Same window or new window?

Hadn't really thought about this before for affiliate links.

[HughMungus]

I'm thinking I should change all my affiliate links to open in the same window. Any opinions on the validity of this thought?

[Teshka]

I always use the same window. This is mostly because when I surf using Dragon NaturallySpeaking (voice-recognition software) and I say the name of the link to open it, my pop-up blocker will keep it from opening.

I think there are some pop-up blockers out there, too, that require control-click or some such in order to open a link in a new window. Even though this is not a huge effort or anything, sometimes people just say forget it.

[HughMungus]

Yeah, I thought about it and I agree. Popup blockers would cause problems. Thanks.

[jo1ene]

Funny...I have popup blocking and it dosn't block opening new windows. A link with target="_new" shouldn't cause problems with popup blockers. Opening a new window when linking off site is a better idea. Why would you want a user to "lose" your site when clicking on a link? Many (most?) won't go back.

[Richard Overvold]

Yep, popup blockers only block "non-user initiated" popups. So if you click on a link, it should pop up as usual.

Also, keep in mind. When you open a new window, the merchant can't track what URL the click came from. Unless you use the URL as a variable in the link.

[jomaxx]

When you open a new window, the merchant can't track what URL the click came from. Unless you use the URL as a variable in the link.

In my experience that does generally happen when Javascript is used to open a window; however, simply using "TARGET=" to open a new window preserves the referrer URL.

[Richard Overvold]

As far as I can remember, when I wrote a security script for a friend of mine, I specifically wrote the code to only function if the referring URL was from the list we selected, which was from his site. That way if anyone that was hacking around couldn't use the same login on their site to access the script. The script is written at YabberChat. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks before the "Y" and after the "t" if you want to check out how it works a little. I had a hell of a time making the script function properly AND use a referring URL so no outside use of the login can be implemented. I'd have to go through the code to see how exactly I did it, but I was able to make it work, so the referring URL was present on the new open window.

[jo1ene]

...however, simply using "TARGET=" to open a new window preserves the referrer URL.

Of course. Or else many of the refers I see in my logs wouldn't exist.