Affiliate site without tracking codes - can it work?

[gaydemon]

I've just signed up for a new affiliate program only to find that they do not use any tracking codes at all. All they require is that you register your domains with them (tell them where traffic will be coming from) and then they somehow keep record of incoming traffic and sales.. crediting to the account the domain belongs to..

Can that actually work? Has it been done before (ive never seen it before)?

[gaybucks_chip]

If you think about it, they could have a clever script running that constantly looks at referring URLs in their stats, and matches that with a PHP session ID, which is then tracked to see if the customer joined.

They could also theorteically make a hash based on the information about the surfer's computer (the info that the browser provides) and use that to identify the surfer if he returns and joins later, and then match it to the info about what domain it came from in the first place.

Of course, that's all theoretical, but I could see how it could work. It wouldn't be bulletproof, but then again, cookies have a lot of holes, and the new "porn mode" in IE8 and Firefox will make cookies essentially useless for any surfer that has that mode enabled.

[gaydemon]

So MAYBE, it could actually be a "safer" way to track surfers than what most sites do today..



If you think about it, they could have a clever script running that constantly looks at referring URLs in their stats, and matches that with a PHP session ID, which is then tracked to see if the customer joined.

They could also theorteically make a hash based on the information about the surfer's computer (the info that the browser provides) and use that to identify the surfer if he returns and joins later, and then match it to the info about what domain it came from in the first place.

Of course, that's all theoretical, but I could see how it could work. It wouldn't be bulletproof, but then again, cookies have a lot of holes, and the new "porn mode" in IE8 and Firefox will make cookies essentially useless for any surfer that has that mode enabled.

[rawTOP]

So MAYBE, it could actually be a "safer" way to track surfers than what most sites do today..

Not really since some privacy software strips referrer data from HTTP requests. Tracking codes are always better...

There are two points that are critical - that the program know the traffic is from you at the first page request. And that they know it's from you on subsequent page requests.

With a tracking code in the URL you get 100% of the credit on the first page they go to. Privacy software can't mess that up. After that it's about how they identify the source on subsequent page requests, which has nothing to do with whether there's a tracking code in your referring URL. (That's a completely separate issue).

Bottom line is you will always lose some traffic if there's no tracking code.

[Jasun]

I mean.. it could help.

I got into a big flame war on the other board about someone who'd been sending traffic from jakecruise.es and jakecruiseofficial.com. We don't allow that.. so we could monitor where traffic was coming from it would keep people within the rules.

That said... I wouldn't trust it. I want stats, dammit

[rawTOP]

I mean.. it could help.

I got into a big flame war on the other board about someone who'd been sending traffic from jakecruise.es and jakecruiseofficial.com. We don't allow that.. so we could monitor where traffic was coming from it would keep people within the rules.

That said... I wouldn't trust it. I want stats, dammit

Curious, You guys have Google Analytics on JakeCruise.com, but not CocksureMen.com... That's all you need to find affiliates who are using your brand inappropriately. The referrer should come through the CCBill redirect in most cases. Just search the referring sites report for cases that contain your brand names.

That said, it is possible to pass traffic through something that strips out the referrer, so it is possible for an affiliate to mask their trademark violation. I do it in one case - the sponsor is OK with a porn site promoting them, but their processor isn't OK with it. So, with permission, I strip out the referrer.

That said, what Bjorn is talking about doesn't affect stats - just the link code.

[HunkMoneyLuke]

it could work, but referring URL gets blocked by soooo many ways that you would prolly only end up getting credited with 50% of your sales.

[basschick]

i've seen it done years ago, and it seemed to work.

a few thoughts:

you'd have to be sure they have ALL the domains you'll be sending traffic from. if they don't recognize a domain, you won't get credit.

would not having a www. in some cases make their tracking not recognize a url/domain as the same as having a www. in front?

in the case of ccbill, i often don't show the affiliate domains as referrals on my server stats but as ccbill. you might want to be careful that any ad software use a recognized domain and that it is registered by their tracking. if they show hits sent, that would be easy enough to do.

[Jeff@UKScallyLads]

it could work, but referring URL gets blocked by soooo many ways that you would prolly only end up getting credited with 50% of your sales.

This is what I would be afraid of as well. What is the guarantee that ALL pages will be tracked by the sponsor when sales are made? I know cookies have their downfalls, but aren't they still safer than this practice? Plus, can the sponsor be trusted wholeheartedly in this regard? I'm not trashing this particular sponsor at all, but how do you know they're "on the up and up" if they're brand new?

Just my 2 cents worth here.

[tigermom]

I would like to see both ways implemented by sponsors at the same time. Greedy? ;)

[HunkMoneyLuke]

i've seen it done years ago, and it seemed to work.

But there is a huge difference between browser behavior years ago and today, and that has lead to a direct decline in referring URLs not being tracked properly. I would estimate that only 50% of referral URLs are able to be captured by browsers today...just take a look at your raw log files to see what I mean.


I would like to see both ways implemented by sponsors at the same time. Greedy? ;)

Then you should go with any program that uses nats or mpa3, as both of these use cookies, IP tracking and sessions. I have seen many members signup, quit, then signup 2 months later and nats still tracks it and crecits the affiliate using their tracking techniques.

[gaydemon]

The guys in question are implementing tracking codes as well, it seems others than me raised concerns.

however to be fair, we tested during 1 day:

They counted 322 unique visistors

I counted 330 unique visitors.

So not far off at all.