Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer

59 replies
Hey,

Just want to start by saying sorry if this is in the wrong category it is really early in the morning here and I couldn't find an appropriate one.

Anyway I just wanted to know if anyone uses the Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer plugin for wordpress?

I installed it and it doesn't seem to be working, I am from the UK and everytime I click on any of the amazon links on my site I go to Amazon.com even when the same product is available on the UK site.

This is quite worrying for me because the site I have put the links on is around 50% US, 25% UK and then the ROW, so I dont want to be losing 25% of my potential earnings (plus my ROW is made up with a large % of other amazon countries like France and Germany).

So basically I am wondering if this plugin has worked well for you because it could be I have done something wrong somewhere.

Also I was looking through the code for the plugin and came accross this bit of code, so though instead of screaming scam I would ask about it as I cannot understand the coding of it:

{window.addEventListener("load",checkAmazonLinks,f alse)}else{window.attachEvent("onload",checkAmazon Links)}var arrAffiliatesSpares={"co.uk":"pcrev05","com":"pete will-20","de":"petewill05-21","fr":"petewill-21","ca":"petewill00-20","jp":"petewill-22"};

This bit of code seems to be putting other amazon affiliates into the link instead of my own. There could be an innocent explanation for this of course so thought I would ask here.

Thanks for reading guys and any help is appreciated!
Jason
#affiliate #amazon #link #localizer
  • Profile picture of the author powerspike
    While i don't know the context of the code, but those are other people's amazon id's, the -20 -21 tells you they are (the -20 is a region - north america i think).

    Just going off the code you pasted, perhaps it just there to fill in "blank" affiliate id's (hence arrAffiliatesSpares).
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    • Profile picture of the author jasonTBA
      Originally Posted by powerspike View Post

      While i don't know the context of the code, but those are other people's amazon id's, the -20 -21 tells you they are (the -20 is a region - north america i think).

      Just going off the code you pasted, perhaps it just there to fill in "blank" affiliate id's (hence arrAffiliatesSpares).
      That's what I assumed as well but the plugin is supposed to put your aff id in as well when none is attached.

      Strange anyway, I have emailed the plugin developer but had no response
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  • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
    Just read this in the WP Plugin Directory:
    Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer

    This plugin changes any Amazon links on your site to use your affiliate ID. It also changes the link to point to the user's local Amazon store.

    This plugin not only automatically changes any Amazon link on your site to use your affiliate ID, but it also changes the link to point to the user's local Amazon store.
    So if your visitor is visiting from the UK they'll get a link to Amazon.co.uk, if they're visiting from the US they'll get a link to the same product on Amazon.com.
    All you have to do is provide all your affiliate IDs.
    It doesn't matter if the link is in your post, in your template or anywhere else on your page - it'll be converted automatically.

    From what it says, the plugin should select the country automatically. Somewhere, something is going wrong.
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  • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
    Those Amazon affiliate links belong to the plugin authors. They're straight up about this from the outset and don't hide it at all - the plugin lets you hoover up Amazon commissions from more than one region if you have the relevant accounts (e.g .com and .co.uk). If your visitor instead uses Amazon from a region where you don't have an account, the commission goes to the authors. Not unreasonable - since it can't go to you anyway, then it may as well go somewhere.
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    • Profile picture of the author jasonTBA
      Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

      Those Amazon affiliate links belong to the plugin authors. They're straight up about this from the outset and don't hide it at all - the plugin lets you hoover up Amazon commissions from more than one region if you have the relevant accounts (e.g .com and .co.uk). If your visitor instead uses Amazon from a region where you don't have an account, the commission goes to the authors. Not unreasonable - since it can't go to you anyway, then it may as well go somewhere.
      I suppose that's pretty reasonable.

      I still have the problem that it just doesn't work however, I am from the UK and every Amazon link I click still takes me to the .com site with my .com affiliate id attached.

      Am I just being stupid here, has someone else installed this and had it work fine?
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      • Profile picture of the author Young Samurai
        I'm interested in the responses to this thread.

        I'm in the same situation and have been looking at this plugin this past few days.

        Has anyone from the UK tried it?

        Thank you.
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      • Profile picture of the author bitriot
        Originally Posted by jasonTBA View Post

        I suppose that's pretty reasonable.

        I still have the problem that it just doesn't work however, I am from the UK and every Amazon link I click still takes me to the .com site with my .com affiliate id attached.

        Am I just being stupid here, has someone else installed this and had it work fine?
        Do you have an amazon associate ID for en UK entered? TO set up the plugin you need to be registered with each Amazon Associate program that you want the plugin to cover (DE, FR, US, UK, JP, ETC). Then you enter your associate code from each amazon associate country site into the plugin.

