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Affiliate Id masking Question

by warriortaylor79
3 replies
Mods, I'm not sure if this the forum for this type of question, Please move if necessary.

hi, I have a couple of questions regarding affiliate link masking.

I have seen many people in blogs etc... talking about the use of sub-domains and url redirects to hid ones affiliate Id's. I've seen other sources say the same but go on about the use of php or editing the .htaccess ect...

Q: Do I still need to implement php or edit the .htaccess file if my web host already supports masking and redirects? Also, Is it possible to redirect without the lead being passed through my sub-domain, in other words I want them to be taking directly to the publishers website with no stops but still tagged with my affiliate Id. is this possible?


I have also seen services that offer to cloak your affiliate Id for a monthly subscription fee. But they go on very little about how the process works but I get the impression you still need a domain by the way they talk?

Q: Will I still need a website or php files if I used a masking service like linkshield.com or can I just plug in my affiliate link or CB hop-link and go? Also, will the service still work when using text ad's

What I want - I want instead of displaying my link with my affiliate Id I want it to be a 'clean' url, as if the lead is clicking directly to the publishers website but I am not against the idea of sub-domains if I have to.

Can someone please explain to me in simple to understand terms what I need to do to mask my affiliate Id's to clean urls

Thanks in advance

P.S - These questions are geared for someone who is going to advertise using banner and text Ad's
#affiliate #masking #question
  • Profile picture of the author LMC
    The cheapest solution is probably using some Pixel Tracking Script
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    • Profile picture of the author soon
      One of the most used solutions for affiliate id masking is making short urls of the affiliate urls. Indeed, most people choose to make a submdomain and install a short url redirect script on it.

      This will provide you with a easy solution to mask all your future and present affiliate ids.

      However, if you choose to do this and install a short url redirect script then make sure that only you can redirect urls with it. I had an unpleasant surprise when goDaddy asked for $200 (goDaddy being my registrar, not my hosting provider) because I had such a short url redirect script which was used by some other marketer.

      He made his urls short using my script and goDaddy received spam reports. Of course this was unfair but goDaddy doesn't care I had nothing to do with anything. I even gave them the real details of the spammers (I got those after I spent hours tracking them down), but they didn't care. All they wanted was the $200.

      So, to come back to your problem. If you choose to use a short url redirect script (best idea especially if you have many affiliate urls that you want to hide) then make sure only you can make short urls.
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  • Profile picture of the author Graham Maddison
    the easiest solution is use TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL

    graham
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