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Sell, Maneuver, or Give Up?

by stacycooper
7 replies
OK - so here's the deal. I have a website that is an exact domain name site that was ID'd by my affiliate network as not being cool. Therefore, they told me to take the domain down even though this site makes a ton of $. Obviously, I would like to not lose the traffic, but they don't want me to forward the URL - just take it down.

What are my options? I would like to anonymously forward the URL to another site in such a way that the affiliate links remain intact, but without a link to the original site. Or, should I just dump the domain name? I can't find another affiliate network that sells the same product, so that isn't an option. Is there a way to cloak the affiliate links in a site that this domain is forwarded to so that the trail can't be followed?

Just looking for ideas. Thank you!
#cloak affiliate links #forward or redirect #give #maneuver #sell #sell domain name
  • Profile picture of the author lluporini
    Originally Posted by stacycooper View Post

    ...I would like to anonymously forward the URL to another site in such a way that the affiliate links remain intact, but without a link to the original site....
    Can you explain yourself deeper about that?

    You could do a permanent redirect on all your domain links to a new one for sure but I do not understand if that will apply to your use case.

    Please, be more specific so we can think about the alternatives.

    Best,
    Luis
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    • Profile picture of the author stacycooper
      Thanks for your reply.

      Let's say I have a domain, what-ever.com - what-ever Resources and Information. This website is for sale! and I am selling a product called "whatever". The domain is similar but not the same as the product. The product is being sold via an affiliate network.

      Someone (probably another affiliate) didn't like the similarity between my domain name and the name of the product, so they contacted the affiliate network which then told me that I would need to take the domain down. Forwarding it to another domain would not be sufficient since I would still be profiting from the similar domain name.

      So, what is the best way to deal with this?
      a. sell the domain
      b. take down the domain altogether
      c. forward the domain to another website that I own (thus taking advantage of the continuing traffic or awhile) and sell another product with another affiliate company?
      d. keep the site up and change the product being sold to a competitor, but that wouldn't make my affiliate guy super happy.
      e. somehow forward the domain in such a way that the traffic cannot be tracked to me, per se, but I will still get my affiliate tracking ID over to the site where the order is placed.

      Option "e" is preferable, but I am not sure how I can forward this traffic without my affiliate guy figuring it out. I have been unable to find another affiliate network that offers this product by the way, so it's not like I can move to another network and sell the same product.

      I obviously realize that eventually Google will start demoting the site as it realizes that it is being forwarded, so I know that this is a sinking boat. I just want to take advantage of the traffic for as long as I can, even if that means a few weeks since we are talking about an awful lot of money right now.

      Any helpful hints would be greatly appreciated. I am sure that I am not the first person here who had the whistle blown just when profits became very big... :-(
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      • Profile picture of the author lluporini
        Originally Posted by stacycooper View Post

        Thanks for your reply.

        Let's say I have a domain, what-ever.com - what-ever Resources and Information. This website is for sale! and I am selling a product called "whatever". The domain is similar but not the same as the product. The product is being sold via an affiliate network.

        Someone (probably another affiliate) didn't like the similarity between my domain name and the name of the product, so they contacted the affiliate network which then told me that I would need to take the domain down. Forwarding it to another domain would not be sufficient since I would still be profiting from the similar domain name.

        So, what is the best way to deal with this?
        a. sell the domain
        b. take down the domain altogether
        c. forward the domain to another website that I own (thus taking advantage of the continuing traffic or awhile) and sell another product with another affiliate company?
        d. keep the site up and change the product being sold to a competitor, but that wouldn't make my affiliate guy super happy.
        e. somehow forward the domain in such a way that the traffic cannot be tracked to me, per se, but I will still get my affiliate tracking ID over to the site where the order is placed.

        Option "e" is preferable, but I am not sure how I can forward this traffic without my affiliate guy figuring it out. I have been unable to find another affiliate network that offers this product by the way, so it's not like I can move to another network and sell the same product.

        I obviously realize that eventually Google will start demoting the site as it realizes that it is being forwarded, so I know that this is a sinking boat. I just want to take advantage of the traffic for as long as I can, even if that means a few weeks since we are talking about an awful lot of money right now.

        Any helpful hints would be greatly appreciated. I am sure that I am not the first person here who had the whistle blown just when profits became very big... :-(
        I think that if your primary source of traffic is google, then try to this:
        1. Get a new domain
        2. Prepare your site content to be server over from this new domain
        3. Prepare your old domain (the current one) to redirect all traffic to you new domain following the guidelines at google webmasters tools. Read more at https://support.google.com/webmaster...er/83106?hl=en.
        If it's done right you should probably get away without loosing too much traffic for the keywords you're being found at google search.

        Hope it helps.

        Best,
        Luis
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  • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
    How about selling the site to the owner of the trademarked term? It clearly has some value to them, or they wouldn't've been (indirectly) paying you the affiliate income.
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    • Profile picture of the author Thread7
      It seems like you could froward the traffic easy enough. In php something like header("Location: http://seconddomain.com?aff_id=12345");
      But in the end your affiliate guy knows that the person originally came to http://firstdomain.com?aff_id=12345 doesn't he? Just by the simply fact that an aff_id of 12345 is associated with firstdomain.com. And he has to eventually pay you.
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  • Profile picture of the author buysellbrowse
    You may try contacting the manufacturer of the product directly and work out a deal.
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    buysell-browse.com * Free Classifieds Advertising & Promotion *
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