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> Who pays for the "accidental CDN" that, according to the article, pushes as much traffic as the 10th largest website on the internet? Their optional $20/mo su

> Who pays for the "accidental CDN" that, according to the article, pushes as much traffic as the 10th largest website on the internet? Their optional $20/mo subscription plan can't possibly cover that. They use VigLink to add affiliate tags to the external links of the sites that use them.

eli 15y ago
Somewhat offtopic, but why do affiliate programs go along with this? If it's a link that was already going to Amazon, then adding the tag brought in no new business and CloudFront does not deserve a cut.
- lurker14 15y ago
  You mean CloudFlare. CloudFront is Amazon's CDN service :-) For Amazon at least, intercepting and tagging URLs is in violation of the Associates agreement, and if detected Amazon will not pay these fraudulent commission claims. If the URLs are being tagged with the Associates account of the web page owner, then this auto-tagging is a CMS feature, which is reasonable. If the URLs being tagged are content created by NOT the website owners (like, say, forum posts), then we might be back in fraud territory.
damoncloudflare 15y ago
"They use VigLink to add affiliate tags to the external links of the sites that use them." This is actually an optional service (Outbound Links) that can be turned on or off (opt-in by default). No affiliate links are added without turning the feature on.
- norova 15y ago
  And by enabling this feature it generates affiliate revenue for the user, not for CloudFlare. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Damon.)
  - eastdakota 15y ago
    Yes. If you enable Viglink through CloudFlare Apps then the webmaster is paid Viglink's standard a commission for any affiliated links.
moe 15y ago
They use VigLink to add affiliate tags to the external links of the sites that use them. Some mangled affiliate links cover the cost for 10th largest traffic site nowadays?
- mikeyur 15y ago
  I have a site that gets ~12 visitors/day and I make about $55/mo through that site all from the Amazon Associates program. Referring someone through an Amazon link doesn't just credit you if they purchase that product you linked to - it credits you for any purchases they make during the cookied period. And for the whole amount of the checkout. A couple months ago I made over $150 with that same amount of traffic because someone bought a MacBook Air (~$50 in commission), some fancy espresso maker (~$20) and a bunch of other things. Amazon has mastered the art of the upsell.

eli 15y ago

Somewhat offtopic, but why do affiliate programs go along with this? If it's a link that was already going to Amazon, then adding the tag brought in no new business and CloudFront does not deserve a cut.

lurker14 15y ago
You mean CloudFlare. CloudFront is Amazon's CDN service :-) For Amazon at least, intercepting and tagging URLs is in violation of the Associates agreement, and if detected Amazon will not pay these fraudulent commission claims. If the URLs are being tagged with the Associates account of the web page owner, then this auto-tagging is a CMS feature, which is reasonable. If the URLs being tagged are content created by NOT the website owners (like, say, forum posts), then we might be back in fraud territory.

damoncloudflare 15y ago

"They use VigLink to add affiliate tags to the external links of the sites that use them." This is actually an optional service (Outbound Links) that can be turned on or off (opt-in by default). No affiliate links are added without turning the feature on.

norova 15y ago
And by enabling this feature it generates affiliate revenue for the user, not for CloudFlare. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Damon.)
- eastdakota 15y ago
  Yes. If you enable Viglink through CloudFlare Apps then the webmaster is paid Viglink's standard a commission for any affiliated links.

moe 15y ago

They use VigLink to add affiliate tags to the external links of the sites that use them. Some mangled affiliate links cover the cost for 10th largest traffic site nowadays?

mikeyur 15y ago
I have a site that gets ~12 visitors/day and I make about $55/mo through that site all from the Amazon Associates program. Referring someone through an Amazon link doesn't just credit you if they purchase that product you linked to - it credits you for any purchases they make during the cookied period. And for the whole amount of the checkout. A couple months ago I made over $150 with that same amount of traffic because someone bought a MacBook Air (~$50 in commission), some fancy espresso maker (~$20) and a bunch of other things. Amazon has mastered the art of the upsell.