Software to track affiliates by HTTP Referer also

I need a software to track affiliates by HTTP Referer as well

[jez_kewler]

Hi,

I hope I'm in the right forum here ...

I am looking for an affiliate tracking software that should allow tracking not only by url with ID link in it, but also by the affiliate setting up a referer site

I know that this is an unreliable method that would not track 5-10% of the affiliate's traffic - but it's acceptable for my case if the affiliate has the benefit of not disclosing he's promoting in an affiliate program

e.g. BOTW have such a system in place and it's wonderful to create links that don't look like "he did it just for the money"

any tips?

I looked at idevaffiliate and post affiliate pro and both look great, but both don't support this

thanks in advance!

[jez_kewler]

hmmm- anyone?

[jomaxx]

IMO most affiliates would prefer to have the correct tracking.

[markwelch]

It's a nice idea, but the ratio of "blocked referrers" is so high that this would almost certainly result in lost commissions. A decade ago, referring URLs were present in perhaps 95% of web-page requests; now it seems to be less than 50%. A mixture of browser default settings, privacy software, and other issues make it problematic to rely on the referring URL.

[iProgram]

It's a nice idea for merchant only. It's easy to create an in-house system that works like this. You put js code to your pages and it can parse the domain part (abcde.tld) from referer url and use it as affiliate id. However, your affiliate won't be able to display your link on websites which are not under your affiliate account, and they are unable to use ad serving software (e.g. phpadsnew) to manage links. So most affiliates will pass your affiliate program.

[edited by: iProgram at 7:37 am (utc) on Oct. 18, 2006]