"Links policy" means what to us regulars here??

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by Blossom

It took me just 3 hours to teach my mother in law how to copy and paste a link in facebook

In fairness to your mother in law, Facebook is unusually twisted these days.

[ATDrake]

Okay, I have a bit of time before my next class, so:

The Quick And Dirty Guide to the Minimum Amount of Info You Need to Get a Working Non-Affiliate eBook Link at Amazon & B&N

1) Amazon

They love to put a lot of cruft after the original link, possibly to additionally track how you browse their site.

The minimum you need for a Kindle book is a simple prefix and the ASIN product number for the book.

As an example, here's the typical URL you get via direct search on Amazon for their bestselling freebie, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Much of it you don't need to reach the book, and you can safely lop off everything but the bolded portion (the trailing slash after the ASIN is useful for telling if you've the full ASIN in there, but not actually required).

http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B000JQU1VS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1317328863&sr=1-1

The UTF8 sets a page encoding so your browser can display accents and special characters. I think the qid tracks your seach session, but I'm not really sure.

In fact, if you came in through some link-obfuscating redirect, you can simply cut and paste the ASIN in the Product Details section on the page, and copy it into a stripped down URL like so:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JQU1VS/

The link does not need the book title to work at all, as long as you've got the "dp" to indicate that it's a Kindle book and the product ASIN.

Changing the .com to .co.uk or .de will give you an equally valid link for UK & DE Kindlers (provided the Kindle version exists at all in their separate catalogue).

b) B&N

They've got two different types of valid minimal URL.

You will get something which looks like this upon running NookBook Search from their website:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/complete-sherlock-holmes-volume-i-arthur-conan-doyle/1100318390?ean=9781411431973&itm=1&usri=sherlock%2bholmes%2bbarnes%2bnoble%2bclassics

The itm & ursi stuff at the end is harmless, and I think that B&N just uses it to see what search terms people use to find their books, and hopefully improve the backend.

That page goes to the aggregate all-editions version of the B&N Classics The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I, of which there are 2 Nook editions listed right below in the formats box below the price.

They go to different URLs for a free and non-free version and look like this:

(free) http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Complete-Sherlock-Holmes-Volume-I/Arthur-Conan-Doyle/e/2940000952634

(unfree) http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Complete-Sherlock-Holmes-Volume-I/Arthur-Conan-Doyle/e/9781411431973

Note that the number after the book title and "e" corresponds to the ISBN-13 or BN ID number in the Details section for each book.

You will probably see the BN ID for digital-only editions (or are variants on the paper; this one is part of the special NookStudy College Kick-Start Kit promo) and ISBN-13 for books with a paper edition.

Again, everything after that number is not needed and you can safely delete.

Unfortunately, if you are there via link obfuscator, you can't just cut out any title/author parts of the URL and just leave the ID number for that form of link.

However, B&N also has a number-only variant which you can cut and paste the ID into to get a perfectly clean URL:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?EAN=2940000952634

This is the link format you will see if you hover over the book title on the confirmation page if you have just purchased it, or on the digital orders page (it will have some &x=0123456789 stuff after the BN ID, which is not actually necessary but harmless to leave in). You will not actually see it when clicked, because it makes an auto-redirect to the Title/Author/ID format above, but you can easily see if it worked by taking your cut and paste replacement version and seeing if it sends you to the right product page in a new browser window.

A variant form that shows up when your browse your My Nook Library on the website looks like

http://mynook.barnesandnoble.com/productDetail.html?ean=2940000952634

It will have some "&deliveryID=0123456789" stuff after it which you should probably take off. It's harmless, but may contain info related to the order in your personal account which you might not want floating around.

I don't know if this form of link will fail to show a product page if you don't already own the book.

In summary: To get a clean link for an ebook from Amazon and B&N, all you need is the ASIN or BN ID/ISBN-13 from the Details on the book's own product page and an easily cut and pasted standard website prefix and you should be good to go.

I'll address Sony & Kobo links later, but for now, hope this helps!

[HarryT]

Very useful indeed. Thank you!

[sufue]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Very useful indeed. Thank you!

I respectfully really have to disagree. I think ATDrake's instructions (post #62) were very clear, and my thanks for that.

But I'm afraid for me, having almost an entire page of instructions just on how to create clean links for only TWO of the many places one might find bargains one would wish to share is not very useful at all. I might guess there's another set of equally lengthy instructions on how to handle Sony and Kobo, and then more for some of the other bookstores, and what about places that sell e-readers, and so on and so on...

Somehow I just can't get my mind around the idea that I have to become a "master-hunter-out of hidden affiliate links" to be able to post a bargain without running the risk of being called a liar, like poor "apesmom". Instead, I'll probably just quit posting bargains, and although I only ever posted a few, this seems sad.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by sufue

I might guess there's another set of equally lengthy instructions on how to handle Sony and Kobo, and then more for some of the other bookstores, and what about places that sell e-readers, and so on and so on...

No actually, Sony and Kobo links are incredibly easy, because in order to affiliate with them, people have to basically warp the URL all out of recognition to what they normally look like on the site, and most places don't bother.

