Affiliate monitoring guide

Broken affiliate links are more than 404s

Inspect a source URL, then understand the separate signals required before calling an affiliate link broken.

Inspect an affiliate URL locally

The URL stays in this browser. This utility recognizes source structure only; it does not visit the destination or prove a commission.

Four different problems

A source URL can lose its publisher identity, point to a different merchant, fall back to a homepage, or reach an unavailable product. These outcomes require different evidence and severity.

Why uncertainty matters

HTTP 403, rate limiting, bot challenges and browser-only navigation are not proof of a broken destination. CommissionGuard keeps these checks inconclusive until stronger evidence exists and confirms most destination findings twice.

Run the bounded source-page audit or sign in with Google for recurring monitoring, identities and issue history.