Cloaking and Referrer Management in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) refers to techniques for controlling what information is passed to affiliate networks or advertisers when traffic is redirected through your tracker. This functionality is especially important in affiliate marketing because some networks may disapprove certain traffic sources, creatives, or referrers.
CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) provides options for handling referrer data to maintain compliance and protect campaign strategies.
Why It Matters
- Privacy: You may not want affiliate networks to know the exact traffic source you’re using.
- Compliance: Some networks reject clicks coming from certain referrers (e.g., social traffic on Google-based offers).
- Security: Controlling referrers makes it harder for competitors or networks to replicate your setup.
- Optimization: By managing what data is passed, you maintain consistency in reporting without exposing sensitive details.
Referrer Management Options in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One)
- Pass Full Referrer
- CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) forwards the actual referrer (e.g., facebook.com/adid=123).
- Advantage: Transparent, often required by networks.
- Limitation: Reveals your traffic source.
- CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) forwards the actual referrer (e.g., facebook.com/adid=123).
- Strip Referrer
- CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) removes referrer information before sending the user to the offer.
- Advantage: Protects traffic source privacy.
- Limitation: Some networks may require real referrer data.
- CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) removes referrer information before sending the user to the offer.
- Custom Referrer
- You define a “safe page” or neutral URL to use as the referrer.
- Example: https://safe-page.com appears as the referrer instead of the real source.
- Advantage: Provides flexibility and compliance.
- You define a “safe page” or neutral URL to use as the referrer.
- Double Meta Refresh (DMR)
- Uses two consecutive meta-refresh redirects to completely remove referrer data.
- Commonly used for cloaking purposes.
- Advantage: Strong privacy protection.
- Limitation: Some traffic sources may detect and penalize this method.
- Uses two consecutive meta-refresh redirects to completely remove referrer data.
Example Use Case
Suppose you’re running an offer from a network that bans social traffic, but you want to test Facebook Ads. By using a custom referrer in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One), you send clicks to a neutral domain (e.g., a content blog), which then appears as the referrer in the affiliate network logs. This prevents immediate disapproval while maintaining accurate tracking in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One).
Best Practices
- Always review affiliate network terms before using cloaking—violating policies can lead to bans.
- Use cloaking primarily for privacy and testing, not deception.
- Regularly test referrer settings to ensure clicks still register correctly.
- Avoid over-reliance on DMR, as it’s often detected by sophisticated platforms.
In summary, Cloaking and Referrer Management in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) gives marketers control over what traffic sources are revealed to networks. When used responsibly, it protects strategies, improves compliance, and ensures campaigns remain profitable without exposing sensitive data.
See also: Redirect Profiles, Campaign Redirect Domains, S2S Postback
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