Affiliate Links w/out Attributes (Technical Question)

MichaelHayes · Jan 23, 2017

Forgive my technical newbie-ishness, but I'm curious about how a site like bestproducts.com runs their affiliate links (assuming they are affiliate links)...

http://www.bestproducts.com/fashion/g106/new-years-eve-dresses/?slide=1

Their listings dont have affiliate attributes in the URLs, and I'm not seeing any obvious onclick events. Is it a form of cookie dropping thats not obvious from the source code? Or do they simply not have affiliate tracking and somehow work out arrangements with advertisers some other way...

Thanks!

backwoods · Jan 23, 2017

MichaelHayes said:
Forgive my technical newbie-ishness, but I'm curious about how a site like bestproducts.com runs their affiliate links (assuming they are affiliate links)...

http://www.bestproducts.com/fashion/g106/new-years-eve-dresses/?slide=1

Their listings dont have affiliate attributes in the URLs, and I'm not seeing any obvious onclick events. Is it a form of cookie dropping thats not obvious from the source code? Or do they simply not have affiliate tracking and somehow work out arrangements with advertisers some other way...

Thanks!

That dress has a "Buy Now" affiliate link that redirects to LinkShare

MichaelHayes · Jan 24, 2017

I'm a dummy, saw it on this page and figured it was across the board: bestproducts.com/fashion/accessories/g232/cirlce-infinity-scarves-winter/...

Code:

<a
href="http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/badgley-mischka-faux-chinchilla-neck-warmer/4376891" target="_blank" class="slide-buy--button" data-tracking-id="recirc-text-link">BUY NOW</a>

Any ideas?

backwoods · Jan 24, 2017

MichaelHayes said:
I'm a dummy, saw it on this page and figured it was across the board: bestproducts.com/fashion/accessories/g232/cirlce-infinity-scarves-winter/...

Code:

<a href="http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/badgley-mischka-faux-chinchilla-neck-warmer/4376891" target="_blank" class="slide-buy--button" data-tracking-id="recirc-text-link">BUY NOW</a>

Any ideas?

Yep, that "Buy Now" is a redirect link as well to the Nordstrom affiliate program.

Code:

http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74968X1547195&site=www.bestproducts.com&xs=1&isjs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.nordstrom.com%2Fs%2Fbadgley-mischka-faux-chinchilla-neck-warmer%2F4376891&xguid=d96368e1a05b1ec4b737f10ef4a5e620&xuuid=b4ff71609f26be0ef4489fbe52619746&xsessid=0f05cc8c35c25d0285a53ea5aabe386c&xcreo=0&xed=0&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestproducts.com%2Ffashion%2Faccessories%2Fg232%2Fcirlce-infinity-scarves-winter%2F%3Fslide%3D1&xtz=480

MichaelHayes · Jan 24, 2017

Strange, I'm not seeing redirects at all when I load it up on my desktop. Where are you seeing this code?

Screaming frog is seeing it as a standard HTML link as well. I must be missing some important aspect of these pages/links. Please enlighten me if possible!

Nat · Jan 24, 2017

MichaelHayes said:
Please enlighten me if possible!

They are using skim links https://skimlinks.com/company/team

If you're trying to copy, or add your aff ids in on load, you could look at https://github.com/marioestrada/scrooge-js I found that last month, but never tried it.

MichaelHayes · Jan 24, 2017

Huh, learn something new everyday. I'll have to look into this for my workflow, could save a bunch of time. Thanks @Nat

MichaelHayes · Jan 30, 2017

@backwoods Would you mind sharing how you found those "hidden" affiliate links? It's been bugging me that I cant seem to see them...
Thanks as always...

ryandiscord · Jan 30, 2017

You could use this: http://wheregoes.com/

backwoods · Jan 30, 2017

MichaelHayes said:
@backwoods Would you mind sharing how you found those "hidden" affiliate links? It's been bugging me that I cant seem to see them...
Thanks as always...

I just right-clicked on the "Buy Now" button and selected "copy link location" (Firefox).

As ryan mentioned above, you can also use WhereGoes.com to see the entire path of redirects.

ryandiscord · Jan 30, 2017

@backwoods to be fair, I think I might have learned about WhereGoes from a previous post of yours.

MichaelHayes · Feb 3, 2017

backwoods said:
I just right-clicked on the "Buy Now" button and selected "copy link location" (Firefox).

As ryan mentioned above, you can also use WhereGoes.com to see the entire path of redirects.

I'm doing that and still seeing

Code:

"http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/badgley-mischka-faux-chinchilla-neck-warmer/4376891".

Annoying! Theres something going on behind the scenes here that I haven't figured out yet. Bah!

648 x 266

I think it may be mozilla caching a redirect, because I'm seeing redirects if I scroll to other items that I haven't clicked on before. Anyway, enough time spent on this, thanks y'all...

648 x 381

patrick · Feb 4, 2017

MichaelHayes said:
@backwoods Would you mind sharing how you found those "hidden" affiliate links? It's been bugging me that I cant seem to see them...
Thanks as always...

this is basic cloaking 101 - there are lots of different ways that both publishers and advertisers do this. a few scripts / plugins mentioned above or PHP/HTML.