what is redflagdeals.com affiliate link

qwertyhunter wrote: ↑ Newbie question,

When you hover a link sometime it says "redflagdeals.com affiliate link"

What does this mean? and why do some people do it while other links don't? am I giving people money when I click these links?

Q

If the retailer is within our affiliate network the link will be automatically converted to that. It's a way for us to earn a percentage of the sale to help keep the lights on.

Is there a special way to link them correctly? Tirerack links never work. Here's one for example. Instead of taking you to the article, it takes you to the Centric Brakes product page. All Tirerack links do this.

https://blog.tirerack.com/blog/make-dri ... ter-wheels

derass wrote: ↑ Is there a special way to link them correctly? Tirerack links never work. Here's one for example. Instead of taking you to the article, it takes you to the Centric Brakes product page. All Tirerack links do this.

https://blog.tirerack.com/blog/make-dri ... ter-wheels

I'll send this over to the team that works on this stuff. Hopefully they can get it fixed up soon.

TomRFD wrote: ↑ I'll send this over to the team that works on this stuff. Hopefully they can get it fixed up soon.

I managed to make the link work by redirecting it with TinyURL, but I don't know if that goes against any affiliate agreements in place.

derass wrote: ↑ I managed to make the link work by redirecting it with TinyURL, but I don't know if that goes against any affiliate agreements in place.

Link shorteners are normally prohibited (no way to know what's behind the URL other than by clicking them) but I'll make an exception here.

TomRFD wrote: ↑ Link shorteners are normally prohibited (no way to know what's behind the URL other than by clicking them) but I'll make an exception here.

That's fair. I won't do that then. Hopefully there's a fix someday. I've heard that linking to Sportchek doesn't work either.

derass wrote: ↑ That's fair. I won't do that then. Hopefully there's a fix someday. I've heard that linking to Sportchek doesn't work either.

Yes, we've had an ongoing issue with our Sport Chek affiliate links. I believe the problem affects every site though and it's because they only want people being directed to their main webpage.

TomRFD wrote: ↑ Yes, we've had an ongoing issue with our Sport Chek affiliate links. I believe the problem affects every site though and it's because they only want people being directed to their main webpage.

It is kind of scummy, however it makes sense though, doesn't it?

I mean, you already know what you want to buy and can search for it from the main page.

They are utilizing the opportunity to hopefully interest you in something else on the site .... Whereas if you just landed on the particular page, you may not browse elsewhere.

Online stores likely have metrics that tell them how many people just buy a certain item and how many browse and buy more. Looking to land more sales, they use the tactic of taking users to the main page where other deals may be posted.