IE 10's 'Do Not Track' feature...??

[Online18Casino]

I just upgraded to IE 10, and by default the 'Do Not Track' feature is enabled. Doing a little research it seems things may get a little more difficult for affiliate tracking.

"Microsoft announced Thursday that the next version of its browser, IE 10, will ship with the controversial “Do Not Track” feature turned on by default, a first among major browsers, creating a potential threat to online advertising giants."

Does anyone have a little more insight on this issue? I don't know a whole lot about how the tracking process works, but I have not seen this really discussed anywhere and would like to know more about how this applies to us?

 

[LandofOz]

I just googled it. It's true. Affiliate marketing is getting tougher and tougher. Stupid laws, dodgey affiliate programs, shrinking banking options, ever changing search engine algorithms and questionable browser features. Fortunately for us, IE's popularity has been steadily falling over the last few years. FireFox and Chrome are the 2 most popular browsers. IE is used by approx. 16% of internet users. (source: w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp)

 

[casdir]

Can things really get any harder? Even Internet Explorer is trying to ruin the affiliate marketing business.

It might be time to fix up my resume and get a job at Woolworths soon lol

 

[Online18Casino]

Can things really get any harder? Even Internet Explorer is trying to ruin the affiliate marketing business.

It might be time to fix up my resume and get a job at Woolworths soon lol

That's what I'm saying, we got Google, Facebook, and now Microsoft against us. And yes while IE is only 16% of the web (still a huge number), other browsers may follow. We already know Google is against ads that they don't own. The road blocks seem to be coming fast, and while I love a challenge, it seems to be one right after another lately.

 

[CaseyM]

I was looking into this recently, the conclusion is it sucks and there is nothing anyone can do about it

Just another reason to hate IE

 

[michael26a]

Is Microsoft doing this on purpose to kill off affiliate marketing in general? Are Microsoft trying to kill off some potential competition to make more profits? I can't see any other reason for this move, other than pure greed from a multi-billion dollar company. Absolutely disgusting.

 

[societyofslots]

Is Microsoft doing this on purpose to kill off affiliate marketing in general? Are Microsoft trying to kill off some potential competition to make more profits? I can't see any other reason for this move, other than pure greed from a multi-billion dollar company. Absolutely disgusting.

u got it.. mind you with Bill Gates and his global eugenics policies he's implementing via his gates foundation worldwide there wont be any people left to a) buy the crap & b) get comissions for being an affiliate..

Seriously though. I.E can get royally fucked. In fact I just brought a new laptop with windows 8 on it.. Im having a look at the receipt and taking it back.. Two can play at that game..

 

[Online18Casino]

So the affiliate programs have no way or plans to combat this? Such as a different tracking method? I am sure it will be in there best interest to be slow to react...

 

[CaseyM]

So the affiliate programs have no way or plans to combat this? Such as a different tracking method? I am sure it will be in there best interest to be slow to react...

So what tracking method would you suggest?

 

[Online18Casino]

Alright, well as I said I do not know the technical aspect of how tracking works, but if im the idea guy how about something like this.

You don't use cookies or track from the browser but the exe files (I think some casinos already do this). Then You can host the software on your site. But the problem is most people won't trust just downloading from your site or will want more info on the casino first. So maybe the casino gives you your own landing page (IE onlinecasino.com/8855) and they host your software (custom exe file) on the landing page. Or even better yet they give you your own mini site you send traffic to 8855.onlinecasino.com/ and you get a main page, faq, tos and all that, so the user can browse around and they are still linked to your tracking software when they go to download.

Those are just some simple ideas off the top of my head, maybe an expert would have a better idea...

 

[Vladi]

It seems there is a lot of panic and misunderstanding in this thread. It is not Microsoft's fault (they did not even propose the standard), it isn't a conspiracy to stop affiliate marketing, and the world is not going to end on December 21.

Do some reading first and try to understand the issue:
Do Not Track - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Do Not Track Policy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Notably:

The Do Not Track system is completely voluntary, and there are no legal or technological requirements for its use. As such, not all websites and advertisers will honour the request or may completely ignore it altogether. The Digital Advertising Alliance does not require companies to honor DNT signals. "The Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Direct Marketing Association will not sanction or penalize companies or otherwise enforce with respect to DNT signals set on IE10 or other browsers."

So if you don't like it, you can ignore it.

 

[Online18Casino]

It seems there is a lot of panic and misunderstanding in this thread. It is not Microsoft's fault (they did not even propose the standard), it isn't a conspiracy to stop affiliate marketing, and the world is not going to end on December 21.

Do some reading first and try to understand the issue:
Do Not Track - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Do Not Track Policy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Notably:


So if you don't like it, you can ignore it.

"The Do Not Track system is completely voluntary" - True, the problem is, that it is on by default and the average user would not go through the trouble of turning it off, or have any reason to.

As far as websites go, it has always been voluntary for them to track, or not to track browsers.

I also don't think that This, and IE alone is a game changing problem.. But I do think it is headed in a direction that is bad for all affiliates. I like to remain proactive.


And as far as the world ending, I am still waiting for my "F*** IT, We Are All Dead Anyway!!!" gambler.

 

[Vladi]

The browser setting does absolutely nothing apart from sending a heading saying "please don't track me" to the web server on every request. It doesn't block tracking scripts or cookies or anything else.

It is totally up to the website to honour the request. So even if a user sends the header with their request, you are free to ignore it.

 

[Engineer]

Thanks for pointing this out, Vladi -- this is quite an important point. IMO, it would be in everyone's best interest to just ignore this feature.

Experienced affiliate programs know that if their conversion rates and earnings are lower than their competitors, affiliates will decrease their exposure. To mess around with something like this -- such as by blocking cookies and following Do Not Track signals -- would be extremely foolish from a business point of view.

If it isn't broke, don't fix it!

It will be interesting to see if any programs shoot themselves in the foot.

 

[michael26a]

Wow, talk about someone shouting "the sky is falling down" lol I was completely wrong about this do not track feature until I read about it on Wikipedia. Thanks Vladi for taking the time to post those Wikipedia reference links, and your opinions Basically, the do not track feature is a bit like the nofollow tag. The nofollow tag may be completely ignored or followed by search engines or robots. It is basically a HTTP header request, and nothing more.

I'm so happy I finally understand how this works. In hindsight, the sky is not falling down, and everything is back to normal again (for now) lol

 

[Online18Casino]

I don't dispute any of what you are saying, and it would be very dumb for any affiliate program to use that feature. But then why have it at all? I also agree there is nothing to worry about, unless there comes an enforcer.

 

[roey]

IE is the worst of the lot, i just wish people would realise that and download a good browser with their windows pc, a pain to work with a pain to make work with all versions, ive even contemplated a pop up to say "Everything works better with a better browser, so get one" (might just do it if this starts to show negative effects)

 

[Online18Casino]

IE is the worst of the lot, i just wish people would realise that and download a good browser with their windows pc, a pain to work with a pain to make work with all versions, ive even contemplated a pop up to say "Everything works better with a better browser, so get one" (might just do it if this starts to show negative effects)

haha what is the worst is when you spend hours on a website making it look perfect! Then you go look at it in IE and it looks horrible.