Link cloaking
The practice of replacing an ugly affiliate URL with a clean, brand-friendly URL on your own domain that redirects to the affiliate destination. Originated in WordPress plugins like ThirstyAffiliates and Pretty Links.
Link cloaking turns amazon.com/dp/B0ABCD1234?tag=you-20 into yourblog.com/go/headphones via a 301 or 302 redirect. The visitor sees the cleaner URL on hover or in the address bar; the redirect transparently sends them to the affiliate destination. WordPress plugins added click counting, categorization, and bulk management on top.
Cloaking solves URL aesthetics and consistency. It does not solve link health. The destination behind the cloak can still go out of stock, lose its tag in a redirect chain, or be discontinued — and most cloaking plugins have no awareness of any of those failures. Managed URLs extend the cloaking idea with active monitoring of the destination.
See also
Related terms
Managed URL
A redirect URL on a domain you control that points to your underlying affiliate URL. Update the destination in one place; every platform using the managed URL reflects the change instantly.
GlossaryAffiliate link
A URL that contains a tracking parameter identifying you as the referrer, so the merchant can credit you a commission when the click converts to a sale.