Additional rules: Spam, self promotion and referral links are not allowed. Do not discuss how to perform, elude capture, or profit from illegal activities.
I also agree with the rule that there should be a non referral link next to the referral link, so that people could have options. Because it would not really be fair to the poster if the site was well explained, but he won't be able to get a few referrals. I personally don't mind signing up under someone as long as they're not spamming the forum.
so your saying it is ok to put a referral link as long as there is a non-referral link along side of it so that there is an option. That sounds fair.
Referral links - to be or not to be If I might throw a slight piece of additional info here, most of the referral links are what would be considered cookied [tagged]. Once you use A LINK to visit a site, a non-referral link or referred, the site will cookie your browser. If you came in on a non-referral link, the site will take credit as if you came directly there. This cookie can be active for 24 hours if not longer. I know Amazon can deposit one for up to 90 days. What this means is that any referral link will be useless [and the referree] would probably lose out on any promotion if you came back after you checked out the offer and then wish to use the referral link. The site will recognize the 1st cookie deposited in the browser and only see you as a returning visitor even though you may have used the referral link. The site then profits off of the user for coming because the site is paid by the advertiser of the offer and the referree most likely will not receive any credit. In fairness to someone who finds a good deal that would be something to keep in mind. If you don't like the deal, nobody benefits any way. The only way you could re-establish that the referral link gets credited for the referree would be to clear your browser cache [sometimes multiple times] which many people are not going to do once they find they like the offer. I hope this makes sense for the most part. Having the OP clearly indicate that the link is a referral link openly as others have suggested and not cloaking it with a URL shortened link would be pretty fair and transparent options that would make people aware yet gain a benefit all around.
There are already people here linking to sites with their referral statuses, without even informing people of it. This is pretty scummy, if I may say so, and should definitely not be allowed to happen... People who aren't tech-savvy and have no idea what referrals do should be informed about what happens once they click that link of a borderline spammer..
I think that the easiest way to spot a referral link is to just look at the lower left side of your browser and see if the link is a referral link or it's being disguised by a link cloaker. That's what I usually do if I see a hyperlinked text on the computer screen.
