VigLinks, SkimLinks. Value? With XF?

BGL

BGL

Well-known member
I like the idea of content creating links to advertising. VigLins and SkimLinks seem to do this though both appear to require actually mentioning products vs. creating links to relevant advertisers based on the content, the word "tent" make a live link to online sporting goods tent sale.

Does anyone have any experience with either VigLinks for SkimLinks? Or any other advertising system that create advertising links from the forum's content?

Will either of them work with XenForo?
 
I like VigLinks over Skimlinks, payouts always been on time and the reporting on viglink feels so much nicer and more easy to understand over skimlinks layout. So far I've earned $311 on viglink.
Both companies claim they are better than the other, but based on my research and the various posts I've read previously they both offer the same payout amounts, and both of them almost offer the same merchants affiliates.
 
I've been using skimlinks for almost a year now. Never had any problems or complains from my members, and make an average of £21 per month from it, which is nice for a install and forget set up
 
I've used Viglink for a while now and it's a great source of income that doesn't impact on the look 'n' feel or user experience (I don't use the word linking part of the product, just the outgoing link washer - I don't like displaying intrusive ads to my registered members and we did have a number of people struggle with javascript issues after trialing the word linking. YMMV :D ).

Cheers,
Shaun :D
 
Clickfinity said:
I've used Viglink for a while now and it's a great source of income that doesn't impact on the look 'n' feel or user experience (I don't use the word linking part of the product, just the outgoing link washer - I don't like displaying intrusive ads to my registered members and we did have a number of people struggle with javascript issues after trialing the word linking. YMMV :D ).

Cheers,
Shaun :D
Click to expand...

You can setup link insertion for visitors only (IOW, not logged-in members). It can give you a bit of a lift, plus it is an enticement to get users to join the forums. VigLink has a "class" you can add that will prevent the display of inserted links, and you can then wrap that within template code.
 
Rudy said:
You can setup link insertion for visitors only (IOW, not logged-in members). It can give you a bit of a lift, plus it is an enticement to get users to join the forums. VigLink has a "class" you can add that will prevent the display of inserted links, and you can then wrap that within template code.
Click to expand...

Yeah, something like class="noreply" - it just hasn't worked out for me and each time I enable it I get complaints that the site misbehaves for individual members, so I switch it back off again. :)
 
Clickfinity said:
Yeah, something like class="noreply" - it just hasn't worked out for me and each time I enable it I get complaints that the site misbehaves for individual members, so I switch it back off again. :)
Click to expand...


It's working perfectly for us. I have <div class="nolinks"> just after the opening <body> tag and the closing </div> just before the closing </footer> tag. But, I use it only for visitors (so both tags are wrapped in template code to use this extra HTML only if a user is logged in).
 
Rudy said:
It's working perfectly for us. I have <div class="nolinks"> just after the opening <body> tag and the closing </div> just before the closing </footer> tag. But, I use it only for visitors (so both tags are wrapped in template code to use this extra HTML only if a user is logged in).
Click to expand...

Ah, yes, that's the one. I understand lots of people use the tags without any issues, but each time I've tried it it has caused problems so I've rather my members weren't hindered in their use of the site.

I review it every six months or so - maybe the ones hanging on to old browser stock will eventually upgrade and we'll be able to leave it running ... :ROFLMAO:
 
Is it the inserted links giving you issues, then, or is it just the "class" code somehow throwing things off? I could see the link insertion itself having the potential to cause problems.

We probably don't hear any complaints since the inserted links only appear for guests... ;)
 
I was using SkimLinks under VB but after switching to XF I ran into errors while running it, which is when I switched to VigLinks. Not sure if SkimLinks also does it now but depending on the link VigLinks pays per click.

Depending on your niche and members you can snag a decent amount of money without hindering anyone with ads. My members post a lot of links to Ebay and other parts sites that are all in the VigLinks network. (y)
 
Rudy said:
Is it the inserted links giving you issues, then, or is it just the "class" code somehow throwing things off? I could see the link insertion itself having the potential to cause problems.

We probably don't hear any complaints since the inserted links only appear for guests... ;)
Click to expand...