Inkmesh's Kobo and Sony links are actually direct-links with no affiliate tagging as far as I can tell, and yield the exact same URLs as I find when I direct-search on Kobo and Sony's own websites for the exact same products in a different browser.

It's really just Amazon and B&N which are mildly problematic that way, since they have so many potential variants in their URLs, and I'm afraid I may have been overly verbose in demonstrating them.

In any case, for most e-book selling places, you don't actually need to do most of the deep-cleaning steps and can just get by with cutting off everything after a certain point in most forms of the URL, and it's pretty easy to understand the underlying pattern of how to do it.

Amazon: just look for the "dp" portion in the link, keep the ASIN number right after that, and delete anything else which follows. You don't even have to look up the ASIN on the product page; just start cutting once you see a non-number such as & or % or ?, which is where the referrer/tracking info starts.

B&N: depending on what form of the link you have, cut right after the "e" followed by the long number or the EAN= and its number. Again, any non-numeric character such as ? right after will be the start of the useless stuff.

Kobo: cut everything after the /page1.html part which will follow after a rather long jumble of mixed-case letters which itself is after the book title. -1.html if it's one of their lists of themed ebooks to browse through.

Sony: cut everything after the long number which follows the /_/R- after the book title.

Smashwords: same thing; you only have to keep the short number after the /view/.

Basically, for most e-book places it'll work if you just dump everything after the first number string you see after the book's title (if the title is included in the URL) except for B&N where you may have to wait for the EAN marker before you can start chopping.

You don't really have to remember anything more than that.

Assuming you're posting links which start with the .com address of the website the deal's at, and not reposting a doubleclick.net or bit.ly redirect version, of course.

[sufue]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

No actually, Sony and Kobo links are incredibly easy, because in order to affiliate with them, people have to basically warp the URL all out of recognition to what they normally look like on the site, and most places don't bother.

Inkmesh's Kobo and Sony links are actually direct-links with no affiliate tagging as far as I can tell, and yield the exact same URLs as I find when I direct-search on Kobo and Sony's own websites for the exact same products in a different browser.

It's really just Amazon and B&N which are mildly problematic that way, since they have so many potential variants in their URLs, and I'm afraid I may have been overly verbose in demonstrating them.

In any case, for most e-book selling places, you don't actually need to do most of the deep-cleaning steps and can just get by with cutting off everything after a certain point in most forms of the URL, and it's pretty easy to understand the underlying pattern of how to do it.

Amazon: just look for the "dp" portion in the link, keep the ASIN number right after that, and delete anything else which follows. You don't even have to look up the ASIN on the product page; just start cutting once you see a non-number such as & or % or ?, which is where the referrer/tracking info starts.

B&N: depending on what form of the link you have, cut right after the "e" followed by the long number or the EAN= and its number. Again, any non-numeric character such as ? right after will be the start of the useless stuff.

Kobo: cut everything after the -1.html part which will follow after a rather long jumble of mixed-case letters which itself is after the book title.

Sony: cut everything after the long number which follows the /_/R- after the book title.

Smashwords: same thing; you only have to keep the short number after the /view/.

Basically, for most e-book places it'll work if you just dump everything after the first number string you see after the book's title (if the title is included in the URL) except for B&N where you may have to wait for the EAN marker before you can start chopping.

You don't really have to remember anything more than that.

Assuming you're posting links which start with the .com address of the website the deal's at, and not reposting a doubleclick.net or bit.ly redirect version, of course.

Thanks, and again clear instructions.

BUT, my point was that I used to be able to just copy and paste a link into a post on the rare occasions when I was the first to find a bargain. I could test it in the "preview post" screen to make sure it still went to the bargain, and then just post. Now I have to edit the link, and worry about whether I missed some tag, and risk being called a liar if I do miss something. Only speaking for myself, and especially since I'm not a prolific poster of bargains and would have to dig out your nice instructions every time, it's probably just not worth it.

I don't know, the next time I find an as-yet-unposted bargain, I may just post it without a link, and put enough info (hopefully) in the post that folks can Google it themselves and find the deal. Although, now that I think about it, maybe I'd better not say "Google it" either, since that might be regarded as sending folks to Google, who I know make money off anyone clicking through from one of their links, and that might qualify as a hidden affiliate link. (And, sarcasm alert - the last sentence is only partly tongue-in-cheek.)

Sigh!

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by sufue

BUT, my point was that I used to be able to just copy and paste a link into a post on the rare occasions when I was the first to find a bargain. I could test it in the "preview post" screen to make sure it still went to the bargain, and then just post. Now I have to edit the link, and worry about whether I missed some tag, and risk being called a liar if I do miss something.

Yes, certainly the new posting rules are somewhat intimidating and thus, inhibiting.

I think if we had a clear policy in place that reassured posters that they wouldn't be taken to task for honest mistakes and please take these simple precautions when posting to let us know that you understand and are trying to follow the rules, even if one of those pesky affiliates slips past, it would go a long way towards alleviating that.

