Masking Affiliate URLs Good Idea?

Hi Dave

I do not use masking really these days but have in the past.

I do not think you will have an issue for the most part but perhaps mask a link and test it out, clear you cache and cookies and test test test.

I see so many bitly masks these days so this also gives me the indication it does not mess anything up as far as tracking and sales go.

URL redirection/forwarding in this way isn't really the same thing as cloaking/masking (where the original URL would stay present in the address bar) and normally will not present any tracking problems at all.

However - and this is a huge "however" - it is not wise to make use of a free, third-party service for this ... especially not for affiliate marketing purposes.

What happens when you've set up countless links all over the 'net, and you need to swap-out your affiliate links for some reason (e.g. an affiliate network kicks you off, or the vendor moves to another network, or you decide to promote another product for some other reason) and the URL forwarding service in question perhaps doesn't provide a facility to update existing URLs with a new target?

Or what happens if the forwarding service in question goes out of business or loses control of their domain name?

If you're going to be doing this - and there are good and valid reasons for doing so - then make sure you're doing it through a domain and/or self-hosted script over which you have full control. $1 .info domain names can be purchased specifically for this purpose, and in many cases they will come with free URL forwarding ... you don't even need a web-hosting account or a script to accomplish it - do it directly at the registrar.

Or, if you prefer something with a little more power/flexibility, then buy a domain, hook it up to your hosting account and install a dedicated redirection/cloaking script. There are many free ones available.

Being reliant on unnecessary third-party services over which you have no control is never a good idea.