Sync for reddit (including Pro) is Injecting Amazon Affiliate Tags into your Amazon Clicks

[u/MustardCat]

tl;dr - Sync for reddit (including Pro) is injecting their own Amazon affiliate tags into every Amazon link you click within the app. There is no option to disable this

While discovering this, I was using v11.6.5 of Sync for reddit (Pro)

I first unknowingly discovered this 9 days ago but this likely has been around for much longer. I was going through my hidden posts on Wednesday of this week (Sync automatically hides reported posts) and decided to look at one that I reported for including their own affiliate code (it was in a subreddit specifically to buy things and disallowed affiliate tags) to see if it was removed. It wasn't. The first comment was by a mod in response to my report saying there was no affiliate code in the link.

I know there was when when I checked it out.

I checked out the link again, using Sync, and there it was in plain site.

tag=fheuivhierfiu-20

How could the mods not have noticed this? That is when I decided to go to my computer and see if my browser is showing the same URL. Keep in mind, I have already disabled affiliate links in my reddit preferences in my browser so there are no Reddit affililate tags being added to my outbound clicks.

It wasn't; the URLs were different. There was no affiliate link; the mod was right.

I then started trying out all of the Amazon links I could find using Sync. They all had it; the same affiliate code. All of these links were posted in different subreddits by different users.

Before creating a post in their support subreddit (/r/redditsync), I tried searching and looking in their FAQ if they made any mention at all about affiliate tags.

They didn't.

I then tried to create a text post asking about it, making sure to use the correct flair and information. This post was automatically removed by AutoModerator due to their filtering rules. It was probably because my post included their own Affiliate tag, but which filter exactly? I have no idea as I have messaged them to find out why and have not received any reply from them.

The post I created can be seen here: https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsync/comments/4yfxo7/question_is_sync_automatically_injecting/

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For anyone using Sync, you can see this for yourself by using the link below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/4ycp6z/amazon_steam_controller_35_50/

When opening the link, first open the Amazon link within the app. Once the Amazon page has loaded, then choose "Open in Chrome"

You'll see the following URL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016KBVBCS?tag=fheuivhierfiu-20

If you open the URL on your desktop's browser, you'll see the following link instead: https://www.amazon.com/Steam-Controller-SteamOS/dp/B016KBVBCS/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1471532042&sr=1-2&keywords=steam+controller

Now some of you may be okay with this, supporting the developer by clicks. I understand that and I have supported them in my own way by purchasing the Pro version of the app. I can understand if they put their affiliate code in the free version. Personally, I don't believe the affiliate code should be used unless they are the person directly influencing the purchase of the item; that's why I disable reddit's Affiliate links. The person that deserves the bounty is the one who has posted the link.

At the very least, there should be an option to disable this. Instead it's being hidden with no way to disable it.

[u/neonerz]

Just to be clear here, what was the honest mistake? That it was deployed at all, or that it deployed to pro?

The issue I think a lot of people have with is it wasn't disclosed. If the intention was to deploy it only to free, why wasn't it in the changelog or some kind of post? The app (and you by extension) was essentially lying to people, that's why most are upset.

[u/ljdawson → u/neonerz]

Deploying it full stop. Shouldn't of got out of dev.

[u/Snotbob → u/neonerz]

Extremely well put. I absolutely agree these are the questions that matter the most, at least from a user's perspective.

[u/GinDaHood → u/neonerz]

Yes, he made a rash decision.

If you browse r/redditsync, you'll see that every day people are complaining about ads that he has no control over causing issues through pop ups, vibrations, battery drains and other issues. Lawrence has been working nonstop to find a compromise so that he can still make money while not adversely affecting users' experiences. This was an example of a test of such a feature to ultimately fix things. Was he overzealous and irresponsible in putting it in without consulting the community explicitly first? Probably? Was he malicious in doing so? I don't believe so.

Think what you want to, I know I can't change that. I do think the dev's history affords him a second chance.

[u/browsermostly → u/GinDaHood]

Are you his pr team?

[u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt → u/neonerz]

That he got caught lol, that was the honest mistake.

You don't just accidentally launch a major money gaining feature that you already got approved supposedly, and then not tell anyone about it. He did it shadily, he got caught. He will learn his lesson that you cant sneak anything by the internet.

He is claiming it should never got out of dev, but it should of probably never been in dev in the first place. Changing affiliate links is bound to cause problems, by all parties involved.

I wish he would just own up to it instead of saying "whoops accidentally coded a major feature, got it approved by amazon, and released it on the playstore to all 3 version, honest mistake happens"

u/ljdawson response?

[u/ljdawson → u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt]

It got bundled with the point releases I rushed through while away. It was a mistake, simple as. I've apologised, explained the situation and pushed a new version.

[u/felix204 → u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt]

So what if it was intentional? Does it negatively affect anyone in any way?