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Better and safer way to link out to other sites?

Outbound redirect links go bad and I get malware tag

         

adamxcl

5:10 pm on Mar 24, 2017 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Is there a better way to control outbound links than what I am doing? Right now, I link to a php file on my own site with a number in it. But the problem is that one of those other website gets malware and Google now gives me a warning that my site is malware. If they caught a bad third party website before I did, they used to understand it and warn I was linking out to it, but now they seem to be less intelligent and tag me as malware. Even though it isn't my site. I am just linking out to it.

Why am I doing it this way? Because I link out to so many websites and the links are also inside offline data like a mobile app installed on people's phone, I don't like having the plain direct and rigid link sitting out there. They change, they might go bad, etc. I can just change my own file in one place that redirects them. I would be fine with a plain link if it wasn't for the offline data aspect that people are using. But I need to look at other options if a link is not properly understood any more and I get a tag as malware.

My outbound link would be like mydomain. com / file php?goto=10647

the php file has code like this and includes all the numbers and sends it to a url.
$links = array(
"10647" => "http://www.otherdomain.com/","10648" => "http://www.otherdomain.com","10649"

There must be a better way than this or is there a way to redirect a link and not seem like the page is mine?

not2easy

6:22 pm on Mar 24, 2017 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



There is a similar discussion going on about link redirects causing notifications [webmasterworld.com] where this question is asked. I don't see an answer there yet, but it is a new question. You may find something helpful as it develops - or they may get together here to figure out what can be done. The redirect via 302 would be preferable to a 301 (permanent) response but either response implies that the target is your content. Have you checked to see what server response is shown for your method?

adamxcl

8:35 pm on Mar 24, 2017 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Thanks, I will check that other one out. It is putting out a 302 although I am not specifying either. It is meant to be a simple link over to the site that I can control better as well as count. But since Google seems more clueless than they've ever been after handling this fine for years, I will have to rethink this whole thing. Previously they would say the proper thing, that I am linking to a bad site. I fix it and it goes away right away. Now they slap me with it and still list the original website in their own search results and can send people there.

lucy24

9:12 pm on Mar 24, 2017 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



It is putting out a 302 although I am not specifying either.

302 is the default for redirects. If you want it to be 301 you have to say so explicitly. If you want 302, you don't need to do anything.

adamxcl

9:56 pm on Mar 24, 2017 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I don't control the content so I don't want a 301. Don't even want a 302. I just want to be able to track a third party link and shift it over to it's place and not get penalized if their site goes bad. Just like any link inside Google results, gmail, etc. They put it through their own site. By this standard, Google itself should be marked malware because they list and rank the exact same site and link they are marking me with malware. Right now, something is broken.

I need to find another safe way to have a outbound link on my own site that I can control. Is this even possible? Does anyone use any kind of safe link tracking/counting/control?

not2easy

10:08 pm on Mar 24, 2017 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Maybe a 303 header could be sent with the redirect? Something to kill the 302 so it is not seen as "your" content that is temporarily at this other location?

adamxcl

10:12 pm on Mar 24, 2017 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Had not thought of that one. Good suggestion and one to explore. At least test and see if it makes a difference in the future in these cases. It only seems to happen every few months but it's annoying when it tags your site in a bad light for hours to a few days. And could have a long term negative impact even though I am not doing anything wrong.