how to hide traffic sources from sponsors?
 

does anyone here know how to hide the referring URL when sending an sponsors traffic?

wacha hidin?

Traffic sources duh.

Hide them in you underpants. No one will ever check there.

thick blankets :2 cents: or spoofing

are you sure that its a good idea? :)))

my choice also...:thumbsup +1

they not interested in ur sourcing

you`ll be surprised how many sponsors are interesting in such info.
tiny url is one solution.

setup a .php redirect script through some other domain

you can find redirect code in google

Sounds fishy.
Why would any above-board affiliate want to hide their traffic source from the programs they're pushing?
I'd be looking very carefully at CB ratios on those kinds of accounts.

Absolutely not fishy! Sponsors DO CHECK this, if you send them significant traffic, especially if the conversion is good. And they will clone your method if they can. Been there done that. Nothing fishy here. 'Self-defense' :pimp

I'm sure I agree that your intentions are ok, but for every one of you there may be 10 that do it for different reasons. I'd just keep an eye on those accounts and make sure there's no fraud problems.

what he said.:thumbsup

Chris. Nothing fishy here except ur vajine

Great said Matyko. There were sponsors i have promoted in the past who bought traffic from EXACTLY same sources i have used when promoting their program. Of course ratio went to shit soon or later.

True some do. But at the same time Im sure you can see the potential for fraud as well.

If a sponsor will jack your methods, you should be using a different sponsor. 99 out of 100 spoofing / hiding urls are pushing fraud

Every case of fraud I have found in our program over the last year has done exactly what you are intending to do. I don't think you are trying to be shady about it. Just giving you a sponsors point of view. Of course there are other variables we check besides just that, but, that is a HUGE red flag.

:2 cents::2 cents:

exactly.

No.It is the other way around.Sponsors do jack your traffic sources all the time.There is nothing to protect affiliates.If you is directly sending traffic to a program and is not your own property you must be mentally challenged.Welcome to 2014.

You don't sound too smart.

It is a known fact that some Affiliate Programs jack your traffic source and then terminate you for some bullshit reason (thus avoiding paying you sales commission)

As I said you are using the wrong sponsor, correct sponsor / affiliate relation is a partnership, everyone makes money. Of course I only send to people I personally know, and have known for a decade. I also only buy from verified affiliates, so I guess my world is different from most on this board.

You truly believe that you or anyone else have traffic sources that programs aren't aware of already?

originality doesn't exist.

how would any affiliate program survive with a model like that? please explain how this is a workable business plan.

he's also talking about copying banners, landers and so on, which some do.

originality depends on the knowledge/time spent in current biz of sponsor.

there are so many traffic sources out there, maybe you know them all, but not all sponsors know them.

I understand that. But why stay with any program that does this?

Not only that, but we can also see which types of sites have good ratios and offer those webmasters more promo material or incentives to `keep doing what you're doing!` :thumbsup

They leave all the small webmasters alone, but check on the whale webmasters.

If you're dumb enough to not disguise your traffic, you're gonna get jacked.

That is a recipe for non existence, Been working with affiliates for 15 years now, you never ever fuck over your whales

This makes even less sense. By what you're saying we would copy/exploit the webmasters that make us the most money? Absolutely not! These are the guys we want to build trust and long term relationships with. Not try and steal/copy the way they are sending sales. If we or any other program did this they would not have affiliates for very long.

people are just speaking from their experience, not some fantasy. adult companies have never done things that have been stupid, greedy and short term before?

Yep and you can hide it all you want if they really want to know they can findout simple enough.. just takes a little time..

does that actually hide the refer?

I know with bit.ly etc it doesnt hide the actual url, it passes that info on.

most of the biggest sponsors do it, they do not term your account or anything like that but they will copy your methods, purchase keywords and buy the traffic you were buying only after you did it first.

obviously but then they dont need those whales as they have already stolen/copied their method. so it doesnt matter for them.

As a cam program/sponsor I can confirm it is normal to look the http referer (along with IP's etc.) of every new affiliate signups at least before the first payout, just to check if this is a fraud. Any program not doing this would be bankrupt soon due to fraud, in fact we see 8 out of 10 new affiliates who signups being fraud (esp. the pay per free lead ones). It means: 1 every 5 new affiliates is good, rest is fake signups. This is not just us, other programs confirmed such dramatic affiliate fraud ratio, we need to check, sorry.

Said this, it is unavoidable that we the programs see also data of those 1 every 5 affiliates who is legit; and if http referer it is not hidden, we can't "unsee" it to forget. Even in good faith, we can get to know the method. But 1) in 99% of the cases we know the method already, no geniuses, 2) We can not always "copy" it, for ex. if a tube owner sends own direct traffic, what we copy? 3) Most tricky methods would cost us more to do ourselves than what we pay to this affiliate, since time is money: going ask skype contacts in chatroom, add them, talk, then spam the link one by one? Just an example.

Further, I tell that rather than hiding (empty) http referer, we often see fake one. Like, they send from place1, but fake http referer of place2. This is mostly made by fraudsters, thinking this looks less fishy than empty or clearly hidden source, but we check the same :)
Be careful if you put fakesite com http referer rather than empty, you are more likely questioned for fraud, than empty. In case of empty http referer and strange signups we contact the affiliate anyway, in general to see if they reply with a "Sir... " and so on.

Sounds like you've been terminated at some point in the past.

The bottom line is going to be the bottom line. So if you're not causing giant problems and you're making sales that stick, nobody is going to risk losing you over that IMHO.

On the flipside, no matter if someone see's your source or not and you suck at making a single sale that sticks, plus get charge backs higher than average, you're going to be gone.

sponsors do jack your traffic sources. Use https redirects.

If you buy traffic,then hidding source of it it's must do it,as that is easiest way to clone it.Also if you found se keywords which doe'snt have much competition and it's easy to rank.

Neither of these make any sense for an affiliate program that wanted to last more than a few months. How would any program survive with tactics like these?

I've been buying traffic for years, and I've seen all sorts of attempts at blocking referring URLs and sources. In a majority of the cases, it was someone trying to hide some fraudulent method of sending clicks or signups. Not all are fraud, but I certainly take a closer look.

And, really, it's all moot. Because, it's pretty easy for me to figure out what the real URL or source of the traffic is anyway. I can't think of a method that's 100% foolpoof.

It all comes down to picking good affiliates, and good programs, and building up a sense of trust. Any good program will encourage whale affiliates to send more traffic. Because, usually, once a whale, always a whale. The whales are the smart guys you want to do business with long term.

Dear Glen. YES, I truly believe this. And its not that simple, and you KNOW IT. Sponsors might be aware of a specific traffic source, but wouldn't give a Flying Fuck until they see that an affiliate uses it With Good Conversion/Sales. NOW THEN they fucking jump on it. No one should deny this because this is the fucking reality I am an affiliate for ages and happens to me all the time. ALL THE TIME. I love you, but its totally lame to question this.... :2 cents: :2 cents: :2 cents:

Check this out for those that think, it does not happen.

then stop using programs that steal from you...

:2 cents: :2 cents: