@Simmo! 168265 wrote:
One possible scenario would be for casino cookies to pick up the referring URL (domain name) and match it against the affiliates sites, dispensing with aff ids. An affiliate would register the sites with each program. This could have several advantages: firstly you could just send players to the casino straight (ie: http://www.allslots.com) without needing to go get link code. Secondly, You could deep link. Thirdly it would make email spam harder and also allow affiliate programs to more easily identify spammers. Fourthly you wouldn’t need different campaigns per site as the referring URL does that for you effectively and for multiple site owners make it easier to get stats by site. Finally, to the naked eye (ie: player) they just see the casino URL and not an affiliate URL.
Ding Ding! Round 2 begins… (LOL) :tongue:
It is an interesting idea, but I wouldn’t work with a program that relied on that alone. There are a few programs that show you the referring URLs in the stats, and in my experience, 50% of the time, there is no referring URL at all. For some reason, the URL just isn’t passed through. (I am referring to Revenue Giants and WagerShare specifically.)
The URLs that are shown are useful and interesting, but still — it’s only half of the picture. The rest are “undefined” or “unknown.” That is potentially half of my earnings there in the “unknown” pile. The additional tracking (cookies in the case of RG, and sessions in the case of WS) is quite helpful. (Which makes me wonder why WagerShare hasn’t gotten rid of it yet… I digress.)
So — based on my 50% figure, I think that using the referring URL for tracking purposes wouldn’t be received that well. I’m sure a few programs would love this, since it would reduce affiliate earnings significantly. But shortly after the change, affiliates would migrate to the more profitable programs — i.e. the ones with long tracking cookies. Affiliates will promote the programs that are most profitable to them, and smart affiliate programs know this. That is why there are so many cookied programs out there, and that is why we don’t see many programs offering insulting commission rates of 20% anymore.
Also, as you said, tracking by referring URL only would require you to register every site that you own, or each specific URL, if you promote via Blogspot or a similar site not owned by you. I (for one) wouldn’t want to register my sites. I’d rather just grab one link and use it wherever I want, be it on my sites, in email messages, etc.
The technique might reduce email spam, but it would also hinder legitimate email campaigns. Instead of linking directly to a casino within an email, I would have to first send people to a landing page that I own, and then they’d have to click out from there. And then only 50% of those would be tracked… 
Additionally, I think that some shady webmasters would attempt to claim sites that don’t really belong to them. I would be rather annoyed if someone claimed Jackpot Graphs, for instance, and started profiting from it! :Cry: I know there are ways to verify ownership (Google Analytics has a way), but it would be yet another hoop to jump through…..