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Any Way to Reverse Lookup Link/Redirect Traffic?

by Jennifer Hutson
6 replies
Not sure if I'm explaining this right, but I'll try my best. Here goes:

I've been trying out a new Amazon campaign, which involves redirecting my domain links to an Amazon product through my affiliate ID.

I've been using these redirected affiliate links on a newer link-sharing site.

The site is set up like Facebook in the regard that when you drop a link into the submission box, a thumbnail is generated with the site information before you post.

When I drop my link in, it automatically says it's an Amazon link, even though it's my own website link that just has a redirect on it.

So, I've been unsure this whole time whether or not my link was truly redirecting or if this site has something in place that's bypassing the redirect and updating it straight to my Amazon link when I post.

Because this campaign was just a test run, I wasn't too concerned with whether or not it was getting redirected properly.

I was getting a steady conversion of 1-2 sales per day, but today I got over 50 orders in a few hours and I'm worried that my account will get banned if the redirect is broken because third party links are against Amazon's ToS.

My question is, is there any guaranteed way to test if the site is redirecting my link or updating it straight to the affiliate link? Like a reverse lookup for a link to see where it originally came from?

I just need to find out what Amazon is seeing when they look at where my traffic is coming from.

You'll have to excuse me if this sounds dumb – I'm not super technical lol.
#amazon #link or redirect #lookup #redirect #reverse #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author RealCasher
    Originally Posted by Jennifer Hutson View Post

    My question is, is there any guaranteed way to test if the site is redirecting my link or updating it straight to the affiliate link? Like a reverse lookup for a link to see where it originally came from?

    If you are redirecting a page it is like using a url shortner - 301/300 redirects.
    You can't see the origin referral of a url unless you have access to their stats reports.
    And i'm pretty sure it shows only the last referrer.

    I just need to find out what Amazon is seeing when they look at where my traffic is coming from.

    To make sure amazon will never find out about your real traffic source, make a blank referrer PHP script and upload it to your server and use it to blank referrers.

    You can find websites that blank referrers, but don't use them. They will steal your traffic.
    Check my comments inside the quote.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jennifer Hutson
      Originally Posted by RealCasher View Post

      Check my comments inside the quote.
      Thanks! Does it have to be a script I upload or is there a wordpress plugin I can do blank referrals with?

      Sorry, I'm not technically savvy at all. I guess I can Google how to do it, but if I can make the process shorter with a plugin or something, that would be great.
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    • Profile picture of the author onSubie
      Originally Posted by RealCasher View Post

      Check my comments inside the quote.
      Those don't really address the problem.

      Her concern is that the site is stripping out her redirect after determining it is an affiliate link. Using PHP to create a redirect is no different than a WP plugin like Pretty Links.

      This what Pinterest does. Other sites often go so far as to replace your affiliate link with their own.

      You need to check how the link appears after you drop it. If hovering over the link shows your redirect URL then you are fine as far as having the correct redirect link.

      Next click the link to check that it is redirecting properly with your affiliate code.

      If you drop a link and it is published as your redirect link e.g. "mysite.com/recommends/best-tv", then it should be okay.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jennifer Hutson
        Originally Posted by onSubie View Post

        Those don't really address the problem.

        Her concern is that the site is stripping out her redirect after determining it is an affiliate link. Using PHP to create a redirect is no different than a WP plugin like Pretty Links.

        This what Pinterest does. Other sites often go so far as to replace your affiliate link with their own.

        You need to check how the link appears after you drop it. If hovering over the link shows your redirect URL then you are fine as far as having the correct redirect link.

        Next click the link to check that it is redirecting properly with your affiliate code.

        If you drop a link and it is published as your redirect link e.g. "mysite.com/recommends/best-tv", then it should be okay.
        Thanks so much for clarifying. The site replacing my affiliate link was a concern at first – that's a big reason I was testing it before committing full-force. Once I started getting sales, I knew that wasn't the case.

        When I drop the link in as "mysite.com/xyz," the site generates a thumbnail and the link reads "amazon.com/xyz-ref=myrefID-jhfufndkljkljgkf" and shows an image of the Amazon product I'm promoting. So I've been thinking it's more likely my redirect is getting stripped.

        Is there any way to get around this if that's what's happening? How does Amazon actually see where your traffic is coming from, out of curiosity?

        This method has huge potential for me, but I'm not willing to risk my affiliate account over it if it's just going to get banned from linking from third party sites. I need the redirect to be able to work.
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        • Profile picture of the author onSubie
          Originally Posted by Jennifer Hutson View Post

          Thanks so much for clarifying. The site replacing my affiliate link was a concern at first - that's a big reason I was testing it before committing full-force. Once I started getting sales, I knew that wasn't the case.

          When I drop the link in as "mysite.com/xyz," the site generates a thumbnail and the link reads "amazon.com/xyz-ref=myrefID-jhfufndkljkljgkf" and shows an image of the Amazon product I'm promoting. So I've been thinking it's more likely my redirect is getting stripped.

          Is there any way to get around this if that's what's happening? How does Amazon actually see where your traffic is coming from, out of curiosity?

          This method has huge potential for me, but I'm not willing to risk my affiliate account over it if it's just going to get banned from linking from third party sites. I need the redirect to be able to work.
          If the link is showing as amazon.com on their site then it is not being redirected by your url so this could be a potential problem with Amazon ToS.

          Even so, I would be wary of any site that is rewriting the URLs you are using.
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  • Profile picture of the author quinng123
    In the worst case scenario you can still use the link but redirect the traffic to a very simple Amazon dummy site with a single image or link of whatever you were already selling . The conversions might be slightly less, but its better than getting your account banned
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