I’m an affiliate marketer and earn 60% of my income from affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing has long been a reliable and unfailing way to earn money online. But today as an affiliate marketer, I got the shock of my life.
A couple of days ago, I was looking for ways to improve AdSense revenue which has been waning due to ad-blockers. In doing so, I came across something that made my stomach lurch. First of all, let me make it clear to my readers that I’m still not completely sure what I’m going to tell you is really the case. Actually, I ran a test at my level and found out that Brave browser was effectively blocking cookies and it’s because the browser is by default set to do so, which means when someone installs Brave web browser, the option to block third party trackers is already enabled.
Soon after I started thinking that there might be some relation between deteriorating affiliate marketing and enabling of the option that blocked third party trackers in Brave browser? To clear off my suspicions, I deleted the browser history and all the cookies and clicked some of my affiliate links in Brave browser. Finally I logged in to my affiliate account and my nightmare came true. Yes, what I had been conjecturing was true: those clicks were not shown there. I thought that it might take some time to update the clicks and so I waited. But even after some time, the click report failed to count the clicks made in Brave browser. I made a beeline to repeat the same test with Chrome, Opera and Edge browsers and I was relieved to know that ‘clicks report’ indexed the clicks which were made on affiliate links in these browsers.
So, Is it as simple as that? No clicks tracked, no sales through the clicks tracked. As I just wrote that I still can’t say confidently that it’s true. but if it’s really the case, it’s highly disappointing and disheartening. An affiliate marketer works hard so that he could make some money from his affiliate links, but if at the end of the day he comes to know that the affiliate links are not even properly tracked, it will not only be a loss to an affiliate marketer but also he will feel himself cheated.
Brave browser is getting popular at a fast pace and the reason of its popularity lies in the same thing that it aggressively blocks ads, which in turn results in a fast and secure web browsing experience. There’s no denying that it’s good to block unwanted ads and keep away malicious trackers but at the same time is it not equally important that its developers should pay attention to and take care of publishers and affiliate marketers. Actually, they should whitelist networks like AdSense and know how to differentiate affiliate cookies from others. What they’re actually doing is shooting themselves in the foot.
Why does a website publisher take great pains to own and run a website in the first place? Why are there zillions of websites? The answer is simple: To earn money. If a website fails to fetch money, why should its owner bother to run it any longer? And ultimately when there are not so many websites, what would Brave Browser be used for?
As long as it’s about blocking popup ads and other annoying ads, it’s for good but if it comes to striking a blow against AdSense or harming the interests of affiliate marketers, it’s dangerous and self-defeating.
I sincerely ask you, all affiliate marketers, to check on their end whether Brave browser is negatively impacting your affiliate tracking too and write your responses in the comment section.
