Download Page Protection - Is It This Simple

Hi Mike,

Yes, that's definitely required to keep your download page
from ending up in the search engines. It tells the search
engine bots to basically "ignore" the page and not include
it in the search engines.

Of course, this is pretty basic but it's pretty sufficient for
most of your download pages.

Asher

Hi Mike,

Even though these solutions will never replace a product like DLGuard or
even E-Junkie, also make it harder for thieves to guess your download file name...
make sure to name it something very unique and not just productname.zip

Kindest Regards,
Pete

Hiding from Google and randomizing the file name doesn't stop someone from buying the file with a stolen credit card, then posting the link to your download page on a warez forum for hundreds of people to download free before you know it.

Don't forget that some search engines don't pay attention to those meta tags, so whilst it might work in google, it won't in others.

Another way is to set your download pages as a password
protected area. That way, search engines can't index it
easily as well. I think there are some tutorials on YouTube
about how to do it.

Asher

This is so not a solution for protecting your download pages, dude. Heck, it'd be nice if it were that simple!

Even at the most basic level, not all robots respect the "robots" metatag. And especially not the bad ones.

As suggested already, go get DLGuard, or EasyClickGuard, or if you're totally broke and don't have more than 5 downloads to protect, you can nab a "Lite" version of SmartDD for free. It's fully functional, but limits protection to 5 items.

Hope that helps!

TheNightOwl

If your worried about product theft this will be your problem and not whether you protect your download page or not.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-what-now.html

This is mandatory, but you also need a PHP (or other language) script to protect your page so you can view it only if you have paid. If you need help just let me know.

if you want to protect your download page get dlguard.com - don't try to reinvent the wheel go with what works. Sam is the owner and is very responsive. btw I never endorse products so i wouldn't be posting this if i were not 100% satisfied.

I have not found a black hat forum or warez site that actually hosts any files. Their owners want their DMCA protection too, so that they don't get sued. They just link to Rapidshare, Megaupload and the likes, and all those sites DO take down files on DMCA complaints.

I've written and sent over 100 DMCA notices of infringement so far this year. Every single one resulted in the file being taken down.

It's no bother, 100 over 6 months is just a few a week. I just monitor a few places that actually show up in search results and send a quick takedown notice when it's reposted (all I have to do is change the URL of the file and the date on the email template). So that people that search for the product find the product site and not an illegal copy. The intent isn't to stop the people that are actively looking for illegal copies, that's impossible.

I don't bother with encryption, DRM or licensing servers. That stuff only encumbers the paying customers without putting up any real barrier to the pirates, so as you said, why bother.

There is middle ground between completely ignoring piracy and trying to completely control it.

You guys have all hit on a question I have been having for awhile. Here is a more serious question - what happens if someone takes YOUR product and sells it as their own? I know you can send your notices and all - but if your notices fall upon def ears you are just wasting your time. You can have your lawyer send some BS notices over mail, but I am sure people who do this type of stuff know what to expect. Any notices probably get thrown away before they are even read.

So what do you do to stop these kind of people?

Hey Mike,

Here's how I found an interesting way of hiding your download page. You might already know about this but heck...

Let's pretend that google.com is our site.

What I'd do to hide the files is create a .html file containing all the download links and stuff first.

After that I'd create a directory that is hard to guess. Like for example N24124NSFASFBOUI8124 (some random letters). Inside that directory I'd upload that .html file but also name it something like getdw444.html. After that's done I'd make sure to add the random directory (N24124NSFASFBOUI8124) to my robots.txt file so that google does not index it. And last thing I'd do is make sure the directory is not accessable for example if someone visits google.com/N24124NSFASFBOUI812 they won't see that list of files you got there, what you'll need to do is simply create a blank index.html file and upload it to google.com/N24124NSFASFBOUI812. Once you do that you'll prevent the N24124NSFASFBOUI8124 directory from being indexed along with your download page at google.com/N24124NSFASFBOUI8124/getdw444.html

You can also upload your files inside the google.com/N24124NSFASFBOUI8124 directory for example like google.com/N24124NSFASFBOUI8124/videos

All the best,
Mark

Hey Mikey,

yeah, it does.
It is a php code for your robot.txt which is
responsible for allowing (and blocking) the access
for the SE crawlers.

Igor

This code will not protect you from having somebody post the URL of the download page somewhere else. Once it is out there, it will be indexed.

The best way I know to protect a download page is using DLGuard. I have been using it for about a year now and it works very good. I recommend it.

great stuff in this thread, something to think about

also throw this into the mix, I haven't used it but it looks pretty good to me, intergrates with your autoresponder and a load of other features for what looks like a one off $47

Dragon Download Protector

hey..
where can i find this pluggin guys ?

Wondering if anyone here has had any weird happenings with Ejunkie. I had a couple friends test the download link to a templates package and although they could unzip the file alright, they couldn't view the actual images correctly until I sent them the original zip file from the package designer.
Now unless I really had a brainfart and managed to zip the file wrong in the first place...how the heck could this happen..
It's driving me nuts now and maybe in the end I'll try one of the programs mentioned here....
Still really curious if it could be on Ejunkie's end...

where can I put this? <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW">

do I need to create another file I will just insert this on a page that I want to protect..

