Question on Affiliate Links

Hosting banner images and target="_top" questions

[brickwall]

Hi guys. Good day to you all.

I have a newbie question here:

1. Is it OK if I host the banner image files provided by merchants and/or aff networks from my own server instead of pulling them from their adservers everytime? I noticed some merchants use these images to track banner impressions. Will I get flagged when my CTR becomes impossibly high because since Iam hosting the images, my banner impression count will be almost zero?

2. It seems putting target="_blank" inside your aff links is not good in merchant eyes. Is target="_top" the standard way of doing affiliate marketing?

Thanks for time guys.

[kodaks]

1) You will have to check with each individual affiliate board, because it may vary. Most affiliate programs say that you may not alter the code. Also, you may not want to alter the code, because most affiliate programs include a small invisible 1x1 pixel image to track impressions. Your impressions will disappear without this 1x1 graphic.