Does Security Software Warn/Block Users When A PHP Location Redirect Is Used?

Discussion in 'PHP' started by GingerApple, Jun 21, 2011.

0
  1. #1
    I'm using the following code to cloak my affiliate links by sending them to a page in my website which redirects them:

    <?php
header( 'Location: www.AffiliateLinkHere.com/TrackingID' ) ;
?>
    Code (markup):
    Will it get blocked by people's browsers or other security software?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    GingerApple, Jun 21, 2011 IP
  2. jestep

    jestep Prominent Member

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    #2
    There's nothing inherently wrong with a redirect that will do anything with security software. But, if the site you are redirecting to is blacklisted or tries to do anything that the security software doesn't like, there will definitely be problems. As far as affiliate linking goes, as long as the site you are redirecting to is clean, you should be fine.

    Also, be really careful in doing this as far as search engines and ranking go. If they see you redirecting a lot of links like this, they can penalize or label your site as lower quality. Your best bet would be to nofollow any links to the redirect pages or block the search engines from following them using robots.txt.
     
    jestep, Jun 21, 2011 IP
    GingerApple likes this.
  3. The Webby

    The Webby Peon

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    #3
    It solely depends on the security system/browser's settings and how is it configured to handle HTTP 302 responses. If it is configured to blanket block every such response, then yes it will prevent the redirection.

    In normal scenario with default settings, most software wont even raise an alarm on server side redirects.
     
    The Webby, Jun 21, 2011 IP