​ ​element​ ​(if​ ​present),​ ​is​ ​used​ ​to​ ​describe​ ​the​ ​post​ ​and​ ​the micro-affiliate​ ​may​ ​also​ ​enter​ ​some​ ​additional​ ​text.​ ​The​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​may​ ​additionally​ ​select​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​10 images​ ​(if​ ​present),​ ​to​ ​be​ ​included​ ​along​ ​with​ ​the​ ​text.

After​ ​clicking​ ​the​ ​Share​ ​button,​ ​the​ ​following​ ​item​ ​will​ ​be​ ​posted​ ​to​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate's​ ​wall​ ​on​ ​Facebook​ ​and will​ ​be​ ​sent​ ​to​ ​all​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliates​ ​friends.

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​5   

 

When​ ​a​ ​micro-affiliate's​ ​friend​ ​clicks​ ​the​ ​image​ ​or​ ​the​ ​title,​ ​they​ ​are​ ​taken​ ​to​ ​the​ ​page​ ​referenced​ ​by​ ​the affiliate​ ​URL​ ​on​ ​the​ ​www.ski-news.com​ ​site.​ ​Ski-news​ ​must​ ​use​ ​server-side​ ​code​ ​to​ ​process​ ​the​ ​URL​ ​to recover​ ​the​ ​product​ ​and​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​information.​ ​In​ ​this​ ​example​ ​the​ ​review​ ​of​ ​interest​ ​is​ ​referenced​ ​by​ ​the 'review'​ ​parameter​ ​and​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​id​ ​is​ ​held​ ​in​ ​the​ ​'aff'​ ​parameter​ ​as​ ​always.

Constructing​ ​the​ ​sales​ ​page

Having​ ​recovered​ ​the​ ​review​ ​id​ ​and​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​id,​ ​it​ ​should​ ​be​ ​a​ ​relatively​ ​simple​ ​matter​ ​to​ ​create​ ​a custom​ ​sales​ ​page​ ​using​ ​any​ ​server-side​ ​language​ ​such​ ​as​ ​PHP​ ​or​ ​Java.

In​ ​this​ ​example​ ​the​ ​promotional​ ​teaser​ ​is​ ​similar​ ​to​ ​that​ ​presented​ ​earlier​ ​but​ ​the​ ​data​ ​behind​ ​the​ ​buy​ ​button (in​ ​this​ ​case​ ​the​ ​'Read​ ​now​ ​EU​ ​50¢​ ​link),​ ​is​ ​different​ ​because​ ​CarrotPay​ ​must​ ​be​ ​informed​ ​that​ ​the micro-affiliate​ ​is​ ​to​ ​receive​ ​15%​ ​of​ ​the​ ​sale.​ ​This​ ​is​ ​achieved​ ​by​ ​changing​ ​the​ ​'price'​ ​attribute​ ​of​ ​the JavaScript​ ​Carrot.pay()​ ​function. For​ ​a​ ​normal​ ​sale​ ​the​ ​price​ ​attribute​ ​would​ ​be​ ​set​ ​like​ ​this:    price​ ​:​ ​"0.5:EUR" 

  When​ ​a​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​is​ ​included​ ​the​ ​price​ ​attribute​ ​needs​ ​to​ ​be​ ​changed​ ​to:   price​ ​:​ ​"0.425:EUR+0.075:EUR:BMWM-VJQB-LVJC-HKQW" 

  This​ ​tells​ ​CarrotPay​ ​to​ ​take​ ​a​ ​total​ ​of​ ​EUR​ ​0.5​​ ​and​ ​credit​ ​the​ ​site​ ​merchant​ ​with​ ​EUR​ ​0.425​​ ​and credit​ ​EUR​ ​0.075​​ ​to​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​with​ ​id​ ​BMWM-VJQB-LVJC-HKQW​. NOTE:​​ ​When​ ​checking​ ​the​ ​authorisation​ ​hash​ ​which​ ​is​ ​returned​ ​from​ ​CarrotPay,​ ​the​ ​price​ ​attribute​ ​is included​ ​in​ ​the​ ​calculation.​ ​If​ ​micro-affiliate(s)​ ​are​ ​included​ ​in​ ​the​ ​price,​ ​then​ ​the​ ​hash​ ​will​ ​be calculated​ ​differently​ ​for​ ​each​ ​different​ ​micro-affiliate.​ ​For​ ​this​ ​reason​ ​be​ ​sure​ ​you​ ​can​ ​recreate​ ​the price​ ​attribute​ ​exactly​ ​as​ ​it​ ​was​ ​sent​ ​to​ ​CarrotPay.

