As money gets tighter and product prices rise, people who know how to manipulate the system will sometimes replace your affiliate ID with theirs and “hijack” your commissions.

Let’s face the facts!

Almost everyone online today is looking to make or save a buck any way they can. In the past, most of the people who clicked on your affiliate links used to purchase without a second thought… but, as times get tougher online, it seems a growing number won’t!

As money gets tighter and product prices rise, people who know how to manipulate the system will sometimes replace your affiliate ID with theirs and “hijack” your commissions.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say your affiliate link is www.ebookaboutcats.com/?live-well. 
 
Say the highjacker uses the affiliate ID of captain-hook. What he would do is replace your ID with his, and buy from the URL www.ebookaboutcats.com/?captain-hook.
 
The bottom line: the hijacker puts your money in his pocket.

In other cases, they can’t stand the thought of you “making money off them” so they bypass you by simply chopping off the end of your affiliate link that contains your ID.

Instead of buying from www.ebookaboutcats.com/?live-well, the bypasser will simply “chop off” the affiliate ID at the end and simply buy from the plain URL www.ebookaboutcats.com –without your affiliate ID attached!

Either way, you get cheated out of your rightful commission.

To help you fight these affiliate link hijackers I offer a couple of my best (proven and battle tested) tips, which will at least confuse these “hijackers” and, in many cases, often defeat and disarm them completely.

Side Note: If someone really, really wants to steal your affiliate commission, they will find a way; however, most hijackers are just opportunists who will only act if they see an easy buck.

The first and cheapest way to hide your affiliate links is using a javascript redirect page. This is where you hide your affiliate link in a page on your site using a simple javascript that redirects people to your affiliate link.

It works great not to expose your “naked” affiliate link in your actual email messages and ezine ads, but, once people get redirected to the true affiliate link, many affiliate programs expose the affiliate link along with your ID in the browser address bar.

Here’s an example of a redirect script in action.  Click => http://www.ebookfire.com/esejs.html

Notice how the link takes you to a page where you can see my affiliate ID, ebookfire, in your web browser’s address bar.

Like it or not, someone can replace my ID with theirs and “hijack” the commission… but at least the redirect script keeps them from immediately seeing my “naked” affiliate link (http://hop.clickbank.net/?ebookfire/ebksecrets) when I publish it in my newsletter, email, or on my website.

You can get free redirect scripts just about anywhere you find free javascripts. Here is the script I use http://www.ebookfire.com/jrs.shtml.

A better way to hide your affiliate links is using a zero-frame or “invisible” frame that masks the affiliate link by making it appear you are sending people to a page on your website. In reality, you are actually sending them to your affiliate link.

This is the technique used by those “sub-domain” redirect services that provide you with urls like http://ese.ebookfire.net.

While giving someone a link like that is much better than using a “naked” affiliate link such as http://hop.clickbank.net/?ebookfire/ebksecrets, there is a problem. As soon as someone does a “view >> source” in their web browser they’ll see your naked affiliate link plain as day… which instantly blows your cover!

Currently the best way to protect your affiliate commissions from ruthless hijackers is to use a combination of a zero- frame page along with URL encryption. This involves sending someone to URL that looks like a page on your site, but actually pulls in your affiliate link like those “sub- domain” services. However, there’s one critical difference…

If someone does a “view >> source” in their browser, you have added protection in that all they will see is a jumble of computer code instead of your naked affiliate link.

Check out this example of a zero-frame with URL encryption in action.  Click => http://www.ebookfire.com/ese.html

Side Note: Beware of cloaking scripts that use javascript to mask your affiliate link because they could malfunction in some web browsers.

Here’s the bottom line: if you are going to sell through other people’s affiliate programs, never send a “naked” affiliate link… you’re just asking for people to hijack or bypass you if you do.

If you want to get paid more often through your affiliate links, make sure it’s not obvious you’re referring people to an affiliate link. If they can’t easily see how to hijack or bypass your link, a lot more people who would have taken the money out of your pocket will just go ahead and buy through your link – which is, after all, the whole point!

 Affiliate Programs… Whos Really Making The Money?
There will be a million and one affiliates out there who will tell you that the affiliate program they promote is going to be the best one for you. But have you considered who is really making the money and who gains the most out of affiliate programs. Let's take a step back and look at the AFFILIATE. What exactly is the role of the affilate? * The sole purpose of the affiliate is to PROMOTE the product and/or service What are the benefits of being an affiliate? * Get paid a minimal commission that is regulated by the owner of the product/service In short, As an....

 How To Increase Your Affiliate Commissions
There are literally countless ways to advertise your affiliate links. The real trick to affilliate marketing though is winning the clicks to conversions number game. Now, since your not in direct control of the conversion process you only need to concern yourself with identifying top selling products and where to advertise them. Identiying top sellers through the Click Bank marketplace is a no brainer... they're listed in order of conversions. Marketing other merchant's products through Click Bank can be a very lucrative business. The only question remains... where else can....

 Affiliate Marketing: How To Smash The Glass Ceiling
Most affiliate marketers unconsciously create an invisible “glass ceiling” that curtails the growth of their own affiliate business. They do this by failing to create a substantial, positive profile on the Internet. Are you reluctant to “stand out from the crowd”? Do you feel more comfortable being invisible on the Internet? Most people experience a natural reticence to be “out there”, to “stand up and be counted”. How often are the front rows of a course or meeting left vacant because most people would rather be invisible up the back! The same is true on the Internet, particularly with affiliate marketers. The noun....

