Note: Partners must opt into proxy and landing page support so the features are available.
Note: If you want to update your source URL, you must contact Support by using the Submit a request form.
A proxy is a mirror replica of an advertiser's website, which is known in this context as a source site. The proxy is hosted on a newly purchased domain that exists solely for this purpose.
Proxies are used with leads-oriented campaigns. Leads are captured as form fills and phone calls in the campaign's performance report.
A proxy site works best when the advertiser has a well designed website that includes clearly visible phone numbers or a contact form, or both. A hosted landing page is an alternative if the advertiser is not a good fit for a proxy.
How proxies work
If you've added a proxy as a campaign destination, when the campaign is launched iPromote automatically buys a proxy domain. The proxy domain is hosted on a specialized server.
This server makes API calls to the source site, which effectively replicates the source site HTML and CSS in real time. Frequent API calls to the source site ensure that changes to the source site are quickly updated on the proxy site.
Capturing leads: Form fills
When a customer fills out a contact form on a proxy site, the activity is automatically captured and reported in the campaign performance report.
Lead details captured include the contact email and the date/time the form was filled out. Form fill data is passed to the source site as if no proxy were used.
Capturing leads: Phone calls
Note: End-users cannot test the replacement of call tracking numbers on their proxy or landing page without the Call Tracking Test URL.
Proxy sites include a dynamic call tracking script that flips the actual business phone number to a call tracking number (CTN) upon page load.
When a customer dials the proxy number or clicks a call button, our system is notified that a call was placed. The activity is automatically captured and reported in the campaign performance report.
Lead details captured include the customer's name and phone number, the duration of the call, and the date/time the call was placed.
When not to use a proxy
Proxies are not recommended in the following circumstances:
- Badly designed website: If a customer website is poorly designed, does not contain or clearly display the business phone number on the page, or does not contain or clearly display the contact form, then it is a bad fit.
- eCommerce sites: Sites that use Shopify or other retail vendors can be difficult to proxy because of security protocols that are required when accepting payments online.
- Hosted website: Web hosts like Wix, Wordpress, and Squarespace might offer free website options with limitations on customization and features. Sometimes these pages block proxy requests because of firewall security. Without the user's ability to make edits to a whitelist, there is no way to resolve the issue.
- Slow loading website: If a customer website takes a long time to load because of large media files like videos, slide shows, and large image files, then this can cause a timeout error. It's because API calls from the proxy server to the source site time out when attempting to return content to the proxy.
Proxies are outright prohibited in the following circumstances:
- Financial institution: We cannot proxy sites that deal with sensitive financial information, like those of banks and credit unions.
- Franchise: We cannot proxy sites that belong to a larger franchise where the site is owned by a major corporation. For example, a State Farm Insurance broker wants to proxy their listing page, but the site belongs to State Farm Insurance Corporation.
If you're still not sure if proxy sites work for the advertiser, contact Support.
Setting up whitelists
Whitelisting allows specific IP addresses to avoid being blocked by a firewall. Websites often use firewalls to block unknown outside actors from accessing the site.
In order for a proxy to mirror a source site in real time, the proxy server must make frequent calls to the source server. If firewalls are in place on the advertiser's website, then the source can block proxy IP addresses from accessing its code. This results in an error on the proxy page.
Whitelisting an IP address varies according to how the advertiser's website is set up. Website hosting and website platforms both affect your setup. Often whitelisting can be done directly in a hosting platform's dashboard. Other times the site's code must be modified.
Whitelisting set-up instructions are usually available in the help files of your web host or by contacting their customer support. Alternatively, if you work with a web developer they should be able to help.
Setting up reCAPTCHA
reCAPTCHA is a free service from Google that prevents bots from automatically visiting web pages, filling out forms, and spamming a site owner.
The reCAPTCHA check box is often at the bottom of contact forms, during account sign in, on a retail transaction page, or anywhere sensitive or personal information is to be filled out on a website.
You'll know it's in use when you see this emblem:
When reCAPTCHA is installed on the source site, it is associated with that domain, so using a proxy with that domain results in a reCAPTCHA error. This means that any forms filled out on the proxy are not captured until the error is resolved.
To resolve the error, the customer must add the proxy domain to their list of approved domains within the reCAPTCHA administrative console.
For more information, see reCAPTCHA > Settings.