5​ ​Case​ ​study:​ ​CarrotBid​ ​–​ ​a​ ​Facebook​ ​application

CarrotBid​ ​is​ ​an​ ​auction​ ​application​ ​hosted​ ​on​ ​Facebook​ ​and​ ​uses​ ​share​-n-​earn​​ ​to​ ​promote​ ​itself.​ ​As individual​ ​bids​ ​on​ ​any​ ​given​ ​auction​ ​only​ ​cost​ ​10¢,​ ​micro-affiliates​ ​are​ ​offered​ ​a​ ​bigger​ ​incentive​ ​by​ ​earning the​ ​value​ ​of​ ​20%​ ​of​ ​all​ ​the​ ​bids​ ​made​ ​by​ ​a​ ​new​ ​customer​ ​for​ ​the​ ​first​ ​year.​ ​Unlike​ ​in​ ​the​ ​example​ ​above,​ ​this case​ ​requires​ ​that​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​id​ ​is​ ​recorded​ ​against​ ​each​ ​new​ ​customer's​ ​account​ ​as​ ​they​ ​register.​ ​It also​ ​requires​ ​that​ ​the​ ​price​ ​attribute​ ​is​ ​constructed​ ​with​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate's​ ​id​ ​for​ ​every​ ​sale​ ​to​ ​that​ ​customer during​ ​the​ ​first​ ​year.​ ​This​ ​case​ ​is​ ​further​ ​complicated​ ​by​ ​the​ ​fact​ ​that​ ​the​ ​application​ ​accepts​ ​two​ ​currencies (USD​ ​and​ ​a​ ​virtual​ ​currency​ ​called​ ​#BID),​ ​as​ ​we​ ​shall​ ​see. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​6   

 

  share-n-earn​ ​Button The​ ​S-N-E​ ​ ​ ​button​ ​is​ ​always​ ​the​ ​same​ ​as​ ​it's​ ​intended​ ​to​ ​promote​ ​the​ ​whole​ ​site​ ​rather​ ​than​ ​a​ ​particular piece​ ​of​ ​content. data-cobrand="Carrot.org" data-link="http://www.carrot.org​ ​/carrotbid/share-n-earn.php">

●

data-scheme​​ ​points​ ​to​ ​a​ ​static​ ​html​ ​page​ ​which​ ​simply​ ​describes​ ​the​ ​affiliate​ ​scheme​ ​for​ ​the​ ​benefit of​ ​a​ ​potential​ ​affiliate.

●

data-earn​​ ​is​ ​an​ ​one-line​ ​summary​ ​of​ ​the​ ​scheme.

●

data-title​​ ​is​ ​the​ ​full​ ​name​ ​of​ ​the​ ​application.

●

data-cobrand​​ ​is​ ​the​ ​company​ ​domain.

●

data-link​ ​points​ ​to​ ​a​ ​PHP​ ​function​ ​which​ ​reads​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​id​ ​from​ ​the​ ​URL​ ​and​ ​stores​ ​it​ ​in​ ​a non-persistent​ ​cookie.​ ​It​ ​then​ ​redirects​ ​the​ ​page​ ​to​ ​the​ ​CarrotBid​ ​application.​ ​It​ ​does​ ​it​ ​this​ ​way because​ ​Facebook​ ​manages​ ​the​ ​environment​ ​that​ ​the​ ​application​ ​runs​ ​in​ ​and​ ​the​ ​user's​ ​Facebook id​ ​is​ ​not​ ​available​ ​until​ ​obtained​ ​through​ ​the​ ​Facebook​ ​API.​ ​The​ ​full​ ​source​ ​code​ ​of​ ​this​ ​PHP function​ ​is​ ​shown​ ​in​ ​Appendix​ ​A.  

