With ios14 changes, how can I whitelist ReaderLinks.com for Facebook?

With ios14 changes, how can I whitelist ReaderLinks.com for Facebook?

It is not possible for customers to whitelist ReaderLinks links. The options we all have now are limited. To break it down in two sentences, the options are:

1. Ignore the whitelisting message on Facebook and miss tracking data from ios14+ devices that have activated the advanced security settings.
2. Whitelist the domain of your Wordpress author site (if you use Wordpress) and use our Wordpress plug-in to continue to get tracking.

DETAILS

Note that we’re only going to mention Facebook ads here, but it pertains to any place you want to run ads from. Also, for simplicity and clarity, we’ll just mention the ads going to Amazon, but it can be to wherever you direct your ads.

Differences between link types mentioned in this post

  • When we say “ReaderLinks Links” we are talking specifically about the links used in the format of readerlinks.com/l/1234 
  • A ReaderLinks WordPress Plugin link would be based on your website address, such as johnplogsdon.com/l/1234

Impact of different link types

ReaderLinks Links

When you use a ReaderLinks Link, it’s fast, typically taking less than 500 milliseconds to start the transfer over to Amazon. 

This is the best link style to use for ads that you want to track and have GEO linking attached.

ReaderLinks WordPress Plugin Links

When you use a ReaderLinks WordPress Plugin link, it’s slow. It may take 3 – 7 (sometimes more) seconds before the actual transfer over to Amazon. The reason for this is because WordPress is slow. Every plugin that you have installed on your WordPress site must be loaded before anything can happen. So the more plugins you have installed, the slower your site will be. 

This is not a good link to use for Facebook advertising because it’s slow. Facebook will actually track the time and will limit your ad by serving them only to people they feel will be willing to wait for the site to finally load.

Recommended Options for Facebook Ads

The following are the recommended option in order from highest recommendation to lowest.

  • Use ReaderLink Links, recognizing iOS 14+ devices will not launch a pixel. This will get your clicks to their final destination, geolocated and tracked, the fastest way possible. We recommend this one because the most important thing is to get the reader to the book page. Because this is the fastest way to the book page, Facebook will show this ad to more people.
  • Use the ReaderLinks WordPress Plugin in conjunction with the Facebook Pixel on your own site. The reader only has to click once, your WP site will fire the pixel, the link will be tracked and geolocated. While not ideal due to WordPress being slow, this will allow you to get your pixel fired off. Do note that Facebook will likely limit ad distribution, though.
  • Link your ad directly to your site. Once the reader clicks, they’ll be able to read the page on your site and click from there to get to the final destination using a ReaderLinks Link. Your site can fire off the pixel and the RL Link will still track and do geolocation delivery. It’s still slow since WordPress has to load, so Facebook will likely limit your distribution. Worse, it requires that your reader click more than once before getting to the actual sales page.

Connecting the ReaderLinks WordPress Plugin

If you can’t live without those iOS14 pixels and therefore decide to use the ReaderLinks WordPress Plugin, you’ll need to do three things:

  • Firstly, go to the ReaderLinks settings menu item and select the WordPress Plugin item. Follow the instructions very carefully on that page.
  • Secondly, you’ll need to install the Facebook WordPress Pixel Tool. We do not support this as it’s a Facebook product. Here is the link with instructions for you: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/881403525362441
  • Lastly, to be compliant with the Facebook system as it relates to the iOS 14 update, you’ll want to register your domain in the Facebook ads manager. Again, this is not something we support, so you should contact your web host provider or site administrator for assistance. Here is a link to the Facebook help file: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/286768115176155?id=199156230960298

If you have any issues with the ReaderLinks WordPress Plugin, please open a support ticket with us describing the issues you’re having. Please note that we will very likely need access to your WordPress site to diagnose the issue. If that’s a problem, we will have difficulty in assisting you.

Common problems include:

  • Not inputting the proper author ID.
  • Not naming the page exactly as it is listed in the tool. (Note it is case-sensitive).
  • If the Facebook Pixel isn’t firing before the redirect, the pre-delay is probably not long enough. We usually suggest starting between 250-350ms and increasing by 50ms until you find the sweet spot.

NOTE: The WordPress solution only works on hosted WordPress sites, not wordpress.com sites or any other service.


    • Related Articles

    • How to Use the Facebook Pixel

      Head to the Settings->Pen Name Settings section of AHS and click on the Facebook Pixel tab to fill in the information on your pixel After that is done, any time a person clicks on any of your ReaderLinks links it will come through our system and fire ...

    • How to whitelist The Author Helper Suite KDP Bookmarklet on Chrome's Memory Saver

      To whitelist: Click the three buttons next to your profile picture, then choose settings Choose Performance. From there, either turn off memory saver, or click the 'add' button. Add theauthorhelper.com and KDP.

    • I thought you guys were ReaderLinks. What happened?

      We grew out of the name. We started as mostly a link service but added features like ReaderTeams, SalesAnalytics, AuthorPlanner, and more. People thought we were a one trick pony with the name ReaderLinks. That's understandable with links in our ...

    • How do I set up Facebook Ads in The Author Helper Suite?

      Grabbing your Facebook Ads data There are two ways you can get your Facebook Ads data. One of them is to go to the Facebook Ads Manager, set everything up appropriately, choose your timeframe, and download the data. Then, once you have it, go to the ...

    • Facebook is showing the wrong url in the preview window. What's going on?

      The reason for this is Facebook's cache system. Whenever you put a new link into Facebook, it takes a while for it to figure out where that link is going. Once it does, it writes that into memory so it doesn't have to do it every time. Therein lies ...