Block Referrals from Specific Domains

Sometimes you need precise control over which websites can send affiliate traffic. Domain blocking lets you create a custom blocklist of specific sites that should not generate tracked referrals, giving you granular control over your affiliate program's traffic sources.

When to Block Specific Domains

Domain blocking is useful for:

• Competitor sites: Prevent affiliates from promoting your product on competitor platforms
• Low-quality sites: Block domains known for spam, misleading content, or policy violations
• Internal domains: Exclude your own staging sites, internal tools, or employee networks
• Coupon sites: If you want to restrict discount aggregators from earning commissions
• Policy violators: Block sites from affiliates who have broken your program rules

How to Block Domains

1. Navigate to your Affiliate Program Settings
2. Scroll to Tracking Settings
3. Find Block Domains and toggle the switch to On
4. Enter domains to block:
   • Type the domain (e.g., example.com)
   • Click Add
   • Repeat for additional domains
5. Save your changes

How Domain Matching Works

When you block a domain, Affonso checks the referrer URL of incoming affiliate clicks. If the referrer contains a blocked domain, the referral is not tracked.

Subdomain handling: Blocking example.com automatically blocks all subdomains like blog.example.com, shop.example.com, etc.

Exact matching: Only the domains you specify are blocked. Blocking badsite.com does not block mybadsite.com or badsite.net.

Common Domains to Consider Blocking

Depending on your program goals, you might want to block:

Your Own Domains

• Staging or development sites
• Internal company domains
• Landing pages used for direct marketing

Coupon and Deal Sites

• RetailMeNot
• Honey
• Slickdeals
• Generic coupon aggregators

Content Farms

• Sites with thin or duplicated content
• Known spam domains
• Link farms

Managing Your Blocklist

You can update your domain blocklist at any time:

• Add domains: Enter new domains as you discover problematic traffic sources
• Remove domains: Delete domains if you change your policy or make mistakes
• Review regularly: Check your referral sources to identify new domains to block

What Affiliates Experience

When traffic from a blocked domain clicks an affiliate link:

• The visitor reaches your site normally
• The purchase can complete without issues
• No referral is created for the affiliate
• The affiliate sees no record of the blocked click

Combining with Other Restrictions

Domain blocking works alongside other tracking settings:

• Use with social media blocking for comprehensive channel control
• Combine with search engine blocking to prevent PPC arbitrage
• Layer with self-referral blocking for fraud prevention

Best Practices

Start with known problems: Only block domains that have caused actual issues rather than preemptively blocking large categories.

Document your reasoning: Keep notes on why each domain was blocked in case you need to explain to affiliates or revisit decisions.

Communicate restrictions: Update your affiliate terms to reserve the right to block specific traffic sources.

Review referral sources: Regularly check where your affiliate traffic comes from to identify new domains to consider blocking.

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Need help identifying problematic traffic sources? Contact support for guidance on protecting your affiliate program.