Is it possible/ethical to bypass a merchant's sales-page?

I don't know, but I doubt it very much indeed. You'll need to ask them, and clarify exactly what you want to do, because different people understand different things from the term "cookie-stuffing".

No, I'm sure.

I understand. Wanting to replace the vendor's sales page with a page of your own is one of the entirely legitimate reasons for wanting to do this, of course (and very advisable, clearly if he has a ridiculous flash video - I'd also want to avoid that, for sure, but in my case by promoting another product instead!). But if you do it the proper way, it does carry those little risks I mentioned above.

I'm always pretty nervous when Steve Browne and I give different answers to something. That clearly raises the possibility that I've given a bad answer. So I really do think "asking ClickBank" (if they don't post in the thread) is a good course for you.


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Hi All,

There are a number of questions in this thread and I will do my best to address each of them. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions afterwards.

The Technical Implementation

Our platform does accept a paylink where the affiliate attribution is set as part of the URL. For example, if the affiliate nickname is WARRIORXYZ and the desired outcome is to have that affiliate nickname earn the commission when product T123Z is sold by vendor SUPERSALE, then use the following formatted URL:

http://t123z.warriorxyz_supersale.pay.clickbank.net

That is the technical implementation for this type of paylink.

Attribution Priority

It is important that you understand a few caveats related to this feature. First, the underscore affiliate attribution model (which is what we refer this as here at ClickBank) is lower in priority for affiliate attribution then other methods; the cookie detection system and supplemental fingerprinting systems both take priority. If there is no match in those systems, then the affiliate attribution will belong to the affiliate nickname set on this paylink.

Second, this attribution only holds for the first purchase. Subsequent sales will not include any affiliate attribution.

Reasons Why You Would Use This

The pros of using such a model are that the vendor can work with partner affiliates to enable a model where the affiliate is driving sales direct to the order form for a given product. This partnership is likely better served using JV Contracts, as mentioned by myob above. It is also possible for a vendor to provide lifetime commissions, albeit at some risk of other methods taking priority, for subsequent sales to the same consumer long beyond the 60 day attribution methods.

The Downside To This Method

The cons of using this method should be weighed heavily, however. When an affiliate chooses to use this model to bypass the vendor's pitch page, they are running a very high risk that they are promoting a product SKU that the vendor may no longer support or sell. Often, vendors are testing different combinations of SKUs to see what converts best and at which price points. You may have elected to promote the wrong price point to maximize conversion.

Next, you are likely loosing out on the ability to enter the consumer into an upsell funnel. Without visibility into the way the vendor has configured their PitchPlus OTO sales, you cannot know how best to push that consumer through the upsell funnel and even if you did, you would miss out on any affiliate commissions that you may have otherwise earned had you used the ClickBank hop system.

Also, your ability to leverage the vendor's custom order form skin is minimized. Many vendors will test different layouts and styling for their custom order form (and even more so with the advanced CSS controlled order forms we released last year) so your conversions will not be as high, costing you more money.

Requirements For Affiliates Who Use This Method

When you create a custom lander, you must be absolutely certain that you are complying with both ClickBank terms and conditions and the vendor's affiliate terms. Certain promotional methods can result in a suspended account or getting blacklisted by the vendor from promoting their service offering. See our client contract for more guidance on this point.

How The Cash Flows

Early in the posts, SteveB mentioned stealing commissions. This method does not impact the revenue earned by the vendor; they continue to earn all sale value less affiliate commission when a customer buys the product from this type of paylink.

Cookie Stuffing

It is against our policies for any client to engage in manipulation or alteration of our referral tracking system by using techniques such as cookie stuffing. This is considered fraud and has resulted in criminal litigation in the past with several high profile criminal cases involving the FBI, other retailers and affiliate marketers. See section 3.d of the client contract linked above regarding this. In short, avoid these techniques. I posted a similar statement on a related thread here.

Final Recommendation

Our best recommendation is to contact the vendor directly and offer to work with them to improve conversions as a team. Our system is ready-built for such partnerships with trusted revenue share models through our JV Contracts. Ultimately, if you're successful, you will create greater revenue streams and customer experiences for both of you.

I hope this helped.
The ClickBank Team