[sufue]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Yes, certainly the new posting rules are somewhat intimidating and thus, inhibiting.

I think if we had a clear policy in place that reassured posters that they wouldn't be taken to task for honest mistakes and please take these simple precautions when posting to let us know that you understand and are trying to follow the rules, even if one of those pesky affiliates slips past, it would go a long way towards alleviating that.

Yes, that would help. It doesn't seem to be going that friendly direction right now, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Have to sign off now...past my (rather early) bedtime...

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by sufue

Somehow I just can't get my mind around the idea that I have to become a "master-hunter-out of hidden affiliate links"

Or you can just not click through the affiliate link but go to the store and search on the title and just copy and paste that link, same as you would have to do if you were posting links from multiple stores anyway, right? You wouldn't have affiliate links for all the different stores for one item most likely. Then you don't have to worry about deleting anything. I personally rarely click through affiliate links.

You all are making this way too complicated.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by NightBird

You all are making this way too complicated.

I'm usually a direct-searcher myself, but the guide above was in response to a poster upthread who wanted to know where the affiliate stuff was contained in certain links and how much she could edit out without destroying the link entirely.

I agree that going straight to the website by typing in the URL yourself and then running the search using their own engine will practically guarantee a clean link* and is probably the easiest solution for most posters, even if it might take a little more time than just clicking through where they saw it first.

But for Amazon, it can save you time if you just grab the ASIN from the product page you're already on, type "www.amazon.com", stick a "/dp/" after that, and then paste on the ASIN instead of opening up a new tab and running a search and waiting for the results.

* Well, a fairly crufty link in Amazon's case because of that probably-tracking stuff they like to stick on, but otherwise one that's safe to use.

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

I'm usually a direct-searcher myself, but the guide above was in response to a poster upthread who wanted to know where the affiliate stuff was contained in certain links and how much she could edit out without destroying the link entirely.

Oh, I know - and I think it's great that you listed out all those instructions for those who want to go that way.

Good idea about copying the ASIN - I've never done that and I'll have to try it.

I usually see a book by a particular author or publisher that's been discounted and then have to meander around and see what else might be on sale also so I never end up going there directly. lol

[sufue]

Originally Posted by NightBird

Or you can just not click through the affiliate link but go to the store and search on the title and just copy and paste that link, same as you would have to do if you were posting links from multiple stores anyway, right? You wouldn't have affiliate links for all the different stores for one item most likely. Then you don't have to worry about deleting anything. I personally rarely click through affiliate links.

You all are making this way too complicated.

Aaah, but the way I read some of the posts on this in the original stickie thread, and especially for Amazon, if I HAD clicked on an affiliate link sometime in the last 24 hours, and hadn't done any of the things rumoured to end the "session" such as buy something non-digital (and I note that even the experts in that thread don't seem to be totally sure about what does and doesn't end a session), I might still have that tag somehow embedded in my supposed "direct search" link. And thus I have to check, or risk being called a liar. And that is both a hassle (the checking), and a bit offensive (being called a liar) to me.

And I do click on affiliate links since I don't mind "tipping" the folks who do the work of finding the bargains for me, so this would be a real risk.

JMTCW...I'm sure lots of other folks won't mind having to check their links before posting, or the assumption they must have had bad intentions if they do goof and post an evil affiliate link.

For me though, the simplest solution, if I do bother to post a deal in the future, is going to be to just post general info with no link, and let other readers have to search for it on their own. More hassle for them, but should be workable.

[jersysman]

This is becoming a very bad PR move. It might be a good move and needed to some, but the execution was not good and has caused undo angst about the users of this forum IMO.

[ScalyFreak]

I really don't understand the hang-up a lot of people seem to have about the "called a liar" part. Be upset about rudeness, sure, I understand that. But personally offended that a stranger on the internet has said something unflattering about someone else?

Certain people in this forum need to grow thicker skin. It's not healthy to care this much about what complete strangers think of you.

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by sufue

Aaah, but the way I read some of the posts on this in the original stickie thread, and especially for Amazon, if I HAD clicked on an affiliate link sometime in the last 24 hours, and hadn't done any of the things rumoured to end the "session" such as buy something non-digital (and I note that even the experts in that thread don't seem to be totally sure about what does and doesn't end a session), I might still have that tag somehow embedded in my supposed "direct search" link. And thus I have to check, or risk being called a liar. And that is both a hassle (the checking), and a bit offensive (being called a liar) to me.

And I do click on affiliate links since I don't mind "tipping" the folks who do the work of finding the bargains for me, so this would be a real risk.

JMTCW...I'm sure lots of other folks won't mind having to check their links before posting, or the assumption they must have had bad intentions if they do goof and post an evil affiliate link.

For me though, the simplest solution, if I do bother to post a deal in the future, is going to be to just post general info with no link, and let other readers have to search for it on their own. More hassle for them, but should be workable.

A cookie is set. It doesn't have anything to do with the link that you are posting if you post it from a direct search; the tag and the cookie are two different things.

You only need to click on the affiliate link if you are actually buying what you are posting.

Yes, that is another option, to just not post the link.