tracking an affiliate site question

[nube]

ok, this is a thought, i have spoken to many people about this and always get the same answer, "no one trusts the affiliate tracking system and they all say they are getting ripped off. is there a software out there that lets you track a certain page ,say at 30 sec. intervals and should the page change or cause to redirect it automaticaly alerts you of the change. Because in my opinion the only way the affiliate program can steer your customers away to themselves is through a redirect code change diferent from your code they initialy gave you, any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
thanks nube

[Drastic]

There really isn't a way of checking affiliate linked visits other than doing so manually.

The best way to circumvent this, is to only use reputable programs, and check the landing page of your affiliate link yourself.

Keep in mind, just because the tracking system is working, doesn't mean the merchant will be honest in reporting/paying your conversions.

BTW, one of the commonly missed merchant tricks/mistakes is affiliate code "leaks." The landing page has your code on some/most of the internal links, but not all.

Also, cookie based systems often the truncate affiliate code once the merchant site has been reached.

[nube]

thank you,
I appreciate it

[Froggyman]

There are lots of ways to keep them honest. I use Bannermaster [iwebsys.com]. Awesome! You can count each clicked ad and impressions. Takes a while to set up, I recommend having them do it for you.

[Drastic]

Agree that there are many ways to track clicks and impressions, but once they leave your site, it is pretty much up to the merchant to remain honest. You can verify from time to time manually, but that is the only way I am aware of.

btw, froggyman, loved your tracking down of that cat in the spider id forum!