How TrueStream Works
TrueStream works by reading (without altering
in any way) clicks from major search engines through
promoter hubs to customers purchasing traffic. This
is possible because major engines like Google, Yahoo,
MSN, etc allow promoters to provide 2 URL's for
sites included in the engine - a URL to display to the
user, and the real URL, where the browser will
go when the link is clicked. In other words, if you
search Google for widgets, you might get back something
like:
Go ahead and click the links -- you'll get the idea about
the difference between a display URL and the real link.
All of the links above look like they point to different
widget stores, but they actually go to
http://www.SomePromoter.com/
-- once the client arrived at the SomePromoter.com website,
the
TrafficProcessor.asp script will execute. It
knows from the link (the 'HTTP_Referer') which client
link was clicked on - it probably does a quick database
query, marking 1 click (that the client will have to pay
for), and then redirecting the browser to the client website.
This all occurs in less than a second (Usually), and some
requests may bounce through more servers - sometimes 5
or 6 or more!
How can you know where your traffic came from? What servers
it passed through? If it was a valid click, or just bad
traffic, a spider, abuse, etc? Until now, you had to take
the word of the promoter or engine.
TrueStream can be inserted anywhere in this process.
TrueStream works just like a promoter traffic hub
- a client will click a link somewhere, the client will
arrive,
TrueStream looks up the next destination
URL in its database, and sends them on their way, in less
than a second. However,
TrueStream is actually
doing a little more...
- Double Click Analysis -- Completely stops
all manner of multiple clicks from a single source
within a specified time period. User-tunable to limit
by IP Address, or IP Address / User_Agent (Read: Browser
and OS type).
- Removes Spiders -- Eliminates clicks and
hits caused by engine and marketing spiders. TrueStream
has a large (and growing) database of known spiders
- over 500 in all! Spider hits are never conversions,
so you should never pay for them.
- Hits with No Referrer -- Catch traffic with
bad/missing HTTP_Referer information.
- Flagged or Terminated accounts -- If an account
is not responsible for paying on traffic delivered
after a certain date/time, TrueStream will
flag all traffic to that client as unbillable.
TrueStream is a managed service platform that delivers
real time filtering and traffic analysis, and the tools
to leverage the data you'll be capturing.
Back to the TrueStream homepage.
