A Quick Question About Redirects.

[praetserge]

Let's say I have an affiliate websites selling shavers and I use Amazon. So far so good.
What if I post on reddit, like top 3 shavers and links will go to my site which will automatically 301-redirect to Amazon.
Will Amazon see the traffic as from my website or from reddit?

 

[moonshine7000]

Amazon will see your the referrer as your website from your redirect.The real problem is the flaggers on reddit reporting you to Amazon that you break the TOS.

 

[IDOLADS]

Let's say I have an affiliate websites selling shavers and I use Amazon. So far so good.
What if I post on reddit, like top 3 shavers and links will go to my site which will automatically 301-redirect to Amazon.
Will Amazon see the traffic as from my website or from reddit?

That 301 URL immediately redirects to your Amazon product with your affiliate tag, which means when someone clicks the Reddit link and gets redirected to Amazon, the "referer header", if I may say so, should show the last domain before Amazon... so in this case, your website - not Reddit.

So yeah, Amazon sees the traffic as coming from your website.

 

[imccafey]

I feel like Reddit in particular has an active (and rather spiteful) userbase when it comes to manually flagging anything that looks like a redirect or promotion. Even if your setup technically works around Reddit's algo, it only takes a few manual reports before mods or the system take action.
So yeah, the issue isn't just Reddit's detection, it's that cloaking/redirects usually don't hold up long under real user scrutiny unless you really fine-tune your approach (e.g., using relevant, high-value content as a buffer, and making sure your links blend naturally into the post context. Although even then it's still a tossup).
Also I believe the traffic should appear to be from the your website in that case.

 

[praetserge]

Amazon will see your the referrer as your website from your redirect.The real problem is the flaggers on reddit reporting you to Amazon that you break the TOS.

That 301 URL immediately redirects to your Amazon product with your affiliate tag, which means when someone clicks the Reddit link and gets redirected to Amazon, the "referer header", if I may say so, should show the last domain before Amazon... so in this case, your website - not Reddit.

So yeah, Amazon sees the traffic as coming from your website.

That's good to know. Thank you very much for your help.
I was hoping that my site was the referrer and I used Amazon as an example here.

 

[moonshine7000]

I feel like Reddit in particular has an active (and rather spiteful) userbase when it comes to manually flagging anything that looks like a redirect or promotion. Even if your setup technically works around Reddit's algo, it only takes a few manual reports before mods or the system take action.
So yeah, the issue isn't just Reddit's detection, it's that cloaking/redirects usually don't hold up long under real user scrutiny unless you really fine-tune your approach (e.g., using relevant, high-value content as a buffer, and making sure your links blend naturally into the post context. Although even then it's still a tossup).
Also I believe the traffic should appear to be from the your website in that case.

Very petty userbase indeed

 

[Cloak Circuit]

Let's say I have an affiliate websites selling shavers and I use Amazon. So far so good.
What if I post on reddit, like top 3 shavers and links will go to my site which will automatically 301-redirect to Amazon.
Will Amazon see the traffic as from my website or from reddit?

Amazon will see your site as the referrer, not Reddit. A 301 redirect cuts off the original source in most cases.

 

[Visibility Solution]

Amazon will see the traffic as coming from your website, not Reddit, because the 301 redirect strips the original referrer. It’s a common cloaking method to mask the true traffic source. Just don’t expect it to last forever Amazon gets smarter every year.

 

[GlobalProxy4g]

With a standard 301 redirect, Amazon will typically log Reddit as the referrer ,not your affiliate site. That’s because permanent redirects preserve the original HTTP referrer by default. If you want Amazon to see the traffic as coming from your domain, you'd need an intermediate landing page with a delayed redirect (meta refresh or JS), though that may conflict with Amazon’s affiliate policies if detected.
Some setups also use controlled environments through proxies (especially mobile proxies) to spoof headers and simulate a “natural” flow, but that gets technical quickly, you’d need to handle referer, user-agent, and timing very precisely.

 

[Rebel Phantom]

If you're using a simple 301 redirect, amazon usually sees your site as the referrer-not reddit but reddit users might still flag you fast.

 

[Brand Meteor]

Your website, not Reddit, will normally be the referrer that Amazon sees if your website employs a 301 redirect to Amazon. However, the reference may occasionally be removed based on browser behavior and Reddit's policies regarding outgoing links. Amazon mostly uses your tag for affiliate tracking; just make sure you abide by their TOS to avoid problems.

 

[JessiPinkme]

If you 301-redirect from your site to Amazon, Amazon will usually see the traffic as coming from your website, not reddit. That's because the redirect strips the original referrer. If you want Amazon to see Reddit as the referrer, you would need to link directly or use special tracking with parameters.