comments Written By: Scott Jangro
May 24, 2006

New JavaScript Link Types at Commission Junction

Commission Junction Announced this morning that they’re fundamentally changing their linking technology from static HTML links to JavaScript links.

Phase I of the Link Management Initiative involves a cutover to the default link type being this new JavaScript link. What’s a JavaScript link?

Some other providers use JavaScript links. The most popular is Google AdSense which uses JavaScript links exclusively for their standard publishers. TradeDoubler, an affiliate network in Europe uses JavaScript links by default. A JavaScript link may look as simple as this:


<script language="JavaScript" src="http://affiliate-provider.com/script?a=xxxxxx&Id=73A467F892B689C></script>

Or it could be a good deal more complex, like an AdSense link.

You’ll notice that there is no longer an anchor tag or an img tag for banner links that are pasted on a publisher site. These still exist, but get served at impression time. Is that a text link? A banner link? A big block of 4 products and a search box? Yes, yes, and yes. It’s whatever the service provider serves in response to the request. Of course it had better be what the publisher expects, but this opens up a new world of opportunities.

The number one thing about this sort of link is that it offers 100% control to the provider, in this case, Commission Junction, over the code that gets placed on a publisher site. That has benefits in that if CJ or an advertiser needs make a change to a link, they can do that automatically without requiring every publisher to manually edit sites.

It also allows CJ to offer up advanced link types. They cite automatic link rotation and other “future dynamic capabilities” such as multimedia and video links. (Note, Google just launched a video link for Adwords.)

This additional control for Commission Junction may mean less control for publishers. Changing link text, for example, will no longer be as simple as changing a little text in HTML. While CJ says that you will be able to continue to modify links by adding an SID, modifying the destination URL, and controlling the appearance of a text link, how this will be accomplished remains to be seen. It may require pre-setting the link in the CJ interface as you get the link code. This means more interaction with the link-generation tools in the CJ account manager.

But not all publishers cut-n-paste links onto their websites. Some integrate links into their websites deeply, by using only the click-URL and incorporating that in website links as needed. And not all delivery mechanisms used by affiliates (search marketing and email) support anything but a simple URL.
For this, CJ says they will have Keyword and Email links. They also say that product catalogs will eventually move to this new javascript link-type as well.

How the more advanced publishers like a price comparison website or a coupon site will manage their enormous databases of content that gets automatically married with a simple affiliate link prior to presentation on a page with what amounts to a dozen or more affiliate links on a single page, that one’s going to be a challenge to convert to JavaScript.

This all goes into effect on June 23, 2006. Commission Junction makes no mention of a deadline for cutting old links over. They must have one in mind, though with their stated reasoning for pushing Phase I out now being that it is well before the holiday season, that final phase must be 2007 the earliest.

Read more about CJ’s Link Management Initative on their website. Login is required, but we’ve all got at least one of those.

This will undoubtedly, also be discussed thoroughly on affiliate forums. A Best Web has one going now.

Update: Read more on this… Commission Junction’s JavaScript Link Follow-Up

Viewing 9 Comments

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    If they force us to use the JavaScript Code instead of the traditional Links, we will get some major problems.

    All Links are stored in our Database. We coded Ad/link locations across our Websites, Blog, RSS Feeds, Email Alerts, Email Newsletters and PPC Campaigns. 99.9% of our Affiliate Links are NOT visible to the user (We use Linkshares DRM in some cases where it makes sense for us).

    A Link to a Tracking Script with the "link location" and "target id's" as parameters is visible instead.

    All Clicks are first send to the tracking script that logs various information, such as the "Location ID" from where the click occurred among other things.

    It also pulls the destination URL (Affiliate Link) or to be correct, the destination URL "template", from the Database; adjusts the URL based on Link Destination and Click Source. Information such as the Advertiser / Network "Link ID" and/or "SID" are changed or added.

    It always depends the type of destination URL. Different networks and In-House Programs have different link structures and features available.

    All that would not work anymore. Starting from our Website manager Pages, the logic to render the public website to our Tracking and Logging System which forms the basis for our Analytics and Statistics.

    We also have content that is "border line" or changes "state". We syndicate a lot of our content. The content contains our tracking link and not the affiliate link. RSS can not deal with JavaScript as "Link" value.

    People can subscribe to Feeds via Reader or Email Service. We encourage our customers to use FeedBlitz because we then have some control over the look of the email (branding). So the Ad on our Website becomes RSS and the RSS becomes an Email.

    Based on CJ, 3 different Links are required for this, which need to change depending on what the Customer is doing.

