[Resolved] Tracing E-mail Links/Affiliate Programs

[XinXang]

Hi,

This is a general discussion type of question. Not really specifically related to a particular problem but just a topic which I am curious about.

I've noticed there are a whole lot of affiliate program opportunities out there that give credit based on one site sending traffic to another through another site. Also I noticed when Yahoo Groups send me those annoying constant updates from a discussion forum the link at the bottom that says 'unsubscribe' takes me to another page that allows me to stop receiving those alerts, but somehow it still knows who I am, even though I am on a new page in a new domain (I left hotmail and went to Yahoo.)

My question, or curiosity, or whatever you want to call it, is how is it possible that these programs are able to track where someone is coming from with enough accuracy to give credit for signups for people who registered or bought something after clicking through from another site? (in the case fo the affiliate programs) And if someone doesn't immediately sign up that day, but simply browses,but then comes back another day, does that original referring website still get credit?

Does that also mean that if I've got a site with users, and on their profile page it allows them to send an e-mail to friends referring them back to my site, is it possible for me to still give credit to those referring users automatically by reading some kind of tag on the e-mail link which lets me know who referred them? (Whoa! That was a mouthful...)

[Quizboy]

Does anyone know how this referral link tracing system works? (as described above)

[alvinkoh]

hi,

Very often, is has to do with Browser Cookies.

Basically, the site that you visit tags you with the cookies of the advertiser/affiliate provider. This can probably be done in a couple of ways.

1) Javascript -> The site that shows your the affiliate program/advertisement also evokes a script that tags you with the cookie, after comparing your unique cookieID with the advertisers' database.

2) iframe -> Same thing as above. Only, the iframe loads the advertisers' ads natively in your browser, and does the cookie implant directly. They will still extract the affiliate referrence from the site that is an affiliate.

3) Possibly other methods I'm unaware of.

As for the "originating" website, it proabably works on the same principles above. Basically, it's up to the advertiser how they want to credit the affiliates. They may choose to ONLY allow the first/originating site credit, by not overwriting the users' cookie (or their own in-house database) with the value of another (competing) site. This way, if a user visits your page (origin), the "credit" stays for a specific period of time, e.g. 1 month. So regardless of how many times the visitor visits other sites, you'll still be accredited accordingly.

Likewise, the advertiser may choose to credit all affiliates for any purchases made if they would like to. The backend combination is almost limitless.

Cheers,
Alvin.

[XinXang]

thanks Alvin, i see that there are many ways that this could work. makes sense too. cheers.

[thoff]

Just a stupid question from a newbee 😉

In the case of using iframes, why does it have to be iframes? Why can't it be f.ex. just a banner that links (with the unique affiliate ID) to the script that implant the cookie? I mean, what is the difference?

😉 Tore