Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#1

Post by ash » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:05 PM UTC

Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links
shamrin.posterous.com

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#2

Post by urlwolf » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:39 PM UTC

Well, I'm not as torn as the author. They are altering the original content of the author, even if the result is the same.

Imagine that someone's religion believes that you go to hell if you use affiliate links... posterous would have condemned them! (dramatizing works)

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#3

Post by jat850 » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:50 PM UTC

I'm not sure if I'm missing something, or doing something wrong, but following the author's directions, none of my links are mangled whatsoever - copying the google.com link simply pasted google.com.

I do have Javascript enabled as stated.

I tried with each link in the article, and not a single one of them is redirecting via Viglink.

(edit) Using Firefox 3.5 on Linux

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#4

Post by NathanKP » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:51 PM UTC

I couldn't repeat the link copying trick mentioned in the article. When I right clicked on the link and copied it there was just google.com, no affiliate link.

I can see the viglink JavaScript in the source code for the page, though. Yet the dynamic DOM inspector shows that the link href has not been changed, nor is there an onclick handler added. Perhaps it does not work on Safari, or only works for specific users?

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#5

Post by aeontech » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:57 PM UTC

Huh, didn't livejournal try the same trick a month or two ago?

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100304/1741458425.shtml

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#6

Post by aeontech » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:57 PM UTC

NathanKP wrote: post #4

I couldn't repeat the link copying trick mentioned in the article. When I right clicked on the link and copied it there was just google.com, no affiliate link. I can see the viglink JavaScript in the source code for the page, though. Yet the dynamic DOM inspector shows that the link href has not been changed, nor is there an onclick handler added. Perhaps it does not work on Safari, or only works for specific users?

I would guess because a google.com link is not a link to a product, hence, there's no affiliate code for it in viglink databases? Try an amazon link perhaps?

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#7

Post by NathanKP » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:59 PM UTC

aeontech wrote: post #6

NathanKP wrote: post #4

I couldn't repeat the link copying trick mentioned in the article. When I right clicked on the link and copied it there was just google.com, no affiliate link. I can see the viglink JavaScript in the source code for the page, though. Yet the dynamic DOM inspector shows that the link href has not been changed, nor is there an onclick handler added. Perhaps it does not work on Safari, or only works for specific users?

I would guess because a google.com link is not a link to a product, hence, there's no affiliate code for it in viglink databases? Try an amazon link perhaps?

The author of the post specifically says that he can copy the google link and see an affiliate link.

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#8

Post by jmtulloss » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 9:59 PM UTC

urlwolf wrote: post #2

Well, I'm not as torn as the author. They are altering the original content of the author, even if the result is the same. Imagine that someone's religion believes that you go to hell if you use affiliate links... posterous would have condemned them! (dramatizing works)

That's a bit silly, their whole draw is in the fact that they change your content. If you have a youtube link, they turn that into a youtube embed. If you have http://..., they change that into an anchor. There are dozens of examples of content that you can put in an email and they will transform into something more useful, and this is generally regarded as being quite valuable.

If you have a problem with posterous manipulating your content, you should probably be hosting your own content.

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#9

Post by ErrantX » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 10:00 PM UTC

NathanKP wrote: post #4

I couldn't repeat the link copying trick mentioned in the article. When I right clicked on the link and copied it there was just google.com, no affiliate link. I can see the viglink JavaScript in the source code for the page, though. Yet the dynamic DOM inspector shows that the link href has not been changed, nor is there an onclick handler added. Perhaps it does not work on Safari, or only works for specific users?

I get the affiliate link when copying in Google Chrome on XP.

Re: Posterous silently changes all external links to affiliate links

#10

Post by NathanKP » Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 10:01 PM UTC

ErrantX wrote: post #9

NathanKP wrote: post #4

I couldn't repeat the link copying trick mentioned in the article. When I right clicked on the link and copied it there was just google.com, no affiliate link. I can see the viglink JavaScript in the source code for the page, though. Yet the dynamic DOM inspector shows that the link href has not been changed, nor is there an onclick handler added. Perhaps it does not work on Safari, or only works for specific users?

I get the affiliate link when copying in Google Chrome on XP.

Ah, so it may only work on specific browsers. Safari seems immune.