I think it's a javascript issue with some members browsers, but your right, I should try it for visitors as they're not likely to complain ... (y)
 
Clickfinity said:
I think it's a javascript issue with some members browsers, but your right, I should try it for visitors as they're not likely to complain ... (y)
Click to expand...

I did not think I would see much of a lift with these links for visitors only, but as I mentioned in a thread earlier today, I'm probably seeing at least a 20% lift (depending on the day). It helped me see a record month for April, in fact. If it wasn't for my account manager at VigLink mentioning that "nolinks" code, I never would have tried it.

Other than wrapping the <div> in code for logged-in members, my XF is pretty much a stock configuration with minimal add-ons. (I try many but keep few.) And I have no other ad networks running.

Feel free to PM if you need any other details. I don't try to divulge my financials in public. ;)
 
I've been using viglinks for years and never really made much from it. I recently removed it because members were complaining about the site loading slow from it.
 
That's odd--I've been using it on a "big board" forum (among several others) and never had a slow loading issue. If anything, the Facebook integration was the worst--I disabled it on most sites.

I do know that VigLink and Skimlinks both work on outbound links, so if a site does not have many of those, and traffic is low, not much will be made. On a second VigLink account of mine that servers a handful of small low-traffic sites (most of which I haven't had time to "build out"), I'm lucky to see more than $10/month with those. Both services are very product/shopping driven.
 
There have been many changes behind the scenes, meaning my revenues have dropped by anywhere from 30% to 50% across my numerous sites.

All of it can be attributed to eBay. They changed a few things, as it seems they are becoming more affiliate-hostile. Apparently they no longer pay per click (my sites drive a lot of traffic their way), instead I'm hearing they pay only if a sale is made, and if it is within a certain time frame from when the link from our sites were used to reach them.

Not only that, they slashed the premium they paid to VigLink; we still get paid at over "book" value for our linkage, but it looks as though that premium was cut in half. (You will have to contact your account advisor for details.) I even doubled up on eBay links and revenues have taken a nosedive.

I still use VigLink and that will not change, but with large companies like eBay becoming more hostile toward their affiliates, I have a feeling others will take eBay's lead and start slashing payouts to those of us who provide them with sales.

In another matter, the EasyList ad blocking list now has VigLink listed, and anyone using an ad blocker is not being monetized! I made changes temporarily to get around that (to see if my clicks improve), but VigLink is working at resolving it. Again, contact your account advisor if you want more information on modifying how you link to them. (You need to be able to set CNAME records, and have them setup something on their end.)
 
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I use viglink, but I haven't gotten any money off of them yet. I don't use them on xenForo yet because the installation of viglink is currently by a script, and not like a plugin (viglink with wordpress is a plugin, making it easy for upgrades).
Rudy said:
All of it can be attributed to eBay. They changed a few things, as it seems they are becoming more affiliate-hostile. Apparently they no longer pay per click (my sites drive a lot of traffic their way), instead I'm hearing they pay only if a sale is made, and if it is within a certain time frame from when the link from our sites were used to reach them.
Click to expand...
That's funny, because the founder's best friend is an affiliate expert, and he advises him to do x and x. I wonder what's with this attitude change.
 
I immediately monetize every site I put online. To not do so because something is or isn't a script is just leaving money on the table--I feel it's best to get every penny I can out of it. I don't care if I have to manually insert the code on several pages in a site--I do it. The very first day I ever activated VigLink, which was only a partial day, I earned $35. And it only went up from there. Some of the sites of mine were established backed in the mid 1990s, so the traffic was already there.

The change at eBay? They don't want to pay out the money. Everyone's cutting corners, and they figure they can get along just fine without paying affiliates. Sad policy I know, and that usually comes straight from the pencil pushers (aka the boardroom). Sites like some of the ones I run could potentially send them a lot of traffic they might not otherwise see. Seeing an item show up in an eBay RSS feed that pertains to the topic of the site is a sure fire draw for my visitors. I am now less inclined to use eBay, and use other links that pay better. They're only shooting themselves in the foot. Monetizing keeps my sites going.
 
BTW, I made a change to my JavaScript code and at this moment, I am estimating that ad blockers cost me 30-40% in the number of clicks. It's only been two days (which are traditionally our slowest days), but I am going to compare data at the end of this coming week to see how much damage EasyList (which the ad blockers use) has caused for my revenues across my sites.
 
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