Affilate Link Theft
 

Is this a real problem for me? Hey I been around a few of the so-called "blackhat" forums and this matter has me concerned.

OK, first, I post links ONLY on my own sites, end of story. I do have landing pages but for the most part, those do not contain affilate links. My guy who has been doing my websites tells me that affiliate link theft is a major concern but he also rambles on Ad Infinitum about Area 51 and the Bermuda Triangle.

Do I need to cloak my links?

I can't afford losses so if you have thoughts on this matter, please reply here and I will be very, very grateful!

Thanks in advance!

Sally.

A thief is a reality
A cleptomaniac likes to flee

Yes, you should cloak.

I wouldn't worry about it, I have had clients in the past that wanted all their links cloaked but you have to be careful because if Google gets the wrong idea of you cloaking your outbound links you risk serious penalties.

If your really worried use ad management software it makes tracking and hiding your links super easy.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh
:helpme:helpme:helpme

Thank you for your reply.

If it helps, I do not rely on SERPS for traffic to my sites and in point of fact, don't give a shit about The Big G. I am however concerned about how the networks to which I have signed up might react to cloaking.

Thanks again!

Sally.

Thanks! I can do that but cloaking drives my website guy crazy.

Oops!

That is a very short road, so maybe I need to drop a hammer or two, eh what?

Sally.

Huh?

Can you elaborate, please?

Sally.

how do they steal your links?

Feel free to steal my affiliate links.

I'll send you a big ass list any time.

Let me know.

You should cloak your link.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Could someone explain to me how can someone steal an affiliate link in a way that matters? I guess you're referring to them changing the affiliate ID in the link code to their own but they can't really change anything on the server so they'd just have to do it at end user side with some virus or such, correct?

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

I guess he's talking about software like Zango..................

6 of one half a dozen of the other, I had an awesome cloaking script written for me (not for sale) and implemented on about 200 of my sites, took a pretty good fucking from google and when the dust settled, I made less on those 200 sites, I am in the process of removing it. :2 cents:

Yeah, a cloaking-script that will make you banned sounds really awesome! Sign me up!

:1orglaugh

yes it is a major concern.

What exactly cloak means?I have all my affiliate links in format /domain.com/paysitename

You might think that today, but you might change your mind in the [close] future.. The reason you don't give a shit is that you know shit about it. So do I, but I try to develop my SEO/google understanding skills.. It takes forever, but I doubt I can lose time and/or money with investing it to learn this.

I am curious what does the link theft mean too. :helpme

wtf is "link theft" or "cloaking"?

I never understood the whole link theft thing. You only see it on mainstream forums, they always talk about someone stealing your link. The only thing I could think of was they would take your affiliate link then do something with it ie; spam, spam news groups, spam Craigs list or something else that would get you kicked out of the program. I know StubHub hates Craigs list traffic so if I find a competitors affiliate link and spam CL then he would get kicked out of the program and lose his money and quit, one less competitor. This is the only thing I could think of, if someone has a better explanation then please share.

ignore list :)

so what exactly are you doing on blackhat forums?
make ya go hmmmmmmmn.

lol at cloak my links

You are correct on this. Even if you are cloaking for this reason, Google could penalize you and you could lose a lot more money if you rely on organic search traffic at all.

We had an issue with this a few years back.

Sam Rakowski
ICQ: 564531991
Skype, Yahoo, AIM: samski1977
[email protected]

I think you quickly get to the point where you realise that it'd have to be something like adware on surfers machines. Encourage your users to protect themselves maybe because it couldnt hurt. :2 cents:

Exactly, Affiliate thieves do just that through infected user's computers. The surreptiously implanted software replaces your affiliate ID with the ID of the scammer and you get traffic, you just don't get paid for it.

Lots of infected computers out there.

Sally.

Learning to market effectively, what else? Many "Whitehat" tecniques are no longer really effective and that which is "Blackhat" today may well be the "Whitehat" of tomorrow. Blackhat does not necessarily mean illegal, unetical or immoral, although such techniques may push some limits and stretch the envelope, as long as you're not out-and-out spamming, infecting other's boxes or committing some kind of other crime, as far as I am concerned, the field is wide open.

Sally.

Try reading what I wrote next time, mkay?

I didn't write that I "don't give a shit" abouat SERPS, I wrote that I do not rely on them. Big difference there! I know plenty about SEO and do up a bunch but I should clairify that I do not wait for SERPS to generate income for me. I DRIVE traffic to my sites using various techniques and specific "systems", if you will.

Link theft means that your affiliate ID is replaced with the aff ID of the person or group who has infected some surfer's computer, such that when the user clicks on YOUR link, it becomes the BAD GUY's link and although it's your as, the BAD GUY gets paid.

Yes it happens and happens a lot.

Sally.