Finally I’m able to put some time back into TheDocBlog. I recently upgraded WordPress and modified the skin, I’m still working on a few bugs. The change was due to errors I was having while trying to paste code examples. The new skin better supports this. Now on to business.

My return post is about a subject geared for every type of Webmaster trying to earn a dime online. In 2006 the adult industry witnessed something never seen before, a power shift if you will within the adult industry. First, we saw a massive explosion in new adult affiliate programs but at the same time more adult companies closed the doors than ever before. Some companies screwed us over, others faded away, while larger programs, unknown to the Webmaster population, simply purchased up dieing Affiliate Programs.

What is the point of all this rambling? Well simply, Webmasters are getting screwed! But not just from companies going out of business, but by the people who don’t know how to setup and run Adult Paysites correctly. This includes large adult companies buying smaller adult companies. The attention to detail isn’t the same when it isn’t really your program and sites. And, the dirty tricks move over too.

So what has this created? It has created a new world of traffic leaks, mainly a leak of the true referring Affiliate ID. First off, experienced programs continue to improve the ways they can leach extra sales from your traffic. Then non-experienced programs just screwing us over due to errors and flat out greed!

Errors are fine, true human mistakes. For us web developers we all know we make mistakes and that is the reason why we should always do quality control checks on our own work. At the same time, you should do quality control checks on every sponsor or Website you plan on promoting. From galleries, the Website Tours, the Signup Forms, you should check it all and check every link on every page.

My research has shown some astonishing results. The amount of errors I was able to find was mind blowing. The list below is a checklist of errors or places I found that the affiliate ID didn’t pass through or was changed, even with a cookie set or the affiliate ID was present.

Here is the list:

  • Incorrectly coded or broken a href links on warning pages, tours, and join pages.
  • Large amounts of 404 errors. No affiliate ID through the 404 errors.
  • 404 pages overwrite the affiliate ID, they have popups/exits, and offers to other affiliate program websites.
  • Websites with standalone member login pages: Only a few pass the affiliate ID to the login pages from the tours. Less than a few pass the affiliate ID to the login error page.
  • Login Errors (401 error): Most error pages offer a cross-site promo. Half had promos to other affiliate programs. Almost all reset the affiliate ID even if one is present in the cookies.
  • Tours and more often the sign up forms, which provide a link back to the main tour page did not pass the affiliate ID back through to the tour, correctly.
  • HALF the programs tested reset the affiliate IDs on the warning pages.
  • Overly strong exit chains on tour pages, sub tour pages, and join forms.
  • Links to sex shops, dvd stores, and a mixture of other upsells directly on the tours or featured links (such as blogs and diary’s) which do not pass the affiliate ID through.
  • Outbound links to other paysites within the same site network and other affiliate program sites, hard linked through keywords. On the tours and the warning pages. These often do not pass the affiliate ID through even if one is present.
  • Hosted galleries: A large mixture of 404 errors, broken – non-working affiliate ID links. A large amount of incorrectly coded galleries that produced some links to have an improper affiliate IDs. Incorrectly linked paysite tours or simply linking to the wrong paysite. Bonus or extra sites don’t have affiliate IDs. No title, description, keywords, body text, no alt tags, all graphic galleries, no 2257 statements, or non-working or found CSS files.
  • Bookmark links on tours and galleries that don’t contain the affiliate ID.
  • Join form errors: No open or close of the form tags, improperly coded or missing form options. Incorrect posts to the processor or cascade software creating errors.
  • Some tours do not work or pass the affiliate ID through if JavaScript is OFF!
  • Tours with bad/error warning popups from improper language settings, expired or missing SSL Certs, and some other stuff I didn’t click on.
  • Some affiliate programs provide improper coded linking codes within the affiliate program. These codes did not pass the affiliate ID through at all.
  • I have seen MANY Free Sites / TGP’s, ect which incorrectly wrote or placed the affiliate ID within the HTML. Creating fresh traffic to the affiliate program that doesn’t contain an affiliate ID.

This is only some of the possible Affiliate ID leaks that can be found on your own Websites and the Affiliate Programs Websites. The amount of money the General Webmaster loses out on due to these types of traffic leaks is mind-blowing. This isn’t an attack on affiliate programs, I have my own Affiliate Program and I make mistakes too. This should been an eye opener, a wake up call to check your work, check the Sponsors work, then select the Affiliate Program who provides proper tracking and crediting of sales produced from your traffic.

Now a small bash targeted towards some Affiliate Programs: While running around and testing Affiliate Websites I did come across a few with major errors. It is now 4 weeks later and only one program has corrected the errors or even responded to my emails. If you really want to know how dedicated the program is, point out a few errors and wait to see if they get repaired.

Have something to add to the checklist? Where are some of the other places you check for errors or where do often find errors? Please do not post sample URLs with errors. This post isn’t here to highlight the direct mistakes of other websites.


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