Cloaking (from the English cloak — a cloak, disguise) — a traffic-filtering method in which different users are shown different website pages through the same link.
In traffic arbitrage, this tool is used to bypass strict advertising platform moderation. A special script or service determines on the fly who clicked the link: a real target user or a moderation bot.
How traffic distribution works
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White Page: a completely harmless website that strictly complies with all advertising network rules. Bots, moderation bots, and manual reviewers are sent to it.
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Black Page: the actual landing page with an offer, product, or service that would not pass moderation. Only target users from the required countries and devices are allowed here.
What criteria are used to filter visitors
Cloaking services analyze incoming traffic based on dozens of technical parameters:
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IP addresses and bot databases: checking the address against lists of servers belonging to advertising platforms and automated review systems.
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Geolocation: checking the country and city from which the click originates.
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User-Agent and device: identifying the browser type, operating system (mobile or desktop), and provider.
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Behavior: moderators and scrapers often behave differently on a website than ordinary people.
Important: Cloaking is considered a «gray-hat» and «black-hat» promotion method. If an advertising network detects page switching, the account and advertising campaign are blocked without the possibility of reinstatement.