 5 Steps to Become a High-earning Affiliate Champion
There are basicly only 5 steps involved to become successful and rich as an online affiliate. These 5 steps include: 1. Choose the right affiliate programs. Today there are tons of products that offer opportunities of making money by joining their affiliate programs. How do you single out the real deal out of the millions of scams and silly money games out there? Beware! You may choose the right affiliate have the chance to prosper from the internet or you may be trapped by a get-rich-quick scheme that flushes your money straight down the drain. There is one section in the....

 7 Ways To Make Money With Articles
Are you leaving money on the table when it comes to profiting from your articles?  Read this article to learn how to milk your articles for the most money. If you write and submit articles on the Internet, you need to make sure you are getting the most money out of each article.  Here are the 7 different ways to make money with articles: 1.  Promote Your Website Add your author bio at the end of each article with a short ad for your products or services and a link to your website.  People who like your article and click on your link....

 Affiliate Marketing – Does it Really Pay?
Affiliate marketing's been a staple of the internet marketing scene for many years now. It's highly touted as a money maker for newbies and experienced marketers alike. But does it really pay to be an affiliate marketer? Let's take a look to learn more... Basically affiliate marketing's an agreement between a web site owner and a merchant. The web site owner's actually an advertiser for the merchant or product creator. The agreement is a contract between the two parties that stipulates that the site owner can use various methods including the space on his site to promote the merchants goods.....

 Choosing an Affiliate Program
What should you consider when choosing an affiliate program? You need to think about two key things: what business are you in and what can the affiliate program provide to your customers. No matter what business you are in, the largest investment you make will be customer acquisition. If you have your own product, and have acquired a base of satisfied customers, then single product affiliate programs could work very well for you. However, if your business is acquiring customers for other businesses, that is, purely affiliate programs, then a better choice for you could be affiliate programs with multiple products or....

 The 7 Principles of a Successful Affiliate Marketer
There are certain affiliate principles that are common to all extremely successful affiliates. These principles are not plainly stated by these successful affiliates; rather, they are found as characteristics in their work, writings and interviews. I have synthesized these principles into a list I call The 7 Principles of the Successful Affiliate. It important to note that each successful affiliate closely and meticulously adheres to each one of these affiliate principles. Some of these principles may seem ridiculously obvious, but you would be amazed at how many affiliate marketers either... • don't know these principles (failure to read and study)....

 Google Adsense Profits Mixed In With Affiliate Marketing
Are you a webmaster who needs funds to keep your website running? Or is your website the only way for you to earn income? Whichever you are, for as long as you are a webmaster or a web publisher and you need cash, affiliate marketing may work well for you. With affiliate marketing, you may get a lot of cash pouring into your bank account easily. And if your website is rich in great contents and you want to earn more profit, why not get into the Google Adsense program as well? Why Affiliate Marketing? Well, simply....

 What’s LinkShare, And Do I Need To Use It?
Online affiliate marketing is one of the most effective, cheapest and fastest ways to promote merchandise. With millions of people getting access to the Internet everyday, there's a great chance for a merchant to introduce his products and services to a wider market, thereby, maximizing his revenue. Likewise, affiliate marketing is an excellent way to generate full-time income for a home-based affiliate marketer. For someone who is jaded of going through a grueling eight-hour work routine, affiliate marketing offers a great opportunity to earn big without wearing himself out—physically, mentally and emotionally. In affiliate marketing, both parties are benefited since as the....

 Google Adsense Plus Affiliate Marketing Equals Profits
Have you been wondering what exactly is up with affiliate marketing and Google AdSense? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you've ever wanted to know about making money with affiliate marketing and Google. Are you a webmaster who needs funds to keep your website running? Or is your website the only way for you to earn income? Whichever you are, for as long as you are a webmaster or a web publisher and you need cash, affiliate marketing may work well for you. With affiliate marketing, you may get a lot of cash pouring....

 Affiliate Marketing : Video Tutorials
What is it about Affiliate marketing that entices someone to start? Is it the money, the potential freedom or is it something else altogether? Affiliate marketing is nothing new to the Internet and has been around since it's inception by Amazon. Did Amazon know at that time what a future stage it was setting for the average Joe to start a profitable business online? Maybe, maybe not, who is to say? What transpired is something to definitely marvel at. Internet marketing is now a Billion dollar a year market. Within this market, Affiliate marketing is gaining....

 Advantages of Running An Affiliate Marketing Campaign
Many beginners fail due to the high cost of having a website designed for you. By using Affiliate Marketing it is not necessary to own a website. This article by Graham Burt discusses how Affiliate Marketing works and why it is the best way for a beginner and experienced Internet marketers to build a steady residual income. Many new internet marketers' opt to embark on an affiliate marketing campaign as part of their....

 Guide To Making Money Online
There are a few little tricks to making money online, but the number one so called secret is in how you market your internet site. Put bluntly, you have to advertise your site so people will know that you even exist. How you advertise, however, is one of the tricks. If you are running an internet business you have already determined that your potential customers are also online. Regardless of the quality of your product or service, if people do not know you are there, you will eventually become just another failed business. One of the best methods of advertising....

 Residual Affiliate Programs – 4 Great Reasons To Promote For Long Term Income
Residual affiliate programs would indeed pay at a lower rate, but merchants offering such programs would generally pay you regular and ongoing commissions for a single affiliate initiated sale. By means of affiliate marketing, you won't need to worry about the products you have to sell. All you need to have is a website with adequate contents that are related to the products of a certain online company offering affiliate programs. In many cases you don't even need a website. By becoming a member of the program, or by becoming an....

Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.problogtips.com/3-ways-to-stop-affiliate-link/305/trackback/

Posted by Jaron in the catagory of... General Interest

No Trackbacks »