirects in the .htaccess file. Myself, I couldn't get it to work - I don't know if it's because I have a wordpress blog as my main domain and my other domains are subdomains. When I tried it my website just gave an error. Maybe someone can tell me if that could create a problem with the htaccess method.

I now use php like Bujuk above.

metafever

Cloaking helps you prevent people from hijacking your aff links and its better for your sites visitor so they don't have to click on a long scary URL.

Visit My Blog - MetaFever.com

scar tissue

Hi there,

- a FREE desktop software that I use on daily basis : measuring-up.com/html-tools/profit-protector.html

- a FREE WP Plugin if your blog built by Wordpress : 0tocash.com/wpCookie/

Hope this helps, buddy

Cheers - JERRY

revpl2

I find the php redirect is pretty good. It looks like they stay on your site but it;s actually the vendor's/merchants site. I always wondered how they did that and then came across the script somewhere.

Here it is:

<?php
if ($m == "") {$link = "http://www.UglyLinkHere.com/blah";} // Default Blank

header("Location: $link"); // Jump to the hidden affiliate URL above
exit();
?>

Remember to save it as a php file: *.php (after pasting it into notepad).

EDIT: oh yeah. almost forgot...

Paste in your aff. link where it says to and then upload this .php file into a sub-directory aptly name for whatever your promoting. And then in your email/blog post/review/etc reference that sub-directory (as a URL - http:///blah.com/sub-directory-with-php-file/).

It's a Cakewalk.

terryOstgaard

I have started using domain forwarding for all my affiliate links. I just don't feel cloaking links with bit.ly or tiny-url quite does the trick. After all, a .com domain is only about 10 bucks per year. If you get your name right, you can even reuse it for a new affiliate program within the same niche, if the current campaign does not make you happy.

Terry Ostgaard
terje@team111k.ws
www.squidoo.com/team111k

pegasuspress

I've been using NameStick link cloaking/web forwarding service. So far it's worked very well for me. Not free though. Costs $39/year. Go to NameStick.com.

Rich

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FredJones

This is also the way I do it. This is the simplest way, simply add another file "foo.php" and write the above code in the file. It has to be a ".php" file. Then, from the file that you are diverting traffic, put your href link to point to this page "foo.php".

Nothing more and nothing less to do.

Surprised to know that people buy products on this. Well, time for me to sell this one line of code?!!!

blillard

I like to use offto.net for my cloaking. They let me cloak, add like a sub domain, and a window title. They have been good to me.

Myheavens

I worked on GTT..its looks good.

dulakian

Heya,

I'm new here, and because of that I cannot post my solution to avoid link jacking. Anything that even remotely resembles a url is not allowed because of my low post count. I had typed out quite a long post explaining how I avoid linkjacking with a unique solution, but now I'm not gonna jump through hoops to give away free info.

I can tell you that there is adware/spyware/viruses out there that replace your affiliate links for popular affiliate networks with their own affiliate ids. It's not a huge problem, but when I implemented my php solution, I saw a boost in conversion rates for all my sites.

I use a hashing algorithm, a unique name, and the date to generate a random id that can be used in a php script to generate an affiliate link for a Location: header that virtually guarantees you will not be link jacked. I haven't put it into an actual product yet, but I might.

Hope this gave someone an idea of what's possible for cloaking links, and I'm sorry I couldn't give a solid example to illustrate my point, spammers ruin it for everybody.

Michael

vmedia

the best tool i found so far is called kblinker - which you can find at kblinker.c0m

there is a fully functional trial and it is simple to use and install.

chemmyvick

Tinyurl does not look professional and it usually take a longer time to open on a browser. I''m looking for a good cloacker too.

Home Ideal Business

Bye to Smoking

kettlewell

much better to do a redirect. Framing does hide the URL, and give you control over the title... but is typically against the TOS of most affiliate programs.

If your affiliate programs don't forbid them in the TOS, then framing is usually considered a better solution (by me anyhow).

GeorgR.