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​7   

 

Publishing​ ​the​ ​link

  When​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​posts​ ​the​ ​link​ ​on​ ​Facebook​ ​they​ ​will​ ​be​ ​presented​ ​with​ ​the​ ​following​ ​page. They​ ​can​ ​enter​ ​some​ ​text​ ​to​ ​further​ ​encourage​ ​their​ ​friends​ ​to​ ​follow​ ​the​ ​link,​ ​and​ ​choose​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​images to​ ​display​ ​from​ ​the​ ​10​ ​available. This​ ​post​ ​will​ ​then​ ​be​ ​published​ ​by​ ​Facebook​ ​to​ ​the​ ​news​ ​feeds​ ​of​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate's​ ​friends.

Accessing​ ​the​ ​link​ ​from​ ​a​ ​news​ ​feed

The​ ​published​ ​news​ ​feed​ ​item​ ​is​ ​much​ ​like​ ​any​ ​other​ ​and​ ​is​ ​intended​ ​to​ ​take​ ​the​ ​user​ ​directly​ ​to​ ​the CarrotBid​ ​application.

However,​ ​if​ ​this​ ​is​ ​the​ ​first​ ​time​ ​for​ ​a​ ​user​ ​to​ ​access​ ​the​ ​CarrotBid​ ​application,​ ​Facebook​ ​requires​ ​them​ ​to grant​ ​permission​ ​for​ ​CarrotBid​ ​to​ ​access​ ​their​ ​personal​ ​data,​ ​otherwise​ ​they​ ​are​ ​taken​ ​directly​ ​to​ ​the application. When​ ​a​ ​new​ ​user​ ​to​ ​CarrotBid​ ​clicks​ ​the​ ​image​ ​or​ ​the​ ​title​ ​of​ ​the​ ​post,​ ​they​ ​are​ ​taken​ ​first​ ​to​ ​an​ ​authorisation page​ ​(as​ ​above),​ ​and​ ​then​ ​to​ ​the​ ​home​ ​page​ ​of​ ​the​ ​CarrotBid​ ​application (via​ ​share-n-earn.php).

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​8   

 

The​ ​CarrotBid​ ​application​ ​determines​ ​if​ ​this​ ​is​ ​a​ ​new​ ​user​ ​and​ ​if​ ​so​ ​it​ ​checks​ ​for​ ​the​ ​presence​ ​of​ ​a​ ​'referrer' cookie​ ​(as​ ​stored​ ​by​ ​share-n-earn.php).​ ​If​ ​set​ ​the​ ​referrer​ ​indicates​ ​the​ ​id​ ​of​ ​the​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​and​ ​this​ ​is stored​ ​in​ ​a​ ​newly​ ​created​ ​user​ ​record​ ​together​ ​with​ ​the​ ​global​ ​settings​ ​for​ ​the​ ​agreed​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​split percentage​ ​and​ ​the​ ​expiry​ ​data​ ​of​ ​the​ ​agreement​ ​(currently​ ​set​ ​at​ ​15%​ ​and​ ​365​ ​days). NOTE: By storing these values in the user record the global values may be updated from time to time without​ ​affecting​ ​already​ ​established​ ​micro-affiliate​ ​agreements.

User​ ​purchases  

The​ ​final​ ​piece​ ​of​ ​the​ ​puzzle​ ​is​ ​to​ ​calculate​ ​the​ ​price​ ​attribute​ ​when​ ​a​ ​user​ ​makes​ ​a​ ​bid​ ​(see​ A ​ ppendix​ ​B  for​ ​full​ ​source​ ​code).​ ​The​ ​principal​ ​is​ ​simple​ ​enough;​ ​split​ ​the​ ​original​ ​price​ ​into​ ​two​ ​parts​ ​and​ ​add​ ​an  affiliate​ ​id​ ​to​ ​the​ ​affiliate​ ​part.​ ​In​ ​this​ ​case​ ​we​ ​have​ ​the​ ​further​ ​complication​ ​that​ ​CarrotBid​ ​accepts​ ​#BID  tokens​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​USD.  The​ ​none-affiliate​ ​price​ ​is:    1.0:#BID;0.1:USD 

