Hiding Affiliate links

[MiroslavGlavic]

I have been noticing that more and more bloggers are hiding affiliate links

Instead of http://www.whateveryourhost.com/clie...aff=5084534543 the link is http://www.bloggerurl.com/whateveryourhost which automatically takes you to Whatever Your Host website.

What do you think of this?

I also seen this on posts that review tech gadgets, books, etc...

I don't trust any reviews that have an affiliate link to the product they are reviewing.
I don't trust any links to affiliate links that are cloaked/hidden.

[andreasnrb]

Well not trusting because of affiliate link use is not that smart. Its the context and the blogger's past that gives or removes value from a review.
Just because there is no affiliate links does not mean that the review is honest.
There are paid posts, paid reviews, joint ventures etc. So its the reputation of the one doing the review is what matters.
Personally I check the site as a whole, see if there is any video of the person doing the review actually reviewing the product, pictures of the person etc. Also check the comments on the review as well.

[Ryan]

It didn't even occur to me that people would care about such things. I reviewed a product a while ago and simply put an affiliate link as it just seemed sensible to do so. I didn't think anyone would care/notice.

[chipbennett]

It didn't even occur to me that people would care about such things. I reviewed a product a while ago and simply put an affiliate link as it just seemed sensible to do so. I didn't think anyone would care/notice.

I think it's fine, as long as it's disclosed.

There is an inherent potential for conflict-of-interest when someone reviews something from which one can profit. Affiliate links represent a means of profit, and therefore represent a potential incentive to bias the review. Thus, if the affiliate links are disclosed, the reader is made aware of the potential for bias, and can account for that potential when reading the review.

But if I were to find out that a "review" was attempting to mask affiliate links, I would immediately distrust the objectivity of the reviewer.

[andreasnrb]

Chips lots of people mask affiliate links. The links look bad and people most don't want to click them because of it, they don't trust them. Not because of the money making part. Its also easier to track the clicks on your own sites with custom links.
But there should be a disclaimer on the site.

[chipbennett]

Chips lots of people mask affiliate links. The links look bad and people most don't want to click them because of it, they don't trust them. Not because of the money making part. Its also easier to track the clicks on your own sites with custom links.
But there should be a disclaimer on the site.

Making a link more readable/aesthetically pleasing is one thing. Intentionally hiding the affiliate nature of that link is another thing entirely.

It's the disclosure that is important. (And not-masking affiliate links is not a form of disclosure; it just indicates that no overt intent exists to hide them.)

[PaulCunningham]

If you've ever put affiliate links in posts and then later one of your affiliate products changes to a different affiliate backend, you'll know the pain of having to update all of your posts. Sure there are SQL find/replace techniques, but the average blogger doesn't want to muck around with that stuff.

Affiliate link tools just make it easier. You can use something like http://mywebsite.com/recommends/product so its somewhat obvious. Disclosure plays another part in it. You can put (aff) after it or disclaim that the post contains affiliate links.

Click tracking and automatic keyword linking are two other benefits (eg if you type the word StudioPress into a blog post it can be automatically linked up with your affiliate link).

Frankly I think its not the affiliate links that are the problem. If you don't trust the review then thats more an issue with you not trusting that blogger. Bloggers who build up trust and credibility don't have to worry about affiliate link management looking suspicious.

[syedbalkhi]

One of the main reasons why we use branded urls is just so if it changes in the future, we don't have to go back and make the changes. Take for example StudioPress links. They switched from e-junkie program to Shareasale not that long ago. All we had to go was simply change the url which was pointed to >> www.wpbeginner.com/refer/studiopress (and all posts had the new URL).

Now remain the talk about conflict of interest, then certainly sometimes there is. But I give the author a benefit of the doubt depending on the quality of the review. I think if someone takes their time to review the product and highlight the features, then they should get paid. Why would someone do it for FREE??? They ought to make a living as well. Honestly, if you think you can't trust a review because it has affiliate links, then there is a huge problem with you. Because bloggers also get PAID to write review, and they can choose not to put a disclaimer..... So who can you really trust?

Nonetheless, we have a disclaimer in the footer of every page letting you know that the post may or may not contain affiliate links. I think that is the best way to go about it rather than disclosing at the bottom of each post.