I highly doubt whether this is on par with my ASQ

Let me check the features

• Straight Thru (PHP/301)
• Referral Scrubbing (Double Meta Refresh)
• Address hiding (Framed Redirection)
• Stealth (Javascript Redirect)
  
  For me it looks its a pretty flexible tool for redirects and iframing, but STILL it only redirects or frames - and you can do this with one simple line of code. However, the referral scrubbing seems interesting.
  
  The point is, the thing again is unsuitable for Adwords since you will never, never get a good Quality Score with ANY framing technique on adwords. And you cant use redirects either. So its out of the question for adwords advertising.

aekaplan

OK so to reiterate - Bujuk's advice is sound if you just want to cloak. However - everyone promoting CPA products should be tracking their conversions. And it just so happens if you use Tracking202 (which is free), you get a PHP code for cloaking your affiliate link included. It's really a no-brainer. Best of luck to all!

kfount

Godaddy is the best place for this. Simply buy a domain name, (you can get .info ones for like $2), and redirect it to your affiliate page. Then select the masking option to cover it up. Your end user will only see the redirected domain not your affiliate link.

Warrior Markets

Hi,

Does anyone know if you can do this with Namecheap? I know you can buy a domain (without hosting), and use the URL forwarding feature, but is there anyway of masking/cloaking the affiliate page you redirect/forward to?

-WM

I have nothing of value to add here. But we can't let a signature go to waste now, can we?

bbig438

only site you need is tinyurl.com ..it works great for me!

best site to get actually money for referrals!
http://www.cashle.com/index.php?ref=bbig438

promo_guy

Excellent resources here on how to cloak a link but I thought I read somewhere that your affiliate manager at a CPA network for example may question your traffic if it's not visible to their system. I could be wrong but are people cloaking to....

a) hide their link from a potential visitor
b) hide their link from those who could steal commission
c) hide their link to hide which keywords sent traffic to the offer so the merchant or aff manager can't steal your "money keywords"?

Thanks all

PS - maybe I'm just being paranoid about cloaking links??

BrianE

Bujuk, thanks

GeorgR.

blackhat people "cloak" and hide/blank browser referers. The reason is that such people often direct not allowed incentivized traffic to their sites - or they have some fake site luring traffic to a site and make them enter their ZIPs/emails telling them some story.
(Example: Enter your email and we send you nude pics of jessica alba...things like that.)

Yes, they do this to make that traffic invisible to the system since the CPA network is not supposed to find out about the fake site where the traffic is coming from - and yes there are rumors that networks "steal" keywords and basically just use affiliates to harvest good keywords.

sanme827

its good !!!!!!!

ilyasm

tinyurl.com

Karrak

I use mbpninjaaffiliate.com (Ninja Affiliate) for cloaking my links. It gives you the sitename.com/recommends/productname structure that someone was looking for. It's $97 and also allows you to track impressions and clicks in wordpress.

For those using TinyURL or a similar free service, I would suggest testing out bit.ly as it allows you track click thrus and impressions.

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Charles Harper

I use Mike Filsaime's Powerlink Generator.

Cloaking, Custom Domain Directory names and Tracking all in one.

Got a superstar scriptlance programmer to put it on for me.

Best money I have spent this year.

Charles

Dan Pueppke

I am pretty green on all of this but can't you do this with redirects through Cpanel?

Dan & Lynette Pueppke
Dakota Daughter Enterprises, LLC
Alexandria, SD

mistermint

Guess this thread is long in the tooth but, there is a good article on ezine about cloaking affiliate links found here

extract: There are some criminals out there who use Stealware to rob people of affiliate profits. Stealware takes advantage of uncloaked links by replacing all uncloaked affiliate links with another link. This is direct robbery. The people who use Stealware steal directly from affiliates. This is illegal, but it happens quite a bit, and if you do not cloak your links, you are at risk for being a victim of Stealware.

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naomiabloosky

You can use software to cloak your affiliate links, but not all of them are 100%. There are some free scripts that you can find that will help you cloak, but it’s better for you to get a coder to help you.

http://www.bloosky.com