  This​ ​indicates​ ​that​ ​an​ ​acceptable​ ​payment​ ​to​ ​register​ ​a​ ​bid​ ​is​ ​#BID1.0​ ​OR​ ​USD0.10.​ ​When​ ​we​ ​add​ ​the  affiliate​ ​id​ ​we​ ​get:    0.8:#BID+0.2:#BID:BMWM-VJQB-LVJC-HKQW;0.08:USD+0.02:USD:BMWM-VJQB-LVJC-HKQW 

  NOTE:  An  implication  of  the  above  is  that  the  affiliate  may  receive  #BID  tokens  as  payment  as  well  as  USD.  In this case any #BID tokens can only be spent on CarrotBid auctions whereas the USD may be spent  ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​9   

 

anywhere.  NOTE:  Since  the  introduction  of  SiteCoins,  there  is  also  a  need  to  add  a  price_sig  parameter  to  each  payment​ ​request.​ ​See​ ​….   

Appendix​ ​A​ ​–​ ​A​ ​PHP​ ​generated​ ​page​ ​that​ ​processes​ ​an​ ​affiliate URL ​ < ​ ?php /* share-n-earn​ ​redirection​ ​page Filename:​ ​share-n-earn.php Authors:​ ​Jason​ ​2010-12-22 The​ ​purpose​ ​of​ ​this​ ​function​ ​is​ ​three​ ​fold: 1)​ ​To​ ​transfer​ ​the​ ​affiliate​ ​id​ ​to​ ​a​ ​cookie. 2)​ ​To​ ​pass​ ​a​ ​title,​ ​description​ ​and​ ​image​ ​selection​ ​to​ ​Facebook/other 3)​ ​To​ ​redirect​ ​to​ ​a​ ​specific​ ​auction​ ​if​ ​indicated​ ​by​ ​an​ ​auctionID​ ​parameter At​ ​the​ ​time​ ​when​ ​the​ ​link​ ​is​ ​about​ ​to​ ​be​ ​posted,​ ​Facebook/other​ ​may​ ​pick​ ​up some​ ​meta​ ​data​ ​from​ ​the​ ​header.​ ​However​ ​in​ ​test​ ​we​ ​found​ ​that​ ​Facebook​ ​more reliably picked​ ​up​ ​first​ ​

​ ​and​ ​​ ​elements​ ​from​ ​the​ ​body.

*/

This​ d ​ ata​ ​is​ ​apparently​ ​aggressively​ ​cached​ ​by​ ​Facebook​ ​so​ ​we​ ​cannot​ ​readily​ ​change​ ​it from​ i ​ nstance​ ​to​ ​instance.

include​ ​'globalVariables.php'; include​ ​'utils.php'; $referrer=$_GET["aff"]; $auctionID=$_GET["auctionID"]; ​ ​ ​ ​/*

Store​ ​the​ ​referrer​ ​and​ a ​ uctionID​ ​in​ ​the​ u ​ ser's​ ​cookie​ ​so​ ​that​ ​it​ ​can​ b ​ e​ ​found​ i ​ f​ ​a​ ​new user​ ​record​ ​is​ ​created​ C ​ ookie​ ​expiry​ ​is​ q ​ uite​ ​short​ ​in​ ​case​ ​the​ ​user​ d ​ oes​ ​not​ c ​ omplete

*/ setCookie("referrer",$referrer,time()+300); setCookie("gotoauction",$auctionID,time()+60); /*

*/

Apparently​ ​Facebook​ ​will​ ​not​ ​pick​ ​up​ ​the​ ​meta-data​ ​from​ ​this​ ​page​ ​if​ ​we​ ​redirect​ ​with​ ​a header​ ​Location​ ​line​ ​like​ ​this​ ​-​ ​header('Location:​ ​'.$facebookHome); Instead​ ​we​ ​use​ ​Javascript​ ​to​ ​redirect​ ​once​ ​the​ ​page​ ​loads.​ ​In​ ​order​ ​to​ ​hide​ ​the​ ​images on​ ​the​ ​page​ ​we​ ​use​ ​css​ ​to​ ​hide​ ​them.

?>