Why "Cloaking" Isn't Just For Star Trek
We've talked about ClickBank hoplinks before.
When you get a hoplink from ClickBank, or any affiliate link from any source, what you have is a "raw" link, or a "naked" link. That means anybody who looks at the URL for that link can see what your affiliate ID is.
That might not seem so bad, but it actually can cost you a great deal of money. If somebody can see what your affiliate ID is, he can steal your affiliate commission by putting his own affiliate ID in there.
It's clear that this is a large problem, because most product sellers with affiliate programs says something like this on their affiliate pages (if they have those pages):
"If you try to buy with your own affiliate link, we will find you and do awful things."
The problem is, many online sellers sell through ClickBank, and ClickBank hoplinks are particularly easy to see and modify…unless you get smart by "cloaking" your link. It's easy.
All you do is create a directory (folder) on your site that has a catchy name to hint at what the affiliate product is. It might be something like this:
http://www.YourSite.com/greatrecipes
Then you use what's called a PHP redirect to send anybody who hits that URL to your ClickBank hoplink. Don't worry, that's not hard either. Here's the code:
<?php header("Location: http://yournickname.sellerid.hop.clickbank.net"); ?>
Put that code in a file called index.php inside the "greatrecipes" directory, and you're all set. That way, nobody actually sees your affiliate link, and they can't steal your commissions.