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The surfer clicks through from adverts on my pages to the client site. I use a cgi script called REDIR.PL (freeware) to generate an entry in my logs so that I can count the number of clicks and report that back to the paying client.
That works fine.... but when we look at the clients logs, there is no record of the event at all... no indication that a visit actually happened and no reference to my site as the referral source.
Naturally the client wonders if I am lying to them....
Any similar experiences? Oh... the clients stats package is generally LiveStats if that is relevant.
- spiders will follow the link to your redirect which is on your site, but not follow the redirect itself off the site.
- browsers. many browsers can turn of referrals.
- filtering agents can block referring strings (adult filters, banner busters).
- firewalls, gateways, and various proxy servers can all block referrals.
Best way when disputes come up like like your situation, is to compare IP addresses. Take your tracking list and what lines up with an ip at that time in their stats. If they click on your redirect, and within a few seconds show up in the log on the destination site, that's your click.
I am currently talking to a programmer about creating an .asp script that will record the click event in a database on my server before the link command sends the viewer to the external site.
I don't know if it will remove the problem or if we are just rearranging the deck chairs ..... but it seems worth a shot.
