Hi SG, if you missed the discussion earlier, please read it here. In short, the idea was to add our affiliate code to certain links posted on the site, as a means of increasing revenue, with little to no impact on users.

I mentioned in the above discussion that we would run a test if 50% of users in the poll agreed with the idea. 74% of users voted yes, so the feature is now setup to gain more data and user feedback. However, 26% of users disagreed, and one of the suggestions that frequently appeared in the discussion was to add the ability to opt-out. I thought that seemed fair, so I added a settings page for referrals, where users can disable the feature.

A list of sites we are applying this towards is also listed on the referrals page, in case it affects your decision on whether to use the feature. For now we are only updating links to Bundle Stars, due to the frequently the site is shared, although we might experiment with other sites in the future.

How it works

  • A link is posted by a user to the site.
    https://www.bundlestars.com

  • If you have the above feature enabled, and you place your mouse over the link, the site will check if the URL belongs to one of our affiliates. In this case, it does, so the site will update the link destination to the below.
    https://www.steamgifts.com/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bundlestars.com

  • When you then click on the link, the redirect page will add the appropriate affiliate code, and send you on your way. All of this should happen seamlessly.

Feel free to share your thoughts, and if you have any further suggestions. Thanks!

7 years ago

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Why don't you just add direct referrals to links ?
I am pretty sure you loose money by using sharesale since they don't do affiliation for free. No idea of details, though. Maybe this is the only way they offer at the moment.

I would probably let a SG referrals on place as a user.
But I wouldn't let sharesale. And sharesale redirections are already adblocked by default anyway.
Thanks for opt out option in that regard.

7 years ago
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good question @cg, why not direct referral link? I'm not a fan of sharesale either.

7 years ago
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Bundle Stars runs their affiliate program through ShareASale, so unfortunately we need to direct through their site. I don't know if companies that specialize in this type of service (e.g. VigLink - used by Reddit for rewriting their links) are able to handle this more gracefully, but I'll take a look, and see if they offer a better experience.

7 years ago
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oh, well, if bundlestars is tied to it, I'll take it. No need to further complicate things. Good to know thanks.

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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just to note that ghostery blocked the shareshale links for me - I assumed that this would be a direct affiliate, not via some secondary source - don't sharesale take a cut ? - either way thought I would let you know

7 years ago
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I have no problem with this Cg as I voted yes.There's absolutely nothing wrong with Bundle Stars referrals like you said there's nothing wrong with SGTools. You said yourself that this is a normal way to get some money; to run SG and so why not as you made this optional.

7 years ago
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Chaos Bundle ended while I was waiting for your ref link! :-(

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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7 years ago
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Bump for awareness!

7 years ago
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Thanks. Been less active lately and didn't notice this.

7 years ago
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I would leave this feature on but for the fact that my adblocker (uBlock) blocks it. I mean, I COULD disable blocking for shareasale permanently but then it would do that for my entire web browsing, not just SG... and SG is the ONLY site from which I currently feel comfortable allowing that. I know you already addressed this but just thought I'd add another voice to the pile.

Also, people saying this is unfair and a dictatorship are just being ridiculous -_-; SG is not a country...

7 years ago
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what about SG having Amazon affiliation?

there's also should be something for Twitch/Prime... not sure.
Seems not that bad, to me :)

6 years ago
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how about removing humble bundle since they treat us like traders and ignore all tickets when a key isn't valid?

also,
update bundlestars to fanatical :3

6 years ago
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