Add-on to Remove Affiliate / Referral Embeds - Clean Links

[Muthafodder]

I posted this here...please make this happen:


I'm so sick of so many websites embedding affiliate / referral links as if they are proving a sole service...I'd much rather the vendor keep their money, and I sure don't enjoy making others money.

I'm talking about SD, CAG, and just about any other website that claims they collect revenue for 'server maintenance'...right; yet they're not forthcoming with information about their affiliates or allow users to opt out.
Personal blogs, etc., etc., etc.....you name it....they're everywhere.

Some are easy to spot as you can see the embeds within the link.

For instance, here are directs to the same item on Amazon with each sites' embed...err kickback:
--http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... gam08-20--

--http://slickdeals.net/?sdtid=3266128&sd ... 8&sr=1-5--

Others aren't as easy to spot or be aware that you just triggered some stranger income as you can create tiny urls with embeds.

BUT, I envision an add-on that would determine the end location without triggering a count towards the affiliate/referral and take the user to the intended target, bypassing the embedded garbage. This could be achieved with code that would compare the links from websites to the end target's actual/truncated location and using the clean link instead. Sure if there is a site that you just can't sleep at night without providing revenue with your clicks, filters for websites in which the add-on wouldn't bother providing a clean link from could be customized by the user.

I wouldn't care if there were a 1-2 second delay when clicking/middle-clicking just so long as this would be the the beginning of the end of the affiliate/referral BS that is so rampant today.

Affiliate and referral commissions are SO not needed today with the means of Twitter, Facebook, and every other means of instant communication. Any website that actually thinks they provide a service and justifies affiliate/referral links are kidding themselves...if there's a deal or popular topic...it will be found and it will still spread like wildfire.

If nobody takes this up, I really think I'll tackle it as I see this being as popular as Adblock Plus.
I just find this the most disgusting practice on the Internet...I'd love to see this as another add-on to Adblock Plus like the pop-up blocker was.

[Till]

Most affilite systems work with cookie tracking, you could just disable cookies. But why would you want to deny some blog the comission if it helped you find a product that is so good you decided to buy it? I am struggling to see a benefit for anyone in your idea.

[abpuser1]

This is a huge privacy issue.

If the affiliate ID is not stripped out then the vendor knows where you came from, giving them a hint at your browsing habits. This leaks personal information and most people don't know it happens. We have anti-tracking subscriptions to prevent this sort of information collection being accomplished through other means.

ABP should also have an option for one click enabling and disabling of referrer headers. The vast majority of sites do not demand them and there is no benefit for users to feed the marketing beast with that information.

[Michael]

But why would you want to deny some blog the comission if it helped you find a product that is so good you decided to buy it?

Because people value their privacy - it is know and accepted that, by default, EasyPrivacy prevents cashback schemes from functioning, for example. I could similarly ask why a user would deny a website owner income by blocking their advertisements if they use the website frequently and to great benefit.

Wladimir, would it perhaps be possible for Adblock Plus to support a "noreferrer" option, similar to "donottrack"?

[Till]

I could similarly ask why a user would deny a website owner income by blocking their advertisements if they use the website frequently and to great benefit.

Well, I think blocking annoying ads is not the same as changing text-links just to make sure the merchant doesn't have to pay the referrer. This would only increase the revenues of Amazon etc. while harming the websites that have provided a useful service to me. But I agree that it is different when you look at it from the privacy protection angle.

[guest]

I've suggested this multiple times and it always gets brushed aside. I am disappointed and frustrated with this community.

I'm talking about SD, CAG, and just about any other website that claims they collect revenue for 'server maintenance'...right; yet they're not forthcoming with information about their affiliates or allow users to opt out.
Personal blogs, etc., etc., etc.....you name it....they're everywhere.

I don't really have an issue with personal blogs. However, for deal-sharing websites like SlickDeals, FatWallet and CheapAssGamer, the affiliate income isn't just for server maintenance - it's their sole business model. For CheapyD, running CAG is his full time job. Judging from the view/post counts on the forum, he easily makes at least 5 figures (USD) via affiliate income from every console launch for doing absolutely nothing.

What bothers me about deal-sharing sites is that the users do all the work, and the owners make all the money. If you insert a non-affiliate link, it will automatically be converted to a referral link. If you bypass the converter on FatWallet (it's not hard to do so if you know how to manipulate URLs), the mods may even go so far as to edit in a FW affiliate link and block you from making further edits to the post. Sharing deals is a thankless job with no benefit: sometimes good deals are actually pricing errors, and sharing them causes mass order cancellations. All the affiliate revenue goes to the site owners, not the person who discovered and shared the deals.

--http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... gam08-20--

This should be auto-redirected to http://amzn.com/dp/B0046ZQ022
The shortest link is always http://amzn.com/dp/<product ID>

Given that ABP has an automatic URL redirect / typo-correction feature to keep users off spoof websites, this is ridiculously easy to implement. An anti-affiliate tracking feature is long overdue.

[DOOD]

I support this idea.

[Guest]

Bump.

[John32]

This should be implemented.

[EvilAaron]

Just looking for a addon to do just this and google search points here. Really getting worse all the time a tool like this is needed.

[EricA]

I approve this idea. Given the support in this thread why is this not implemented?

[mapx]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ean-links/

[Muthafodder]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ean-links/

I wanted to let you know I've returned very satisfied with your effort.

Dude, you are a GOD among affiliates...THANK YOU!!!

Will spread the word.

[cmmc]

Here's a few others:
https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefo ... tbypasser/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... t-remover/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefo ... t-cleaner/
https://addons.mozilla.org/pt-BR/firefo ... -de-links/
https://addons.mozilla.org/pt-BR/firefo ... iprotetor/

Also, this site fixes many types of url protections (redirected, reversed, encrypted, escaped, base64, etc.):
http://www.inverterlink.com.br/ (the top box automates the decoding)
or check the old interface for examples:
http://www.inverterlink.com.br/index2.html