        I was using this but I turned it off because I haven't had any comissions yet and I want to make sure that the plugin isnt the issue...
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Ward
    Is there any way to do this but also use an affiliate link cloak/redirect? I'm using the "Pretty Links" WP plugin to redirect my Amazon links, but I'm guessing this won't work with it. Just checked and I'm missing a good 25% of my traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author roadwarriorhawk
      Originally Posted by mattward View Post

      Is there any way to do this but also use an affiliate link cloak/redirect? I'm using the "Pretty Links" WP plugin to redirect my Amazon links, but I'm guessing this won't work with it. Just checked and I'm missing a good 25% of my traffic.
      I'm interested to know if anyone has anymore info on this too?

      I've been using pretty links to create the aff link. Would the plugin recognise this?

      Also, I wanted to know how the plugin actually works.

      Lets say I have my long affiliate link just naturally coded into the website. so... www.amazon.com/blahblahblah-afflink-etcetc

      Would the plugin change that code for different visitors from different countries, or should I just be using direct links to amazon, and let the plugin take care of the aff id and incorporating it into the link?

      Sorry if that sounds confusing...I've been having some serious problems getting my thoughts in to text of late! (just check some of my other posts!) lol.
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      • Profile picture of the author roadwarriorhawk
        Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

        Those Amazon affiliate links belong to the plugin authors. They're straight up about this from the outset and don't hide it at all - the plugin lets you hoover up Amazon commissions from more than one region if you have the relevant accounts (e.g .com and .co.uk). If your visitor instead uses Amazon from a region where you don't have an account, the commission goes to the authors. Not unreasonable - since it can't go to you anyway, then it may as well go somewhere.
        Straight up from the outset?

        It doesn't say ANYWHERE on the wordpress install page about this. You have to visit the publishers website to read that info. How often do people do that?

        I think it's a little sneaky of him.

        Some people may have installed the plugin, activated it, but not filled in their details yet!

        At least make it clear for everyone downloading it, at the point they download it, that this happens!

        Anyway, mini rant over. I actually came here to bump this.

        If anyone has knowledge and is willing to answer these questions, please do.

        I use an affiliate link cloaker. How does this impact the use of the plugin?

        Also, if I just have a plain direct link to amazon, ie. just the domain name, amazon[dot]com. Is all I need to do is enter each of my aff id and the plugin will take care of it all?

        What happens if I put in a full aff id, the whole long link? Does the plugin take care of that too?

        It's not clear how to use the plugin, or how its meant to work, other than 'put your aff id's here'.
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        • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
          Originally Posted by roadwarriorhawk View Post

          Straight up from the outset?

          It doesn't say ANYWHERE on the wordpress install page about this. You have to visit the publishers website to read that info. How often do people do that?

          I think it's a little sneaky of him.

          Some people may have installed the plugin, activated it, but not filled in their details yet!

          At least make it clear for everyone downloading it, at the point they download it, that this happens!
          It doesn't say much else on the WordPress install page either, but it does show a big link to the publisher's website where full disclosure is prominently given. Hardly sneaky. As for anyone who would activate a plugin and just let it waste resources until they can be bothered to fill in the required details, they only have themselves to blame, just as they only have themselves to blame for their ignorance of what they're installing if they lack the sense to click on a blindingly obvious link for further information.
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          • Profile picture of the author roadwarriorhawk
            Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

            It doesn't say much else on the WordPress install page either, but it does show a big link to the publisher's website where full disclosure is prominently given. Hardly sneaky. As for anyone who would activate a plugin and just let it waste resources until they can be bothered to fill in the required details, they only have themselves to blame, just as they only have themselves to blame for their ignorance of what they're installing if they lack the sense to click on a blindingly obvious link for further information.
            My point was he could have made it a whole lot more obvious by having it disclosed in the short description where the plugin is downloaded. You can question everything else and argue against that all you like.

            I've installed dozens of plugins where the short description is more than enough to get me going on how to use the plugin. Sure I could check, and it's my responsibililty to check also. But he certainly has a responsibility, if only morally, to make it as clear as possible what the plugin does without making people search it out. What, did he run out of space in the short description where you download the plugin??? Doesn't look like it.

            Anyway, lil miss high and mighty, look into every single detail of every plugin by visiting the publishers page...you argue against that all you like.

            Btw, 'big link', 'full disclosure prominently given'? Don't chat rubbish, and stop trying to get smart.

            I've made a valid point - his disclosure should be made clearer.

            Go read more publisher pages, and let us know how obvious everything else is, and how ignorant I am.

            I'll continue waiting here for answers to questions people are actually asking.
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            • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
              Perhaps it never crossed his mind that it needed to be made 'obvious' that if you don't have an account with any of the Amazon sites in question then you won't get the commission. That would be obvious to most people.

