ClickBank has put a lot of effort into the reliability and security of its Hoplink system. It is closely monitored and designed to provide every protection possible, so that affiliates get proper credit for their sales.

"Hoplink theft" is a term used to describe the act of changing Hoplinks so that they credit a different affiliate. A hardworking affiliate may place Hoplinks across many sites on the Internet, but a person with their own ClickBank account and bad intentions could, with some manual steps and scheming, create an identical Hoplink to the hardworking affiliate, but with their own nickname substituted in.

This typically happens in one of two places: when a Hoplink is placed in an ad by an affiliate, or at payment time when a publisher attempts a quick hop to a different affiliate just before payment. Clickbank says this isn't a common problem; but before they admitted it WAS a problem; it was a HUGE problem!

There is a simple code to stop cloaking and the stealing of hoplinks. I am posting it here and hoping it comes out as *text* for you to copy and paste.

HopLink Cloaker HTML: HopLink Cloaker HTML: I tried and tried and the hub won't allow me to insert it even removing most of the < >-- it doesn't work to post it here so I am doing the next best thing and sending you directly to the cloacker link:

Click here for the Hoplink CloakingCode. It is just a very small piece of javascript. This is the secret -- to send the customer to a url of your own that quietly redirects them through the correct hoplink. Clickbank recommends using the html on that page I just sent you to. Don't forget to replace each occurrence of AFFILIATE and PUBLISHER with the correct value!

(This is all I got to come out on the Hub but it isn't enough)

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script url='http://AFFILIATE.PUBLISHER.hop.clickbank.net'; if(document.images) { top.location.replace(url); else { top.location.href=url; /script /head bodyLoading a href=http://AFFILIATE.PUBLISHER.hop.clickbank.net>page... /body /html

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NOW - if your web server runs a php script - you can use a really small, even simpler piece of code that is on that same page above - 2nd choice down after the one I just sent you to. It is called The HopLink Cloaker PHP Script:

php header("Location: http://AFFILIATE.PUBLISHER.hop.clickbank.net");

It looks JUST like this above - only add 2 things - at the beginning of php put this - <?

and at the end of the net"); put

this - ?>

and that's IT for php!!

You can also do something called Passing Parameters.

If you want to pass other parameters through the hoplink to arrive at the target URL they will pass up to 64 bytes of QUERY_STRING data through to the target URL.

For Example:

For example:

bonnie.clyde.hop.clickbank.net/?ZZ=1&YY=123abC

Would redirect to...

clydes-website.com/script.php?hop=bonnie&ZZ=1&YY=123abC

(Just ADD your http:// to the line - before bonnie so you have

h t t p : / / bonnie.hop.................. (I added spaces there but you can see what I mean.

These things should protect you from hoplink theft.

Clickbank also now allows you to track your campaigns (on same page as I have linked to above.)

You can also calculate your commissions:

Here is their example of the commission calculation if you are promoting a product that offers a 55% commission:

Retail Price: $29.95 Subtract 7.5% + $1 -$3.25 Net Sale Amount: $26.70 55% of the Remainder: $14.69

Therefore, as the referring affiliate for this sale, you would earn $14.69.

To m, doing these simple things Doesn't seem like a lot to ask, the major reason people USE CB is because it is STILL the only merchant account type thing out there that gives you an instant affiliate army!

I mean really, you come on board there with a really easy to sell product or service and WHAM! You have 30 plus selling For you in a week! Give them a HIGH commission 50 - 75 % (because you are making your money from Quantity (BULK). The more money you offer them and the easier your product is to sell, the more affiliates you get and fast.

A good example of this is *How to get Women to...YXZ (whatever). This sells like CRAZY and the guys doing it are making a Killing! I know one of them and the conversion ratio is UnREAL!

Clickbank also says: "Additionally, there are 3rd party products available to cloak Hoplinks. Although ClickBank does not specifically endorse any of these products, we encourage anyone seeking cloaking functionality to investigate what's out there and available, as there are a number of different ways to perform this simple redirect.

To avoid the second form of Hoplink theft, we recommend that you examine the order flow of the products you are promoting to ensure that additional Hoplinks have not been added to the ordering process. The most straightforward way to do this is to click your own Hoplink, view the publisher's pitch page and then click through to the ClickBank order form. At the bottom of the order form you'll see an indicator that starts with "affiliate=." If your Hoplink was constructed correctly, your affiliate nickname will appear there. It is a good practice to regularly check this flow to ensure you receive proper credit for sales."

This is good advice and I would check it fairly regularly if I were you.

One more thing I wanted to mention. Try to have a page (just do it!) for your affiliate to find easily and provide them with everything you have in your own arsenal of promotion techniques, .jpg and .gifs; text that has worked well for you, banners, what EVER it is that WORKS - they need it too!

Treat your affiliate with RESPECT. They are making you wealthy. This deserves a pat on the back at the very least. Running an incentive now and then is nice too. I once gave away a palm-pilot to the affiliate who made the most sales in one month.

TELL them on that page for them how much you APPRECIATE them!

Good night - Melanie