[sgarnett]

The TireRack link on the sponsor page actually points to "http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-1536353-10374977", which is blocked by my employer's firewall because it has been categorized as "Spyware/Malware Sources;Web Advertisements". Direct access to the TireRack site is not blocked.

Is dpbolvw.net legitimate for sponsor click-through tracking, or another attack? The Eastwood link URL also looks suspicious, though I haven't tried clicking it (repeated attempts to access blocked sites are career-limiting). The other sponsor URLs link directly to the normal websites.

[sgarnett]

I just placed an order with TireRack. My home connection is currently too flaky to successfully complete a transaction (I tried). While I can access the website directly from work, I can't use the click-through link, as mentioned above. I called and asked if they could credit a sponsored web site for a phone order, but the answer was no.

Well, sorry, but I need tires, so I completed the order by phone.

I don't know if anyone else has the blocked link problem, so this may not be a big deal in general, but it might be worth asking what it would take to get referrals counted for phone orders, or if there is an alternate mechanism for online orders that doesn't require the tracking link. If not, c'est la vie, but you might still want to suggest that they consider adding a "how did you hear about us" field to their order process.