CharlesWaters
Joined:
22 Jun 2005
Posts:
41
Location:
Palm Bay, FL
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 5:36 pm
Post subject: Re: hijacking affiliate links
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| terryt wrote: | Hi everyone - I have heard about people hijacking affiliate links for a while now, but I don't understand how its done. It sounds like someone hacks into your web site and changes the affiliate info so that they get commission(s) from your site ? Could someone fill me on this ?
thanks, TT |
No website hacking needs to occur. Some application needs to be loaded onto a PC from which the affiliate link would be stolen. It could be a stand alone application (adware like Bonzi Buddy), an Internet Explorer plug-in (Browser Helper Object) or some other locally executing code. The code then looks at links on web pages and changes the affiliate data. For clickbank, the affiliate code is easy to discern. If someone clicks the link the offending application just plucks out the legitimate affiliate code and places it's own code in the link before the link gets follows.
I think there are probably a few other ways to accomplish it, but this is the most common.
There's no solution that I know of other than encouraging people not to load every stupid screen saver, search helper, smiley face program that gets sent to them.
Here's a good article that describes how affiliate commissions can be stolen. I use some super simple link cloaking by not putting my affiliate links directly on my sales pages, but instead linking to another page on my site which does a redirect with my affiliate link in it. It this effective? I don't know. 
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Chuck Waters
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