              Perhaps it never crossed his mind that anyone would object to him earning those commissions that they couldn't, in exchange for his efforts in creating a plugin that allowed them to earn all the commissions they would otherwise miss out on. After all, this plugin is only going to be used by other internet marketers - people who allegedly understand that the majority of marketing resources are placed online by other people who expect to earn a living from them.

              Perhaps I was wrong in bothering to respond to your 'Straight up from the outset?' post just because you'd quoted me as defending him in it, but I'm not about to have my name associated with sharp practices especially when there aren't any. I'm not questioning anything - I know what I think. I'm not arguing anything - an argument implies a two-way exchange with someone still the slightest bit interested in the issue and I'm done with it.

              I hope you find the answers you're seeking.


              Originally Posted by roadwarriorhawk View Post

              My point was he could have made it a whole lot more obvious by having it disclosed in the short description where the plugin is downloaded. You can question everything else and argue against that all you like.

              I've installed dozens of plugins where the short description is more than enough to get me going on how to use the plugin. Sure I could check, and it's my responsibililty to check also. But he certainly has a responsibility, if only morally, to make it as clear as possible what the plugin does without making people search it out. What, did he run out of space in the short description where you download the plugin??? Doesn't look like it.

              Anyway, lil miss high and mighty, look into every single detail of every plugin by visiting the publishers page...you argue against that all you like.

              Btw, 'big link', 'full disclosure prominently given'? Don't chat rubbish, and stop trying to get smart.

              I've made a valid point - his disclosure should be made clearer.

              Go read more publisher pages, and let us know how obvious everything else is, and how ignorant I am.

              I'll continue waiting here for answers to questions people are actually asking.
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              • Profile picture of the author roadwarriorhawk
                Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

                Perhaps it never crossed his mind that it needed to be made 'obvious' that if you don't have an account with any of the Amazon sites in question then you won't get the commission. That would be obvious to most people.

                Perhaps it never crossed his mind that anyone would object to him earning those commissions that they couldn't, in exchange for his efforts in creating a plugin that allowed them to earn all the commissions they would otherwise miss out on. After all, this plugin is only going to be used by other internet marketers - people who allegedly understand that the majority of marketing resources are placed online by other people who expect to earn a living from them.

                Perhaps I was wrong in bothering to respond to your 'Straight up from the outset?' post just because you'd quoted me as defending him in it, but I'm not about to have my name associated with sharp practices especially when there aren't any. I'm not questioning anything - I know what I think. I'm not arguing anything - an argument implies a two-way exchange with someone still the slightest bit interested in the issue and I'm done with it.

                I hope you find the answers you're seeking.
                Yeah, perhaps. And perhaps I came across as though I was upset or even against him making a commission in such a manner (even though not once did I explicitly say such a thing - so don't know where you would get that from)...I was merely making a point. I think it's fine he makes his commission, only I think it should be made clearler...clearer than it already, apparently is. There's ample opportunity for him to include that disclosure in the plugins download short description, full description, and even when you go and configure the plugin. But there's nothing! Instead, he wants you to click through to his website and read a less-than-prominent one-liner at the bottom.

                Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

                Perhaps it never crossed his mind that it needed to be made 'obvious' that if you don't have an account with any of the Amazon sites in question then you won't get the commission. That would be obvious to most people.

                Oh - and that he would make the commission instead? Yeah - that's right. Not something I need to know. Let him just continue making money off my back without me knowing! Not something you should do your best to let people know just because they're using a plugin he created.

                WHAT!?


                Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

                Perhaps I was wrong in bothering to respond to your 'Straight up from the outset?'
                Yes. You were.

                Anyway, I think I'll stop too. Clearly there's more than meets the eye (virtual lovers, maybe?...oh wait, you're both from the UK!) for you to keep wanting to defend these points...

                Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

                I hope you find the answers you're seeking.
                Yep, and I already have.
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                • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
                  Originally Posted by roadwarriorhawk View Post

                  Anyway, I think I'll stop too. Clearly there's more than meets the eye (virtual lovers, maybe?...oh wait, you're both from the UK!) for you to keep wanting to defend these points...
                  I did my very best to ignore the tone of your previous post and end this exchange politely, but it's one thing for you to accuse me of defending sharp practice and another thing again for you to accuse me of colluding with it.

                  I have never met the marketer in question, never communicated with him in any way and did not even realise that he was from the UK, which is a much bigger place than you seem to think it is. I repeat, there is nothing hidden about the way the plugin author can profit from it, and I would always defend any other marketer against such unfair suggestions too, even you, particularly when they are not around to defend themselves.

                  My only regret is in encountering someone who repeatedly sees things that aren't there. I have done nothing wrong here and am quite comfortable with my part in all of it, but then I'm not the one apparently still keen on using a plugin that I believe to be associated with dodgy dealings.

