Following links from the MSE comping forum

Roger_Rampant

When I was a moderator for a couple of forums - one being a poker forum and the other being a gaming forum - we had various tools and information at our disposal.

Obviously we knew the IP addresses of people visiting our site, which helped with things such as identifying smurfs, but we also knew which website people had come to us from, and where they went to after they left us. Mostly this had relevance to us in terms of tracking referral payments and knowing who our biggest traffic generators were, but in the case of people running competitions it makes me wonder how they perceive competition websites.

If the purpose of a competition is to raise public awareness of a product and/or a brand, then possibly the old stereotype of "all publicity is good publicity" might apply, and having your competition appearing on a comp site might be seen as a positive thing. The other possibility is that "professional" compers are seen as leeches, entering hundreds of comps with all the answers provided for them by other generous souls, Roboforming their way through all available competitions with minimal spiritual interaction with, or commitment to, the competition providers.

Obviously I am quite new to this section of the forum. Have the more experienced compers here received any feedback from sites about how communities such as ours are viewed? Anybody had their IP addresses blocked by competition providers, for example? Accounts locked, maybe. When they ask you a question about how you found their site, and offer "competition website" as a possible answer, when you choose that option does it mean that your entry is automatically assigned to the cyber-bin?

Instead of actually clicking on the link in the MSE thread, and thus telling the site that I go to where I have come from I could, in theory, open the link in an anonymous private window, but I don't particularly want to go to the extra effort if it doesn't actually bring a benefit.

Any thoughts (if you haven't already fallen asleep)? :rotfl:

gizmobenny

Very well put.. I have often wondered this too.

Also sometimes after you have submitted an entry , you get an option to "continue to the website" or "continue shopping" .. do they know if you don't and will this affect your entry ?

Personally I've never.. yet... been blocked from a website.. I have on Twitter though

One-Eye

Some previous threads on this topic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4561465
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4476813
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4157261
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4748068

To summarise:

1) Dragging a link to a new tab or window hides that you came from MSE.
2) Copying a link to an "incognito" link hides where you are from.
3) FF (and maybe other browsers) have add-ons that can hide it.
4) Clicking on the link OR copying the link to a new tab (include CTRL+Click) do not hide that you came from MSE.

5) A few companies specifically mention that entries from MSE are not allowed.
6) Some companies have blocked links from working directly from MSE.
7) Some companies have blocked access when the referrer data is missing.
8) Some companies may have disqualified MSE entrants, but unless it is covered in their T&C they are wrong to do so.

9) Some companies ask us to
..a) Never post their comps
..b) Never post answers
..c) Only post "indirect" links so entrants must go to their website and not direct to an entry form
See the COMPING GUIDE post #7 section 4 for a list

Daza

I just use a Referral blocker that is an add-on in my browser

CheCazzo

Daza that sounds like a good thing to have - I've had a look at FF add-ons but frankly it's fazed me before I even start! If I wanted something like this - and I do use FF predominantly - any idea what it's called or where I'd find it? Thanks in advance

CheCazzo

:cool:Oh - I think I might have found it by looking at those previous threads linked above......:cool:

MaineBlue

Daza wrote: »

I just use a Referral blocker that is an add-on in my browser

Have you got a link Daza to where this can be downloaded from please?

Daza

MaineBlue wrote: »

Have you got a link Daza to where this can be downloaded from please?

Just click on ADD-ONS in FF and search for REFERRER CONTROL

or link is here
https://github.com/muzuiget/referrer_control

I set my referral to TARGET DOMAIN - so it looks like you have gone direct to the website and not used a referral .......... best not to use SKIP or REMOVE just in case they remove entries with missing referrals

Roger_Rampant

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply, One-Eye, and I shall work my way through the various threads that you listed in due course.

One-Eye wrote: »

5) A few companies specifically mention that entries from MSE are not allowed.
6) Some companies have blocked links from working directly from MSE.

There are some companies that block MSE because of all the legalised cons that Martin Lewis has highlighted over the years, especially if they didn't like being named and shamed by him, so it might not always necessarily be the comping section of the forum that has incurred their wrath! :rotfl:

JessicAhh

Referrer Control seems like a great idea, but I'm presuming (probably wrongly... ) that it would also block the (necessary) referral links for sites like TopCashBack and Quidco?

Daza

JessicAhh wrote: »

Referrer Control seems like a great idea, but I'm presuming (probably wrongly... ) that it would also block the (necessary) referral links for sites like TopCashBack and Quidco?

Just click on the green logo in the menu bar to turn it off before clicking through from Quidco / Topcashback
Then click the green logo again to switch it back on again before you start comping