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.

Those are legit, they are tracking links issued by tirerack and eastwood. They are correct.

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.

Hmm. I might have to look into that option. Maybe they'll do something, maybe not.

Oh well, thanks Sean, I appreciate the effort. I'll see what I can find out.

Well, crap (kinda). My wireless link to the nearest town is often flaky, because it's pointed right at a big horse farm breeding or foaling barn on the next hill (apparently they use monitors on the same frequency). However, a window just popped up saying that Firefox had just finished a big automatic update (thought I had that tuned off ...) and suddenly everything is working fine (well, at least usable). Maybe it's just coincidence, or maybe I couldn't get through a TireRack transaction without hanging because Firefox was slowly plodding through an umpteen megabyte downlaod in the background without telling me.

Oh well, it would still be nice to be able to have other ways to credit a sponsored site.