Affiliate link blocker

[JackTenSuited]

Oh my god you are right I didn't see that before - same window = no problems
cheers buddy

hmm maybe it's a very vigorous method of preventing popups (just blocking any new windows from spwaning)

[DanHorvat]

So I scored the winning goal. Sweet.

"Open in new window/tab" irritates people anyway, so it's bad practice to use target="_blank" these days. I've read some reports over the last year or so, people are complaining, they want control over what opens where.

Just set all aff links to open in the parent window. And do post here in this thread if you run into problems with Adblock in the future so we can react accordingly.

Well done guys

[xecutable]

Oh lol i didnt even know this could be the reason. But yeah, i did it a few years ago, and the research indeed said ppl get irritated at sites choosing in what window should the click open

[Mattbar]

That's interesting, and a fairly easy (albeit rather annoying) fix

Well fairly easy on one of my sites and a pain the butt on my other site. I am in two minds as to whether to go through changing every module on www.onlinebetting.org.uk.

I can't decide what is better. All links working but opening in the same window meaning people might not come back to your site afterwards but they will at least get to the offer with ad block on. Or having some links not work for those with ad blockers but all links opening in new tabs/windows?

Does anyone have any reliable stats on whether it can penalise you if aff links open in a current window as opposed to a new tab?

[baldidiot]

Well fairly easy on one of my sites and a pain the butt on my other site. I am in two minds as to whether to go through changing every module on www.onlinebetting.org.uk.

I can't decide what is better. All links working but opening in the same window meaning people might not come back to your site afterwards but they will at least get to the offer with ad block on. Or having some links not work for those with ad blockers but all links opening in new tabs/windows?

Does anyone have any reliable stats on whether it can penalise you if aff links open in a current window as opposed to a new tab?

Penalise as in SEO? Wont make a difference. Main reason to open in a new window is so you keep the user on your site in case they don't like the bookie you've sent them to (or they're after bonuses and want to sign up to multiple ones).

Tbh if this really is all it's going to take to fix it then I'm leaning towards doing it on my sites, even though it will take me days to go through everything - looking at the stats for adblocker there are a lot more people using it than I first thought...

[xecutable]

Wait why do you think people will not come back? People are familiar with the hitting the back button concept be sure of that. Also people are very aware of using CTLR + click to open the link in a new tab, or SHIFT + click to open the window in a new window.

That research that I read, which Dan quoted, specifically talked about this. It also talked about AGE. I don't know the average age of the people looking to gamble, but they did find that 30+ people were more old school and know what the web was like back in 2000.

Two ears ago I installed one video monitor i think it was CrazyEgg or something. What I noticed is sometimes new windows overlap. I do not know why or how, but yes the click opened up in a new window, but it was an already opened up window so the user didnt even notice it. After a week of monitoring i came across this very very often.

Obviously it's a choice you have to make, and not everyone wants that. There was a story that theGooner had wrote a while back when he was choosing a TV, that too much choice confuses people and potentially pushes them away, id find it if I could.

P.S There are plugins to make all links open in the same window, or addons to search and replace the raw data of all posts (Wordpress that is).

[baldidiot]

Wait why do you think people will not come back? People are familiar with the hitting the back button concept be sure of that. Also people are very aware of using CTLR + click to open the link in a new tab, or SHIFT + click to open the window in a new window.

That's true, but some people will click through in the same window, not like the look of the offer and then just close the tab/window. Plus don't forget that the back button would have to be pressed several times to get back to the original page as most redirects end up in a small chain. Eg:

Original page > Your site redirect > Affiliate link > Landing page

So that's three 'backs' otherwise they'll just get pushed forward again. Plus some aff programs have intermediary redirects themselves (I'm sure we've all seen the tracking URL bounce around a few times on some programs before it hits the landing page).

I'm not saying that will be every one, but that was generally the thinking behind opening in a new tab. Which is sounding like it's a little old hat anyway.

[xecutable]

Yap, that why I said it's a choice one has to make depending on their traffic. Can't please everyone for sure .

[Mattbar]

Penalise as in SEO?

No penalise as in losing the traffic that would have just closed the new tab and then come back to your site.

