Howto Fake Browser Referrer - CPA

[SpyBoy]

First, why would you want to hide or fake a browser referrer? Answer: because you don’t want CPA networks and their advertisers knowing where your traffic came/comes from (obviously)! It doesn’t matter what the source of traffic is – MySpace, Facebook, torrents, foreign, incentivised, etc – if it’s against a network’s/advertiser’s ToS, an affiliate may be get banned and even lose any accumulated earnings if he/she gets caught, so that’s the reason to fake/hide a browser’s referrer.

There are a few ways to remove (hide) a browser referrer, like double meta-refresh, but if you’re new (or newish) to a CPA network and start doing significant conversions via a blank referrer they WILL become suspicious, after all, you have no track record with them and they don’t know where your traffic comes from so it’s quite natural.

The perfect solution is to give the networks a referrer of a site optimized for the particular offer(s) you are promoting. To understand this better, here’s a simple example with an adult dating offer (obviously, you can use more than one site for different traffic sources/offers).

CPA Redirection

With this example, traffic is sent to the adult blog which automatically redirects it to the relevant adult offer. So, if the CPA networks check the referrer, they will see the URL of the adult blog (optimized for that particular offer) and NOT the real source of the traffic.

So, how do you get the blog to automatically redirect to the relevant CPA offer? Simple, use a WP plugin called: CPA Redirector

I’ve developed and tested this plugin over a long period of time - hope you guys appreciate it! I’ve tested with numerous browsers and browser versions, and many networks. To get the plugin to work properly you MUST follow the below instructions exactly and test it before using it!

CPA Redirector: Instructions

Download below, copy to the WP plugin directory, and then activate.


Now, you MUST edit the header file (header.php) of your blog’s theme (in the theme folder - /public_html/wp-content/themes) and add the following line of code to the first line of header.php:

<?php if (prc_red()) exit(); ?>

It must be on the first line of header.php! If you don’t do this, the plugin will not work! Your header.php should look something like this:

Now, set the blog permalinks to something like: /%postname%/ (don’t forget to add the .htaccess code). Finally, let’s learn how to use it - the user interface is below.

Option 1: This is the redirection method. There are two options here: Java Script and Meta Refresh. You should always use the Java Script option as it’s the most reliable way to pass the referrer on.

Option 2: Magic Number. This is any number, but choose 4 digits or more.

Option 3: These are URLs of posts on your blog. You use these with magic number to redirect traffic.

Option 4: These are your affiliate links. One affiliate link per page. IMPORTANT: include the ‘HTTP://’ prefix with affiliate links, otherwise they wont work properly!

Let’s get going. Add some articles (use free articles from goarticles.com, ezinearticles.com, etc) to a blog you want to use for redirection. Put some relevant banners on the blog, so it’s optimized for the offer(s) you are promoting. Go to CPA redirector in WP Admin and add your affiliate links to the pages, including your magic number and save the settings.

To redirect traffic to your CPA offer(s), simply use the post URL combined with the magic number you have chosen. So, with the above example, I’d use: http://myadultblog.com/adult-video-dating/?mn=32453245

The post URL is ‘http://myadultblog.com/adult-video-dating/’ and ‘?mn=’ is the way to pass your magic number to the blog. All traffic sent to http://myadultblog.com/adult-video-dating/?mn=32453245 will be automatically redirected to the proper CPA offer.

The traffic will not see the blog. If a CPA network check the referrer URL they will see: http://myadultblog.com/adult-video-dating/ and if they visit that blog post, they will see it’s promoting their particular offe

[kush28]

anyway of doing that with out using wordpress?

i have a little technique in mind but i dont want to you wordpress :( anyway of a tweat for that?

[dannyp]

There's a standalone version of this that works pretty well
CPA Redirector Standalone Version

[kush28]

There's a standalone version of this that works pretty well
CPA Redirector Standalone Version

Thank you :)

[goranco]

hm I was never able to make this work, I must be doing something wrong.

[aliengeek]

No, your not doing something wrong.

The referrer is set by the browser and only by the browser. There is no php/js that can change that.

Using js to set the referrer means generaly using a container. That container is supposed to take on the role of establishing the referrer but it does not work 100% of the time and will not work on system with strict scripting settings. Will not work on most intranets.
Firefox and IE are different sharing only the same Compatibility. Firefox allowes the addition of extensions that ultimately effect the function of the JS that a cookie stuffer is taking advantage of.

Putting all of that together this method should only be used when specific conditions are met but ultimately you should be taking advantage of the proxy technology that is out there. There is a reason we have such kick ass proxy tech surrounding AJAX. When you need to pass a variable cross site it is the ONLY way to do it (strings too).

So the real answer is get your head out of the interface clowds (ajax) and get back to the real deal. The ONLY reason the referrer information is EVER effected in JS is because of those abilities. The best way to use ajax is with php :-)

If you are EVER relying on JS to effect the users browser to get your result and you are not using an exploit, its like going hunting and forgetting the bullets.

[velightful]

Thanks SpyBoy, you have so many helpful posts. I haven't got into doing this yet. Mainly because it's money later and we always need money now haha. But I hope to get into a position to be able to do more "money later" or residual income soon.

[kyle250]

HaHa,every one has his own ways.

[Silvester]

CPA Framer Standalone Version

Another tool from the same website worth checking out!