Masking Affiliate Links - new technique?

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tob

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Jan 7, 2007
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Hey everyone,

I'm not sure if this has ever been discovered before, but it may turn out to be an invaluable link trick. I've been messing around with links, and all of a sudden thought of this.

If the user hovers over the link, it will say google.com, when the user clicks the link it will send him/her to yahoo.com

Code: 
<html>
<body>

<a href="http://www.google.com" onClick="javascript:this.href = 'http://www.yahoo.com';">test link to google</a>

</body>
</html>

So, for use in the affiliate world, setup the link to point to the advertiser's root domain, and then set the onClick event to change it to your affiliate network's url.

There are different ways to implement this, you could also do it this way:

Code: 
<html>
<body>
<script>
function changeLink(){
document.getElementById('link').href = "http://www.yahoo.com";
}
</script>
<a href="http://www.google.com" id="link" onClick="javascript:changeLink();">test link to google</a>
</body>
</html>

Yet another way to do it, you could even hide code in a external javascript js file and dynamically add the onClick events.. sneaky sneaky.

Hope this is valuable info for you all.

Tob
 


When the user enters a page make a javascript alert asking them if they are looking for, say, widgets. If they click yes, make all the links go to your widget-affiliate link. If they click cancel, make another alert asking them if they are looking for wodgets (I know, I'm just making up names now), if so change the links to your wodget-affiliate-link. Rince, repeat.

Or make a script that loos at the search-terms the visitor found your site with and if there's a match between them and an affiliate...
 
Definitely not new. CJ has been doing this for years using this same method.

I don't like it because you can press/hold your left mouse button on the link and see the true destination in the status bar.

I'd much rather use php redirects.
 
Interesting, there is some merit there... I like the idea of rewriting all your aff links dependent on the search string, or keywords if coming from ppc... highly targeted offers.

All in all this trick is very valuable for use at blogs, and other places where people always checking to see if you're using affiliate links.. theheheh

Tob
 
Interesting, I didn't know that CJ was using this... but I just tested your "click and hold" to see the actual destination, and it still showed the original google link on both FF, and IE7.

Now if it's still doing it for you, you could change the code to use OnMouseUp like this:

Code: 
<html>
<body>

<a href="http://www.google.com" onMouseUp="javascript:this.href = 'http://www.yahoo.com';">test link to google</a>

</body>
</html>

Tob
 
misterproline said:
Ever think about just getting a domain to do that for ya? WOW!
Click to expand...

That completely defies the point, the point is that you can have your link pointing at ebay.com, and when the user clicks it automatically redirects them through your ebay affiliate url.

I ALWAYS look at the url in the status bar, maybe only because I'm in aff marketing....

Tob
 
I use this Bro!

It is necessary to create or edit the existing .htaccess file. Usually it is located in
public_html folder on web server.

It is required to add the following lines and the upload .htaccess file back to
server:
Redirect /mysite/product http://affiliate.link.html
Redirect /mysite/product http://affiliate.link.html

Now when your surfer accesses a URL like www.mysite.com/product
they will be redirected to http://affiliate.link.html

In HTML the link code looks as following:
<a href=”/product”> Product</a>

And that’s it. :)

Advantages:
Stores link codes in one place. No need to create separate file for each
affiliate or product link.

All The Best,
FighterSPirit
 
I prefer to cloak all of my Click Bank affiliate links using a software program called Affiliate Cloner. For other affiliate links I just use a redirect script in an HTML file on my website.
 
tob said:
That completely defies the point, the point is that you can have your link pointing at ebay.com, and when the user clicks it automatically redirects them through your ebay affiliate url.

I ALWAYS look at the url in the status bar, maybe only because I'm in aff marketing....

Tob
Click to expand...

Probably. Most people don't even realize it when they are clicking adwords ads.
 
barman said:
Probably. Most people don't even realize it when they are clicking adwords ads.
Click to expand...