    The JS Link for our Website, a direct (Product Feed like Link) for the RSS and the specific "Email" Link in case the User aggregates the Feed via an Email Service and a Direct Link to JavaScript Link transformer, if the Customer decides to use an online or desktop RSS Reader which renders a Webpage (kind of). Is CJ going to provide morphing links for this?

    Hello Web 2.0, does it ring a bell? No, not the AJAX part of it, the custom content. Empower the user: Get what you want, when you want it and in the format you want it.

    There is no way that they can force publishers to use the JS Link only with the special Email and PPC Links which are probably working in the way, that you don't get commission if "misused".

    It has to be optional, like Linkshare's DRM which is the right way of applying the new technologies.
    BeFree had/has something similar like the LS DRM.

    If CJ proceeds on that route, a lot of publishers (especially the medium size ones) will say bye bye to most CJ Merchants (or switch the links to the merchants program at Performics or wherever else the Merchant opened a Program parallel to CJ).

    The remaining affiliates can cancel their Google Analytics account and ask to get the Data from CJ instead (with detailed Conversion Information please).

    Something Affiliates can not get with Google Analytics. Hey, I found something positive (if CJ would provide the Data it can (and will) collect, without or with the knowledge of their Joe Anybody Affiliates). CJ JS Code will be on pretty much every relevant page anyway so why have CJ JS and Google JS code in all pages. Just one of the two will do.

    Did I mention that we would have to change thousands of links manually which we added over the years?

    Carsten
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    One more Comment to avoid misunderstandings. Our Tracking Script does a 302 redirect.

    The original referrer remains intact when the Affiliate Link is generated and redirected to.

    Networks and Merchants can see if we referred the customer from a PPC Search Engine or from one of our websites. They can see from which website and which page.

    There is no referrer when the customer comes from a Desktop RSS Reader or Email Client.

    They can basically see the same information as if the tracking script would not be there. No hiding of the source of traffic.

    Just wanted to make sure.
    Carsten
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    Carsten, we do the same thing -- link abstraction through a local redirect script for tracking and link management purposes.

    CJ is aware of this use case and I guess we'll have to wait and see how expertly they implement their new solution in allowing all the special methods that some of us employ to get the job done.

    You are absolutely right -- this is going to cause some major upheaval. I cannot think of any change in my 8 years in affiliate marketing that was so impactful as this has the potential to be.

    btw, thanks for the digg.
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    The only thing that comes close is CJ's change to their Market Place or Product Catalog at the end of 2002.

    That was the change where they canned their Category Structure and individual Product Links (and Tracking).

    The new Feed was a piece of junk. The feed did only improve a bit since then. You have more choices as publisher about how you would like to get the junk from CJ :).

    See my Rand here:
    http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=9182
    and continued
    http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=1377

    Leading eventually to this
    http://www.cumbrowski.com/CarstenC/scraps/20060...


    I am not superstitious, but why did GoogleAlert (search for my Name) pickup this thread (the first) yesterday and sent me a lonely email about it, 1 hour before I got the CJ email about the planned link changes. That is so odd. Like something tried to tell me "get ready, because you are not going to like what's coming".

    Regarding Digg, my pleasure.

    p.s.
    I am not sure, if you were part of its development, but I think the BeFree Datafeed System was pretty much the best from all the Network Feeds.

    There were only some minor problems with the daily feeds that had the date in the file name which made it hard to impossible for some merchants to guess what the file name today might be.

    You probably know what I am talking about. ;)

    Carsten
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    "I am not sure, if you were part of its development, but I think the BeFree Datafeed System was pretty much the best from all the Network Feeds."

    I had a small part to do with it. ;) thanks.

    "You probably know what I am talking about."

    yes I do. We couldn't have it perfect now, could we? That would have made the other networks look bad.
    • ^
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    Hey Scott,

    My last comment got caught by your filters.

    Probably because of the German saying which I did add in its original german language and letters (for example the o with the 2 dots on top of it). It was a generic comment and you can publish it or not.

    I was going to respond to the discussion at AffiliateManager.net, but it turned out differently. It became a post at my personal blog instead. I believe you are going to like it.

    Are you ready for CJ Analytics?

    Carsten
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    I'll check out your site, Carsten.

    And post your other comment again, because it didn't make it through at all. Believe me, I see lots of spam in there, but I don't see a post from you.
    • ^
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    would you recommend CJ for blog? or would adbrite or blogads be better deal?
    • ^
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    Do you fairly think this is news? I like and read your blog to get necessary information, but sometimes melancholy kills me

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