If you ran a brick-and-mortar store, would you leave it unlocked at night when nobody was around? Of course not! Unfortunately, some ClickBank publishers do just that by not protecting their download URLs.

The download URL (also called the “Thank You Page”) is how paying customers download their digital product from a ClickBank publisher. Publishers configure this URL in the “My Products” section of their ClickBank account. It is important to realize that when ClickBank accepts a payment and sends the customer to the publisher download URL, we also pass along important encrypted information that only the publisher can decipher. The deciphering of this information allows publishers to quickly determine whether the person attempting to download the product has actually paid or not.

If you’re a Web site owner with programming knowledge, or if you have access to a programmer for your site, details on how to implement this feature can be found here:

http://www.clickbank.com/help/vendor-help/vendor-guides/protecting-your-product/

If you’re not comfortable with performing programming tasks on your site, there are numerous commercial products available that provide protection for your downloadable digital goods. Some examples of these products for sale on ClickBank include DLGuard, easyClickGuard, and Lock-It-Now, although more can be found in the ClickBank Marketplace.

ClickBank is dedicated to protecting our publishers’ content and helping publishers achieve proper levels of security. Be sure to take advantage of available tools to avoid the undesirable realization that you left your store unlocked overnight!

Take a look at these related posts:

1. Protecting Your Hoplinks
2. The Power of Data
3. Operate in Real Time with the ClickBank API