Hey mike..

use Htaccess to protect your download page....

Visit=> htaccesstools.com

Good luck...

What I done to protect my latest download page AND download url where the actual zip file is located, is wrote a small bit of php which generated a random code which is stored in a database. When the customer then clicks on their download link in their email it takes them to a verification script that checks their code against the database. If valid it removes the code from the database and re-directs them to the file which allows them to download their product without being able to see or trace the files location.

It works a treat!

Hi guys,

I'm Sam Stephens, the owner/developer of DLGuard.

There is a lot of information floating around about download security (not all of it accurate), and so I'd like to make a few notes to clarify some of it:


1) Meta tags: these can be used to stop pages from being added into search engines. Most search engines obey these, but not all. These don't protect your donwload page from being shared, they just help to stop search engines from adding it to their lists.


2) Robots.txt files: These shouldn't ever be used to "hide" download pages from search engines. Remember that humans can view them too, so all you're doing is telling thieves where to find your stuff.

If you're going to use a robots.txt file, you can use it to protect a higher level folder, and then put your download files in a subfolder of that folder, randomly named.


3) Change Download URLs: Some people recommend just changing the download URL every week. Depending on how many sales you're making, to keep things secure you'll actually need to do this every hour at least. Even every hour, if someone shares your download link, how many people can steal your product in an hour?

Honestly, you've got more important things to do with your business than having to constantly update download links, and download pages, and then deal with your existing customers who want to come back and download again at a later date. That's time better spent creating a new product, and promoting your existing ones.


4) Sharing of files after they're downloaded: this happens, especially with PDF files. There isn't much you can do about it without restricting valid users (such as by using an Ebook wrapper, for example). There are wrappers out there that work well, but you need to decide if it's the right path for your particular business, and your particular customers.

Software is much easier to protect - I highly recommend using a "phone home" kind of system that logs individual installations. A good programmer can make one that is very unobtrusive.


5) Download management software: This is the best way to go, and I'm not just saying this because I sell DLGuard, I'm saying it because it simply makes sense. A good download management script will not just give you download security so people can't share download links, or find download pages in search engines, but it'll also make your customer's purchase experience EASIER and SMOOTHER. It'll also save you time setting up new products, or making changes to existing products. It'll also allow you to manage your business more effectively.

So check out all the features of the download managment software you're looking at, and make sure they suit your business well.

Also consider your business growth - will the solution you're choosing today grow with you, or will you need to replace it again in the future as your business grows?



I hope this helps - if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask - I'm happy to help!

cheers
Sam

I agree, you shouldn't spend your time worrying about piracy, or you'll never sell anything.

It makes just as much sense as preventing it as often as possible, where you can, as long as you don't become obsessed.

What a lot of people don't realise, though, is that by using a good download management system, not only are you adding protection, but you end up saving time.

For example, it's MUCH faster to create a Clickbank or Paypal product in DLGuard than it is to do it without it.

If using a download management system also saves you time and makes your life easier, then why not?

cheers
Sam

For download page protection purposes, I have a PHP script that sends me an e-mail every single time that page is accessed. The subject line notifies me that someone just entered the download page.

In the body of the e-mail I have the IP address, the referring link (to make sure they're coming from the payment processing page), and a few other details that may come in handy.

AND when the link to my download page was shared on a forum, I got an avalanche of such e-mails. So I instantly knew there was something wrong. In less than half an hour I managed to change the URL of the page and leave the thieves without anything to steal

It's not bulletproof, but it serves me well.

PM me if you want the script - it's about 10 lines long .

Use 3d secure - that helps stop some of the fraud I believe.

Just an option, do check my free Simple IPN

Simple IPN: Free Paypal IPN PHP Script for Digital Download Products -- MiniSiteGallery.com

That's very true - pointless trying to control stormy weather. But we do put roofs on our houses, and make sure they don't have holes.

I agree with you guys: a successfull security implementaion is one that locks your site/sales/downloads as much as possible, but without creating a huge inconvenience to your real customers.

And we can't hold off selling simply because we're worried what may happen after people buy.

But by the same token, it's certainly worth putting a "roof" on your website, and making sure the rain doesn't come dribbling in.

Wow, that's a lot of metaphor for so early in the morning....

I think I need a rest, now.

cheers
Sam

Any suggestions for keeping the search engines from indexing individual pdf files, mp3 files or videos? That's my biggest problem - the search engines are indexing these (not my download pages), and I have them nested 4 folders deep...

Kirstyn

Hi Kirstyn,

If you link to your files, then the search engines can see them. If you don't link to your files, they can't.

This is why systems like DLGuard are popular: DLGuard never actually links directly to your file, and so the search engines can never see them.

This means your files won't be indexed.

Are all your files designed to be downloaded, or are the MP3's and vids playable online?

cheers
Sam