                  Again, I sincerely hope you get all that's due to you.
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                  • Profile picture of the author roadwarriorhawk
                    Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

                    I did my very best to ignore the tone of your previous post and end this exchange politely, but it's one thing for you to accuse me of defending sharp practice and another thing again for you to accuse me of colluding with it.

                    I have never met the marketer in question, never communicated with him in any way and did not even realise that he was from the UK, which is a much bigger place than you seem to think it is. I repeat, there is nothing hidden about the way the plugin author can profit from it, and I would always defend any other marketer against such unfair suggestions too, even you, particularly when they are not around to defend themselves.

                    My only regret is in encountering someone who repeatedly sees things that aren't there. I have done nothing wrong here and am quite comfortable with my part in all of it, but then I'm not the one apparently still keen on using a plugin that I believe to be associated with dodgy dealings.

                    Again, I sincerely hope you get all that's due to you.
                    I'm due lots of good stuff. So I hope so too.

                    I'm also no longer keen on the plugin. (can't you tell)

                    Anyway...I apologise for my tone. It was out of order.
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                    • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
                      Originally Posted by roadwarriorhawk View Post

                      I'm due lots of good stuff. So I hope so too.

                      I'm also no longer keen on the plugin. (can't you tell)

                      Anyway...I apologise for my tone. It was out of order.
                      Fair enough. Apologies if I really have come across as 'high and mighty' - it was never my intention to patronise. Apologies too to the OP for the way the thread ended up being derailed. Hopefully it's back on track and on topic now and the required answers will make an appearance.
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          • Profile picture of the author kpjjf
            Originally Posted by Diana Lane View Post

            It doesn't say much else on the WordPress install page either, but it does show a big link to the publisher's website where full disclosure is prominently given. Hardly sneaky. As for anyone who would activate a plugin and just let it waste resources until they can be bothered to fill in the required details, they only have themselves to blame, just as they only have themselves to blame for their ignorance of what they're installing if they lack the sense to click on a blindingly obvious link for further information.
            Well said. Totally agree with you...
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            • Profile picture of the author Pete Williams
              Hi guys, I've had a bit of time to make an update to the script - would anyone be interested in beta testing it before I release it?

              Cheers

              Pete
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Ward
        Originally Posted by roadwarriorhawk View Post

        I'm interested to know if anyone has anymore info on this too?

        I've been using pretty links to create the aff link. Would the plugin recognise this?

        Also, I wanted to know how the plugin actually works.

        Lets say I have my long affiliate link just naturally coded into the website. so... www.amazon.com/blahblahblah-afflink-etcetc

        Would the plugin change that code for different visitors from different countries, or should I just be using direct links to amazon, and let the plugin take care of the aff id and incorporating it into the link?

        Sorry if that sounds confusing...I've been having some serious problems getting my thoughts in to text of late! (just check some of my other posts!) lol.
        Looking at the javascript version, it simply replaces all instances of "amazon.* with ".com/.uk/jp/whatever" - and in some (a lot?) of cases those items don't even exist on the non-US Amazon sites, so you might be sending them to the completely wrong item or just an error page.

        I don't know which is the better way to go. I feel like having bare Amazon links is possibly worse than just having cloaked "pretty links" and missing out on non-US visitors.
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        • Profile picture of the author getsmartt
          You are absolutely correct, there are a large majority of Amazon products that may or may not be available in the different locales. It is risky business to simply strip off the .com and add on the local specific TLD.

          Originally Posted by mattward View Post

          Looking at the javascript version, it simply replaces all instances of "amazon.* with ".com/.uk/jp/whatever" - and in some (a lot?) of cases those items don't even exist on the non-US Amazon sites, so you might be sending them to the completely wrong item or just an error page.

          I don't know which is the better way to go. I feel like having bare Amazon links is possibly worse than just having cloaked "pretty links" and missing out on non-US visitors.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ntech25
    A lot of the new scripts these days cloak amazon links. My 1shopelectronics.com has all amazon links cloaked.

    Also my wordpress sites I have a plugin i use to cloak any link. Will try to find name when I get a chance.
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  • Profile picture of the author da1fitz
    In answer to the original post, I have been using this plugin and can confirm that the clicks are divided as expected (.co.uk/.com/.ca).

    I haven't looked at the code so am not really sure how the plugin captures the locale, but if it's as simple as grabbing the language from your browser, could it be that your browser settings are set to en-US rather than en-gb therefore directing you to .com ??

    Cheers.
    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author jasonTBA
      Originally Posted by da1fitz View Post

      In answer to the original post, I have been using this plugin and can confirm that the clicks are divided as expected (.co.uk/.com/.ca).