I just found out the other day that my fiancee never realized that the 'links to the right and up top' when you search for something in google were ads! I was shocked :eek: ... but its true, so many people out there just don't think about this stuff.
 
Reefer420 said:
I just found out the other day that my fiancee never realized that the 'links to the right and up top' when you search for something in google were ads! I was shocked :eek: ... but its true, so many people out there just don't think about this stuff.
Click to expand...

Thats why most people don't have a clue about how people can make money online at all. They just think like "poker?"
 
tob said:
Code: 
<a href="http://www.google.com" onMouseUp="javascript:this.href = 'http://www.yahoo.com';">test link to google</a>
Tob
Click to expand...
Bro, your forgetting one major area of concern and the reason why millions aren't already doing this.

If I disable javascript, your link will point me to
Code: 
<a href="http://www.google.com">test link to google</a>

There's quite a few folks running browsers that strip javascript or have their browser set to disable it. Since you always should be designing for 100% cross browser compatibility for maximized profits, this entire method is thrown out.

Again, use php redirects. It works everywhere.
 
Doesn't this work as well, but without the javascript disable killing your links?

Code: 
 <a href="http://www.yahoo.com" onMouseOver="window.status='http://www.google.com' ; return true;" >
 
Hey Tob

This is definitely not a new thing. It is being done for years. I am sure you know that by now. But here is how you can to do it differently, more efficiently and WITHOUT FAIL.

I have done the same on my Affiliate Signup page.
We provide 2 different types of links for our affiliates :

Masked & Unmasked.

Unmasked links look simply like this:
http://affiliatenetwork.domain/affiliateID
Click to expand...

But MASKED one looks like :
<iframe name="I1" border="0" frameborder="0" src="http://affiliatenetwork.domain/affiliateID/" width="1" height="1">
</iframe>
<A href="http://www.keywordcountry.com/"> Top Paying Keywords</A>
Click to expand...

This actually opens up a small IFrame in the browser of 1x1 pixel size that cookies the user right away on the page. If you observe closely, the link is very much genuine (its a simple HREF Tag) and doesnt uses any Javascript to cloak or anything. Its 100% legimate and I dont think it will fail in any other browser.
 
Last edited:
Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

ScottDaMan, see Browser Statistics, you'll see that 94% of users have javascript enabled. You're right, 6% is a little higher than I thought it'd be.. I guess this is where I pay for my sneakiness.

Shaggz, a large number of users out there are using firefox, which does not allow control of the status bar - so you'll still see it. Plus if you do the old click and hold you'll see the actual link in internet explorer too.

KeywordCountry, thanks for your examples here.. but unfortunately most affiliate networks frown upon opening your aff links in 0pix iframes. This is because you're auto-cookieing the user even if he/she is not interested in the product. It's also called cookie stuffing. Last week John Chow was banned from AuctionAds (rumor has it anyway...) for doing exactly this. I see that this is your own affiliate program, so I'm sure you don't care if people are using the iframes, in fact you recommend it! :P Furthermore, you might run into privacy issues with the P3P policy if the IE user has his/her privacy settings jacked.. not sure here though.

KeywordCountry, just checked your affiliate page there in firefox and it's not even legible - some issues there, works great in IE.

I think my cloakage here will be a gem for me in future campaigns. Thanks for all your comments.

Tob
 
Hi Tob

As a Affiliate Program Manager, I care for my affiliates and I know that they prefer MASKED links. Thats why I am providing them that they want. Affiliate gurus always recommend to host your own Affiliate Program. The above trick may work for Affiliate Program managers... but I guess you need to go ahead with your own cloaking trick. I will let you know if I come accross some better method to do that.

And thanks for reporting Mozilla bug in my website... Small glitch.... I will get to it asap. :)
Thanks
Ricky
KeywordCountry.com
 
I tested it out on a sight but it was a no go in Firefox on the Mac, so I'm back to php redirects for now. :)
 
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