Most affiliate tracking systems and affiliate networks, rely on JavaScript and Cookies to track affiliate payments.

Typically the way the technology works is as follows -

Step 1: You promote an affiliate-offer on your blog or landing page, by redirecting users to the target merchant URL, embedding your affiliate ID at the end of the link.

Step 2: User clicks on your affiliate link and lands on the merchant page. The merchant page has logic that picks-up your affiliate ID from the URL and stores a cookie on the user machine to identify this user session was referred by your site.

Step 3: After reading more about the offer, the user decides to proceed and sign-up. The user surfs to the payment page and submits his/her payment information.

Step 4: User lands on payment confirmation "Thank you page". This page has logic to pick-up the cookie that was dropped on step 2 and if that cookie matches your affiliate ID, you are then paid.

Sounds straightforward, right?

Guess what. With the rising popularity of Windows Vista, SpyBot and other ad-blockers, more and more users employ tools that strip or block all tracking cookies.

Going back to the example above, the user will land on the payment confirmation page, but the affiliate cookie will not be picked up properly and You Lose Money.



Commission Junction, LinkShare, ClickBank and many other top affiliate networks, rely on cookies to track affiliate commission payments. No cookies - you don't get paid.

How bad is the problem?

A recent study we conducted internally, shows a frightening increase in the number of users with Javascript disabled or no cookies. We found 5 to 10% of the user base, depending on the program, falling under this category.

Jupiter research released a study that states as many as 39% of internet users perform a deletion of cookies on a monthly basis.

What can you do about it?

As an affiliate, you can go out and try to fight Microsoft, SpyBot, Norton Anti Virus and others, for making it so easy for users to block and remove tracking cookies.

But don't waste your time. You're not likely to succeed there. Phishing, Viruses and Identity theft are a few of the problems driving users to demand more security.

Your best bet is to provide value to your users when they sign-up using your affiliate link. Disclose you are promoting a product using an affiliate link and make it worth-while for your users to sign-up using that link.

Contact the merchant and find a way to provide an incentive to your users. Here are a few examples:

John Reese promoting AuctionAds and explaining if you sign-up using his affiliate link, you get a $5 sign-up bonus.

Modern-SEO promoting TextLinkAds, noting if you sign-up using their link, you get $100 free from TextLinkAds

Make it worthwhile for your users to buy using your affiliate link by adding value and you'll minimize the amount of money you're leaving on the table as lost commissions.

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Starting your own affiliate program?

If you are looking into starting your own Affiliate Program, find an affiliate system that supports "cookieless tracking". A system that does not rely on JavaScript, Cookies or Redirects for tracking.

The most reliable affiliate tracking methodology is server-side tracking, where the affiliate system tracking code is embedded into the thank you page and is not dependent on the user browser.

Adrian,

Great to highlight this issue for affiliate marketers.

Your readers can check out my scoop on highlighting the issue with misidentification of affiliate cookies as "adware" by progs like Spybot. The Spybot creator also responded in the comments at:

http://www.whoisandrewwee.com/affili...keting-menace/

Internet Marketing Affiliate Program

Since the concept began with Amazon in the mid-1990's, the idea of earning money through an internet marketing affiliate program has taken the internet community by storm. Basically, an internet marketing affiliate program allows site owners to make money simply by hosting advertising pop-ups or banners on their websites or blogs

I am fighting Microsoft by using Linux but I found out something was wrong when I started Blogging and forgot my Clickbank Password and never Got an Answer for my Password Reset.People like Joel Comm are Right .

If you Want to Make Money Start out by Hosting your own blog and mAke your Own Product because sites like Blogger are Ripping you off All the Time. I have seen inside 2 weeks Search Traffic coming to my Blog even without Quality content

Good advice. I have seen my CJ clicks and revenue fall by as much as 80% over the last 2 years, and as well as losing commissions due to CJ domains being blocked by Spybot etc, pages with CJ links now take longer to load if the domains are blocked, losing me traffic as well.
I have had to bite the bullet in places and replace CJ links by others that don't get blocked. Maybe the time is right for me to create my own affiliate program.