      I haven't looked at the code so am not really sure how the plugin captures the locale, but if it's as simple as grabbing the language from your browser, could it be that your browser settings are set to en-US rather than en-gb therefore directing you to .com ??

      Cheers.
      Paul
      Thanks for sharing your experience. I have no idea to be honest, I will check out from another computer and see where that sends me.

      Also Paul, how do you link to amazon? Do you direct link to the page and the plugin puts the aff code in? Or do you just put up your normal amazon aff link and the plugin converts it for you?

      Cheers
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      • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
        I've been using this plugin for a few months and it does as it says. I've just clicked on some of the Amazon links on sites that I'm using it on and was taken through to the UK site as I should have been.
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  • Profile picture of the author phpnetpro
    I've been thinking about making an Amazon plugin for Wordpress because I always find myself wanting extra features or an easy way to create a lot of different advertisements.

    I also have one Amazon site I recently made where the products are only available to certain countries for particular products or on certain Amazon country sites. Not all of the products were available on other product sites, so I needed to be able to use different product ids for various countries.

    Does anyone else find a lack of functionality with current Amazon Wordpress plugins? I'd love to hear some of the things you want an Amazon plugin to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author tjm2788
    I tried to use this but I wasn't convinced it worked. As its such a crucial part of my site and sales process I opted not to use it. I think giving visitors the option by country is just as good.
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    • Profile picture of the author Pete Williams
      Hey guys,

      My name's Pete and I wrote this plugin. It looks like there are some questions/comments about the plugin so I thought I'd pop in and see if I can help.

      Just to explain, the script does use my affilliate IDs, but only where you don't provide your own. It will never overwrite your IDs, and so will never deprive you of any commission. This is explained on the page on my site for this script:

      DISCLOSURE
      If you do not insert your own affiliate IDs the script will use mine. Hopefully this will help fund my book addiction!
      That's said, for some reason this isn't on the Wordpress Plugin page for the plugin and it should be - I'll add it when I next update the script. I'm not sure why it wasn't there in the first place as I did it over a year ago, but it's also missing various other sections that are on my site, so I imagine there was a character limit or I was just trying to cut it down to the bare essentials to explain the concept succinctly.

      Believe me, I'm not making a killing by pulling the wool over people's eyes on this one! Thinking about the Amazon commission I've made and the time I've spent on the script and responding to endless support queries, I'd estimate it's worked out at earning me about 20p/hour!

      Some people have mentioned it's not working for them - if that's the case for you, can you post a link to an example and I'll check it out for you.

      The most common reason it doesn't appear to work is when people link to an item that is not stocked at the local site. The script automatically checks if an item is sold and if not it does not localise the link. I'm changing this in the next version so that it changes to a search page at the local site for the requested item. This is because some items have different product IDs in different countries - for instance the PS3 on .com has a different ID to the one on .co.uk because they are actually slightly different products. Therefore changing the link to co.uk would not work, but if it searched .co.uk for 'Playstation 3' it would take you straight to the product.

      The other issue is that the script doesn't yet work with Amazon widgets (that use iframes) or some other wordpress plugins that generate other kinds of links. Again, this is something I am looking to resolve in the next version.

      I'll try answer some specific questions now, please let me know if I miss yours!

      Would the plugin change that code for different visitors from different countries
      Yes it would.

      Also, if I just have a plain direct link to amazon, ie. just the domain name, amazon[dot]com. Is all I need to do is enter each of my aff id and the plugin will take care of it all?
      Yup.

      What happens if I put in a full aff id, the whole long link? Does the plugin take care of that too?
      Yup.

      It's not clear how to use the plugin, or how its meant to work, other than 'put your aff id's here'.
      The idea is that it takes care of everything for you - you forget about localising or affiliating and it'll do it for you. But I think you are right, more information on some things is needed, so I'll be adding a FAQ to the next version.

      Looking at the javascript version, it simply replaces all instances of "amazon.* with ".com/.uk/jp/whatever" - and in some (a lot?) of cases those items don't even exist on the non-US Amazon sites, so you might be sending them to the completely wrong item or just an error page.
      As mentioned, the Wordpress version takes care of this. The plain JS version needs updating.

      You are absolutely correct, there are a large majority of Amazon products that may or may not be available in the different locales. It is risky business to simply strip off the .com and add on the local specific TLD.
      As above, the WP version checks links before changing them.

      My point was he could have made it a whole lot more obvious by having it disclosed in the short description where the plugin is downloaded
      You're right, and I'll change this.

      could it be that your browser settings are set to en-US rather than en-gb therefore directing you to .com ??
      Nope, it works your location out form your IP.

      Strange anyway, I have emailed the plugin developer but had no response
      I can't see any email from you, when did you send it?

      Any more questions, please do ask?

      Thanks

      Pete
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      • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
        Originally Posted by Pete Williams View Post

        Hey guys,

        My name's Pete and I wrote this plugin. It looks like there are some questions/comments about the plugin so I thought I'd pop in and see if I can help.

        Just to explain, the script does use my affilliate IDs, but only where you don't provide your own. It will never overwrite your IDs, and so will never deprive you of any commission. This is explained on the page on my site for this script:


        That's said, for some reason this isn't on the Wordpress Plugin page for the plugin and it should be - I'll add it when I next update the script. I'm not sure why it wasn't there in the first place as I did it over a year ago, but it's also missing various other sections that are on my site, so I imagine there was a character limit or I was just trying to cut it down to the bare essentials to explain the concept succinctly.

        Believe me, I'm not making a killing by pulling the wool over people's eyes on this one! Thinking about the Amazon commission I've made and the time I've spent on the script and responding to endless support queries, I'd estimate it's worked out at earning me about 20p/hour!

        Some people have mentioned it's not working for them - if that's the case for you, can you post a link to an example and I'll check it out for you.

        The most common reason it doesn't appear to work is when people link to an item that is not stocked at the local site. The script automatically checks if an item is sold and if not it does not localise the link. I'm changing this in the next version so that it changes to a search page at the local site for the requested item. This is because some items have different product IDs in different countries - for instance the PS3 on .com has a different ID to the one on .co.uk because they are actually slightly different products. Therefore changing the link to co.uk would not work, but if it searched .co.uk for 'Playstation 3' it would take you straight to the product.

        The other issue is that the script doesn't yet work with Amazon widgets (that use iframes) or some other wordpress plugins that generate other kinds of links. Again, this is something I am looking to resolve in the next version.
        I'm using this and took it for granted that you would earn something from the countries that I wasn't affiliated to and think that fair when I can use this free plugin.

        I've found that this plugin works with WP Robot and Autoestore
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Ward
    A version of this that supported url cloaking/redirection (website.com/go/randomamazonitem/) would be very cool.

    I'm not a huge fan of having the bare links showing, for various reasons, but you can't have it both ways, I guess.
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  • Profile picture of the author Pete Williams
    Please do let me hear any more suggestions as I'd love to improve the plugin further.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonTBA
    Thanks for throwing in on this Pete. An update were it would do the search if the item was not the same would be pretty sweet, is this actually something you are working on now or is it just something you are thinking about?
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    • Profile picture of the author Pete Williams
      Originally Posted by jasonTBA View Post

      Thanks for throwing in on this Pete. An update were it would do the search if the item was not the same would be pretty sweet, is this actually something you are working on now or is it just something you are thinking about?
      Yup, that part is already done, I just need to find some time - when I'm not busy with paid work - so I can finish the rest of the updates I've got planned.

      Pete
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  • Profile picture of the author snoopy66689
    Is the plugin avaible now ?
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      Originally Posted by snoopy66689 View Post

      Is the plugin avaible now ?
      Go into your wordpress dashboard, then plugins, search for Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer
      and then install.
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      • Profile picture of the author snoopy66689
        Originally Posted by PatriciaJ View Post

        Go into your wordpress dashboard, then plugins, search for Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer
        and then install.
        it is a old version, and it did not include the link cloaker
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        • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
          Originally Posted by snoopy66689 View Post

          it is a old version, and it did not include the link cloaker
          Wasn't aware that it had one, perhaps that will be amongst the updates that the developer is talking about in this thread.

          I don't think that you need a link cloaker with Amazon, the company is so well trusted that nobody minds their links.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alcatraz
    Installing this plugin slowed my loading time down massively. I would like to try it again when it has been updated and is compatible with WP V 3.0.3

    And if anyones worried about the affiliate links paying the author then just open an account in each of the locales. For me I really can't be a**ed with getting a check for $10 in japenese yen, the author is welcome to it

    @ Pete Williams - could you update this thread when you have updated the plugin so I can give it another try? Cheers
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  • Suggestion, even though you can do this for yourself. Having the plugin automatically insert nofollow tags to the Amazon links would be great. They have enough as it is!

    And silly me I used the search function and completely forgot to check when this thread was made lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Oxby
    Hi Pete
    I would love test your new beta edition on a few sites.

    Tom
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  • Profile picture of the author Larkrise
    Hi Pete

    I have been looking for a plugin like this for ages - have you notified Reviewazon as they didnt seem to know of any when I asked?
    I am very happy for you to collect any comms I dont put in ID's for - I reckon you deserve it for all your hard work

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author LancelotStudios
    I agree that using "pretty link" that looks better would be more useful than keeping the "bare" amazon link so you can utilize the plugin. I've also heard that google likes seeing the "pretty links" over the amazon links because they don't like affiliate links as much.