Thank you both for the advice though. I'm leaning towards same window for now and then hopefully the bookies like Bet365 will get onto this and sort out the blocking issues and I can revert back to new tabs/windows.

[DanHorvat]

Also people are very aware of using CTLR + click to open the link in a new tab, or SHIFT + click to open the window in a new window.

Or middle click. That's what I'm using. Or right click + "open in new tab" in the menu that pops up. Some people open a new browser session.

The point is, some people like to open tons of tabs (like I'm doing), and some prefer to use the back/forward button and don't like that feature. Neither of these two groups will appreciate you forcing a new tab to open. The first group will open it anyway, the second will hate you for it.

Beware - on some browsers you're sent to the newly opened tab, and on some you're left on the original one while the new one loads on the right. People's browser choice also affects their habits regarding opening of new tabs. There are also mobile browsers where tabs aren't really as useful as they are on desktop.

I think the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) principle applies here. In other words, don't mess with people's browsing habits. "Open in new window" was a cheap trick whose time has passed.

I will personally never use it again.

P.S. People likely won't come back to your site anyway. If you didn't collect their contact info you can forget about it, the visitor will return only if/when the spoiled brat finds you on #1-#3 on Google for another term he's interested in. That's where the so-called "return visitors" in Google Analytics are coming from. No one cares about your brand or my brand and no one will remember the URL. "New tab" won't help much IMHO.

[RacingJim]

I still use open in new window for a very specific reason and can't really change that at the moment. Gutted!!

[WagerPod]

I try and mask my affiliate links as much as possible - Adblocker will put a premium on the internet.

[Deano99]

Well this has been an eye opener of a thread! Well done on getting to the bottom of it…

Can I ask though, are you saying that the only issue at play was the open in new tab function? So it doesn’t matter if you use the raw link, masked link or button, Adblocker will not block as long as the link opens in the same tab/window?

Thanks a mill

[baldidiot]

Well this has been an eye opener of a thread! Well done on getting to the bottom of it…

Can I ask though, are you saying that the only issue at play was the open in new tab function? So it doesn’t matter if you use the raw link, masked link or button, Adblocker will not block as long as the link opens in the same tab/window?

Thanks a mill

It still has to be masked - if you use the raw aff code it strip out the text completely.

So, for example, if you had a sentence that said "Claim your big giant bonus now" with a link on 'big giant bonus' the page would read "Claim your now" with the link and text removed.

[betplanning]

Hi, because I think it is very important to use the _blank target for external links, I made several tests and it seems that the problem will be resolved by delaying the redirect with php

[-Shay-]

I want to bump this thread, as I happened upon something I'd not seen before and it is related to this topic.

Recently, I was browsing on my mobile (using safari) and noticed "reader view available" on a website. I clicked the "reader view" to see what the hell it was - and the site was displayed "ad free".

I then went to my site, wondering if this is a specifically enabled feature. To the best of my knowledge, we did not enable this reader view (knowingly or willingly at least) and the option is available on our site. The result I found is as follows:

1. No featured sites listings on homepage.

2. No navigation or sidebar (note - sidebar is free from advertising in the website in question)

3. In content links are displayed but anything resembling an advertisement by very loose terms is not displayed.

Is there anything that one can do to "control" what is displayed in reader view - or even a way to disable it completely on a "mobile friendly" website?

[wonderpunter]

I make sidebar ads open in the same window as they are usually out of line of site for mobile uses.. in page links are new target.. mobile users are less likely to click back and then open in new window, also i tend to find visitors like to open two or three links to look around.. you really need to analyse your visitor pattern before deciding to switch over

[betplanning]

I can confirm that with the url alias of affiliations and with the timing of the redirect it also solves the problem of the target _blank.
I would be grateful if you want surfing my site with your tools adblock for further confirmation.
Thanks.

[MMM]

I can confirm that with the url alias of affiliations and with the timing of the redirect it also solves the problem of the target _blank.
I would be grateful if you want surfing my site with your tools adblock for further confirmation.
Thanks.

Just bumped into this thread. Can you explain what you mean by URL alias of affiliation?

[MMM]

I would be grateful if you want surfing my site with your tools adblock for further confirmation.
Thanks.

Your redirects work for me with Adblock +, however I would try to make the redirect time a bit faster.