What do you do when the merchant asks for a Secured Tracking Pixel?

[webtrend]

I am running a couple of offers where the merchant wants a secured (SSL) pixel for conversion tracking. I am using prosper202.

I found a guide by MasterlessSamurai on how to configure prosper202 with SSL support. After reading the article and the comments it seems like the whole process is not trivial and there seems to be complaints about it not working properly on IE.

Is there any other solution besides reconfiguring your apache server and prosper202 source code?

 

[Spades]

If you're buying traffic from any of the larger ad networks they can typically generate a https pixel for you to use for tracking. As far as setting it up yourself I think you're right, bit of a pain in the ass with more cons than pros. I would keep asking around though, their might be some WF'ers that have done this with no drawbacks.

I believe the only reason merchants ask for a secure pixel is to prevent users from seeing a popup warning about the page containing a mix of content (secure and standard.) That and it adds vulnerability to their check out system?

 

[johu]

You should just be able to buy an SSL cert for your domain name, and then link to the pixel with https instead of http. I don't use Prosper, but it makes sense that it could be simple.

 

[edward_b]

I had the same issue last month when I finally got around to installing p202...I have an apache VPS and all I did was add the tracking domain to that package, then add an SSL cert through my hosting control panel. (That was through the 1and1 admin and not through the VPS's plesk interface).

Took about 12 hours before the SSL was set up for the domain but I just installed the domain on the server via plesk, and then p202 as normal when I got the 'SSL ready' email, and that was it. I've had no issues at all, and did nothing other than order an SSL cert for the domain. Doesn't seem to have stopped conversions via IE either

It may be a lot more complex on a dedi box I guess...anyway the above worked for me on a VPS so thought I'd mention it.

 

[tvmatt]

I'm not running P202, but from what I read from my Google searches, it shouldn't be anything hard. If you're referring to the tutorial at How To Install Prosper202 On An SSL (HTTPS) Server | MasterlessSamurai.com , ignore it - it has a bunch of useless crap on how to force SSL all the time, which is completely unnecessary. All you need is the pixel to be SSL, and you force that by just specifying https.

Shouldn't be a big deal - just follow the steps to install an SSL cert for your domain & then test out the pixel.

I just set up an SSL cert on a CPanel/WHM dedicated server w/a GoDaddy SSL cert - took about 15 mins in total. Installing an SSL Cert shouldn't be hard, no matter what system you're running.

 

[webtrend]

Thanks Guys. I have an unmanaged VPS. I already got a SSL certificate. I will try to follow the instructions and install it.