    Curious if anyone else had some thoughts on this....
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  • Profile picture of the author londoncoffee
    Looks like the plugin is doing well now. Pete's updated it as of 2011-9-23 and over 17000 downloads. Nice one Pete.
    Cheers!
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    • Profile picture of the author Pete Williams
      Originally Posted by londoncoffee View Post

      Looks like the plugin is doing well now. Pete's updated it as of 2011-9-23 and over 17000 downloads. Nice one Pete.
      Cheers!
      Thanks mate! I've had a bit more time to work on the plugin recently, so it's had quite a few tweaks and new features added to the latest version.

      I've also finally updated the non-Wordpress version for anyone who wants to use this system but doesn't use Wordpress. Unfortuantely I don't have permission to post links here but it's at:
      petewilliams.info/blog/2009/07/javascript-amazon-associate-link-localiser

      If anybody has any suggestions for features they'd like to see in a future version, do please let me know and I'd happy to look into them.

      Cheers

      Pete
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      • Profile picture of the author awddude
        I also want to get link cloaking working with this plugin. I have tried various combinations all day and they all over-write and don't work.

        Does anyone have an idea on how to cloak links while still using this plugin?

        I have some 200 products, all with bare Amazon links. I have relied on this plugin to add my affiliate ID. Now I want to cloak them all, but haven't found any solution

        Any ideas?

        Cheers,
        Anton
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        • Profile picture of the author Pete Williams
          Hi guys, link cloaking seems to be a very popular suggestion so it's certainly something I can look at adding. I'm not really an internet marketeer myself though so I have to say I don't understand why you would want to hide the targets of your link? I would have thought that would be something that would put users off and lower conversion rates.

          Can somebody please explain the benefits to me?

          Thanks

          Pete
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          • Profile picture of the author awddude
            Hey Pete no problem.

            Link cloaking is not simply hiding the link. For example it will change the link from

            amazon.com%3Adresses&page=2&keywords=dresses&ie=UT F8&qid=1317965484
            to:
            mysite.com/product/dfa1
            From a Google perspective:

            I have LOT's of Amazon links on my site. For some of my posts, I will outline 10 products, each with 6-8 links and a 50 word description. The ratio of links to words is very high. When Google looks at my site I am immediately flagged as an affiliate site. That means the Google Algorithm is watching me closer, and I am more susceptible to penalization and have to be more careful about what I do.

            If my links are cloaked, Google can not flag me as an affiliate, making it easier for me to rank higher.

            There are some other arguments as well:
            • People can not delete the affiliate portion of the link
            • Looks more professional for users
            • Might help the click-through rate if users believe they are not being redirected to an unknown site
            • Prevents saturation of internal link juice

            For me at least, the number one priority is so I am not immediately flagged by Google as an affiliate site. And the ratio of links to content I have is very high so they have probably already marked me as a potential spammer. (I also have a .info rather than a .com, so 2 flags have been raised)

            Hope this helps,
            Anton

            PS. If you do go ahead and implement link cloaking, please have an option to cloak all links rather than solely 1 by 1.
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            • Profile picture of the author KarimPPC
              Originally Posted by awddude View Post

              I have LOT's of Amazon links on my site. For some of my posts, I will outline 10 products, each with 6-8 links and a 50 word description. The ratio of links to words is very high. When Google looks at my site I am immediately flagged as an affiliate site. That means the Google Algorithm is watching me closer, and I am more susceptible to penalization and have to be more careful about what I do.

              If my links are cloaked, Google can not flag me as an affiliate, making it easier for me to rank higher.
              Clearly google is very dumb and doesn't follow cloaked links to find out where they point to.

              :rolleyes:

              I guess all these twitter seo tests were also wrong, because google obviouslly cannot follow through cloaked links and give any value to these pages that get retweeted thousands of times.
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          • Profile picture of the author Curtis B
            Originally Posted by Pete Williams View Post

            Hi guys, link cloaking seems to be a very popular suggestion so it's certainly something I can look at adding. I'm not really an internet marketeer myself though so I have to say I don't understand why you would want to hide the targets of your link? I would have thought that would be something that would put users off and lower conversion rates.

            Can somebody please explain the benefits to me?

            Thanks

            Pete
            In addition to what has been said about the benefits of actually "cloaking" the link, I installed "Pretty Link" on my website mainly so I could track clicks on these links and easily change these links should the link itself change.

            My site is linking to the same "products" or company information pages often throughout many posts. Not only do I want to know how often people are clicking on each individual link (Pretty link tracks this), I like knowing that if the target website changes the url to the "product"/info page I am linking to, I don't have to remember ALL of the pages/posts I linked to it in and then go in and manually change it to the new url in all of these posts/pages. That's too much work with too much room for error.

