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Old 09-07-2014, 11:41 AM  
Eric_ALSSCAN
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Baltimore
Posts: 153

Hi,

thank you for bringing this to my attention. Let's start with clarifying this link:

http://www.alsscan.com/?PA=9303380004

930338-0004 is a CCBill client/sub account of ALS Scan Inc. This link comes into play to let our new MetArt Network join scripts know that the referrer is sending to ALSScan from the old ALSCash affiliate program (not using new MetArtMoney affiliate program links) and directs them to a CCBill join page under our account where CCBill can read their own cookie and identify the partner under the correct program. It is a generic redirect on CCBill's end, and unfortunately can not be changed at a subaccount/site level.

When you see this on ALSScan.com, it means CCBill has already stored a cookie identifying the partnerID under the ALSCash referral program. Under different linking scenarios, ?PA= may also be changed from an ALSCash partnerID to a MetArtMoney partnerID IFF we have manually "linked" your ALSCash and MetArtMoney IDs on our end, which would direct the user to a CCBill join page under MetArt's CCBill account with your MetArtMoney partnerID instead of your ALSCash partnerID.

Sorry to drift, I just wanted to make sure it was 100% clear we are not changing any inbound partnerIDs in a way that would interfere with proper tracking of referrals under either the ALSCash or MetArtMoney affiliate programs.

Your problem specifically, begins with your first link to the gallery:
http://www.alscash.com/FHGA/ivanasug...i?I=latestnews

&site= is not the correct parameter. It should be &site_link=
So with that parameter not being set correctly, the gallery itself is reverting to a default link that is set globally at the client account level - I have tried to get CCBill to allow this default redirect to be changed at a subaccount level (which would lead the click to ALSAngels.com instead of ALSScan.com in this case) but they have offered no solution.

Correct link:
http://www.alscash.com/FHGA/ivanasug...dir.cgi?I=main

Please correct your link to the gallery with the parameter &site_link= and everything should work fine.
Recommended value for site_link=
http://www.alsangels.com/alsangels-c...dir.cgi?I=main

To be sure, did you get this malformed link with the bad &site= parameter from somewhere? I have double checked the previous posts, email blasts, and ALSCash.com but all seem to be correctly showing &site_link in the URL, but if you got that bad link from us, it was an honest mistake we need to find and fix.

Now, one thing you have helped me identify is that IF the ccbill_id is set and site_link is not set (which should not happen unless the links we provide are manually manipulated), then the site_link value is basically being erased instead of reverting to default. This is an opportunity for an error handling step I can work on implementing that might help gracefully recover from malformed links, but I do strongly recommend inbound links be double-checked and error-free ;).

With the merger of ALSScan and the MetArt Network last year came some overlap between our affiliate programs. We have worked hard to make sure all our partners are well informed, all old and new links are tracking properly, and we are readily available to assist anybody with their questions or concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly at [email protected] for any of your needs with either the ALSCash or MetArtMoney programs. Again, sorry to drift - this was an ALSAngels.com + ALSCash affiliate program question, but I wanted to note that there is a bigger picture influencing the decision to keep the galleries/links as they are to ensure tracking for both ALS sites and programs works correctly. For what it is worth, while your user may have landed on the wrong site due to the error in the initial link, which is not ideal, you would still have received credit had they signed up to Scan .

Last edited by Eric_ALSSCAN; 09-07-2014 at 11:48 AM..
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