            Instead, using a plugin like Pretty Link, I can just go into this plugin and adjust the target url to this "pretty link" that I have used on many posts throughout my site. I think of it like the powers of using custom classes with CSS. You can change it in one place, and it automatically changes it everywhere I used this css class (or pretty link) in this case all over my pages/posts.

            So Pete, I would love to be able to use your plugin and be able to track/cloak my links using Pretty Links if at all possible. I know I would definitely pay you a "pro" plugin price if it did both.

            Curtis
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            • Profile picture of the author Bryan
              I just wanted to add some clarification to what Pete added where as people like Diane are concerned about missing out on commissions.

              I tested the plugin but instead of using just the just the link to a product and expecting the plugin to add in the affiliate tag for the appropriate country, I add my US affiliate product link in my posts, so if I don't have the Canadian affiliate tag added in the settings page, when a Canadian clicks through, they go to the US page with your affiliate tag.

              Since it appears that having the US tag in the link and not having the Canadian tag added in the settings page -- there wasn't an overide where I would be redirected to the Canadian store with Pete's link.

              I first tried the Canadian tag inserted in the setting page and it worked as I was redirected to the Canada store with my Canadian tag embedded. I didn't want to stick with this for the one product was not available on the Canada Amazon store, and another was much more expensive. It's not worth 3-4 bucks commission to direct a fellow Canadian to the Canada store to where they would be charged $70+ more! Amazon's Canadian store is ridiculous and I've compared products quite bit that I was planning on buying myself.

              So, I just did what I mentioned earlier and removed the Canadian tag from settings and as well having the US tag embedded in my link, and I was directed to the US store.

              I recommend others to do this as well for I shop from Amazon US store and can find what I want and get it cheaper that if I bought it from the Canadian store. In the odd case when researching products to promote on the US store, I would see dynamic text on a page saying that item would not be shipped to my area, but they are usually obscure items that are probably not available on the Canada store.
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  • Profile picture of the author KarimPPC
    if i were you I would hardcode this and put my own affiliate id into the scri[t as well as in the admin of the plugin just to be sure.

    having said that, if you had to outsource this creation it would cost you a fair bit to implement, this plugin is free, so the coder needs to get paid too.

    I see no issues with this what so ever if his affiliate lnks are used when you haven't added yours in.

    Suppose you signed up to every amazon affiliate except for france, so you put all your accounts in instead of france. The french visitor is only going to buy from french amazon site, so he will visit amazon france and because you don't have an affiliate account there, nobody makes any comission (or at least the last guy who had a french amazon affiliate link, which could be anyone with a 90 day cookie).

    So why is it so bad if the coder decides to drop his affiliate link in there in the absense of your code?>
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  • Profile picture of the author KarimPPC
    I signed up to all amazon affiliates except for china and japan, it seems that you can't use your nomal amazon logins for accounts over there, couple possibly be down to some restrictions placed by the governments meaniing you have to sign up to a new amazon account to get access.
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    • Profile picture of the author cooler1
      Im in the UK. I installed this plugin, but when I click on a US affiliate link, it doesn't direct me to the UK amazon site instead it goes to the US site for that product.

      The products on the UK amazon site have different ASIN numbers than the US site amazon site, but in the FAQ section below it says that it should link to a search results page if the product doesn't have the same ID.

      WordPress › Amazon Affiliate Link Localizer « WordPress Plugins

      Any idea why it isn't directing to the UK site?

      Im not using Amazon widgets, im using text links. Also, i've ensured that the UK affiliate ID is in the plugin's settings.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bryan
        Did you check to make sure you saved it? Go back to the ID settings page to see if the ID is still showing in the field. If it isn't, you probably didn't click the update button. You'll want to ensure you also updated the plugin to the latest version as well. If it still doesn't work, contact the developer.
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        • Profile picture of the author cooler1
          Originally Posted by Bryan View Post

          Did you check to make sure you saved it? Go back to the ID settings page to see if the ID is still showing in the field. If it isn't, you probably didn't click the update button. You'll want to ensure you also updated the plugin to the latest version as well. If it still doesn't work, contact the developer.
          Yes I saved it. Also the plugin is the latest version.

          Could it have something to do with the way the plugin detects the users location? I read a forum post in the plugin support section and it mentioned that the way it detects the users location isn't always accurate.

          Someone mentioned something about using a Google API key also, but Pete says that isn't required for the plugin to function.
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  • Profile picture of the author retroslice
    Do we have to have affiliate accounts at both UK and US to do this?

    I just got told from amazon support that if someone enters your site which promotes Amazon US, and they redirect themselves to Amazon UK or any other region and buy something, we will not get paid for that.. which is the opposite of what I have been told and read on here ...
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  • Profile picture of the author dslr001
    Does anyone know of a Amazon Link Localiser plugin for a normal website?
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