[shmoogle]

Hi all,

Since this morning (western europe) I get 403 access denied
messages on many (probably not all due to caching) images,
and on all links. All cj redirections go OK, once at zappos I
get 403. I tried 2 totally different internet accounts/providers
and computers, both get it).
With LYNX from the command line on my US based webserver
I DO however get some zappos links I tried, without error.

Anyone else having these troubles?

regards,
Shmoogle

[Abigail]

this is a bit of a heads up for you guys - it appears that all my zappos product links are returning 403 error - forbidden - the unusual traffic to sales ratio over the last 48 hours sent me on a search for possible problems this morning and i found that the links are returning errors - no its not my link structure - these links were all functioning just fine 3 days ago.

[shmoogle]

Thanks!


Yes, it cannot be your link structure since also just plain zappos links
with all cj referencing done, give the errors, AND going directly to
zappos.com, I get the main page, but most links from there also
lead to 403's, incl. brand pages like BB Dakota Clothing, Dresses, Tops | Zappos.com
(the brands' index pages I can get weirdly enough).

I guess this CAN be an akamai problem.. they use akamai to distribute
the data feed world wide.. can be also the zappos product pages go via
akamai.. I emailed zappos, and hope it gets their attention soon, and be
fixed.

have a great weekend,
Shmoogle

[Nabz]

Zappos have banned international visitors, I can't access product pages as well, it says 403 forbidden. But using VPN with U.S IP solves the problem.

I also mentioned it here: Why Do Some Merchants Ban International Traffic?

[Abigail]

got to zappos through my cjp account exec - sounds like they were unaware of the problem but are looking into it now. thought maybe i was the only one in this leaky boat!!

[Abigail]

Just got this:

"Hi Affiliate,

The websites for Zappos.com and 6pm.com are currently experiencing technical difficulties. We are diligently working on a fix and appreciate your patience at this time. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Jessica at jholman@cj.com.

Thanks,

Zappos Affiliate Team "

[jantaro]

I suspect that they are in the process of implementing international shipping, and that this is causing them problems. Could be completely wrong though.

[shmoogle]

Nothing fixed yet, not even gotten a reply to my email in more than 24 hours,
I need to refresh some websites with a fresh zappos data feed, but need to be
able to view the results.. Terrible low sales Yesterday, and low clicks, so really
cannot be sure ALL of the US gets the pages/images right, despite my own and
one other report of succesfully getting the pages from (some) US IPs.

It would be nice if Zappos would be more responsive, and fix such a thing much
faster.

greetz,
Shmoogle

[shmoogle]

Man... also the data feed gives 403...
so even cannot refresh the things unseen.

[Nabz]

I am using U.S VPN and Zappos is loading perfectly.

[Stork]

I'm getting the same - 403 forbidden. I'm in the UK. When the hell are they going to fix this? I was alerted when I noticed my sales were down. No reply to my email either.

[shmoogle]

Yes, if you are also experiencing low sales, it's likely, the error
also affects parts of the US.
The fact that I can get the pages from my US server on the command line,
and Nabz via VPN, sure does not mean ALL of the US is free of the problem.
Really hoping they fix it soon, actually still thinking it's a problem at akamai
esp. now also the feed gives 403 (sure I can get it from the US server, ftp
it to my Eu server etc. but now over 30 hours this trouble is a tad long.)

[Abigail]

Originally Posted by shmoogle

does not mean ALL of the US is free of the problem.)

so i have accessed a vpn out of san fransisco on the west coast of usa and also had my daughter in new jersey on the east coast usa check and seems to be connecting no problems so i am more convinced that it is the international issue - that being said, my last comminique from zappos via my cj contact does indicate they are working on a solution for those affected. let's hope so.

[jantaro]

I notice when I try searching for something on Zappos, the URL shows "&globalsearch=1" as part of the result string (I've got a foreign IP). Probably they're trying to implement different search results for foreign IPs (no idea why they would), and this is causing problems.

[jantaro]

According to Tony Hsieh's blog Zappos experienced a cyber attack. That is probably why they had technical difficulties, and both 6pm and Zappos are now not accessible for international customers/visitors

[jantaro]

Here you go: Security Email | Zappos.com

[shmoogle]

Jantaro, could you please post a URL to the specific blog page? I need to use lynx
to read it, cause also the blog is blocked here, and cannot find it on the main blog
page http://blogs.zappos.com/tags/tony-hsieh

Indeed at least the message now looks better than that ugly 403 Forbidden text.
Hopefully they will restore things to normal again very soon, cause there are many
implications. For instance, non US sites who manually inspected their links in last
days, may have dropped their links to you, thinking it's all outdated pages...
So, all affil. may loose links from this (and hence also causing zappos a structural sales
loss).

A certain percentage of sales IS made by ppl surfing from non US IPs, traveling, or
having a US mail forwarding address, or their sister in New York as a US address,
etc.

Some affil., by the nature of their processes, like me, use the images as part of the
reporting and cannot use VPN for that.
And likely many more problems might arise from it.
(I also had to do this some months ago, but turning off the countries from where the
attack came (many countries, many IPs) was enough, and only needed for few hours.
Not 3 days, causing temporary AND structural damage to the affil. and zappos
themselves.)
Nu, to read that blog I see, I will also have to find ways around, also the blog is
blocked for non US IPs :-(

[jantaro]

It says on the Zappos Facebook page (if you read the comments section) that they hope to make their site available to international visitors very soon

[it2shoes]

Jessica tells us affiliates that they can whitelist our servers ip's but does that mean our sites or our home IPs?

[shmoogle]

Also wondering about that, I assume they mean that even US visitors, if coming from a foreign site,
are blocked.. So then non-US hosted websites would need to be whitelisted.

If it's (also) our own IPs, so we at least can see what we work with, refresh data feeds etc, that would
be great of course. Going fully back to normal ASAP would still be best.

[shmoogle]

OK, so yesterday I did send my home/office server IP to zappos,
also specifying it was not my WEB servers' IP, cause those are
US IPs. No answer yet, but today I can see all images again, links
work, and I can access the data feed. However, my biz partner in
another non-US country, still gets the We're so sorry message and
broken images. Then I tried via my other IP provider, for which I
had not send an IP for whitelisting, BUT, still got the images etc
(and it's a different machine too). So, it would seem selected countries
are getting access now. In any case I'm happy, but of course hope they
can soon allow most of the world access again (there are some (blocks
of) countries, I myself even block more and more, as only nastyness seems
to come from there).

Have a great day!
Shmoogle

[Abigail]

shmoogle - it took 24hrs from the time of confirmation back from them that they had rec'd my request, i am in canada. i have also noticed that initially for the first 2 days after their public announcement my traffic out on zappos links totally died and this morning it is coming back, although struggling - i think the usa general public's initial reaction was to shun them but maybe that is settling down, i hope.

[shmoogle]

Sad to hear that Abigail, I assume your website(s)' server then also is in Canada?
(Cause on my US hosted websites, traffic or clicks or sales don't seem to have been
affected too much, yet US buyers being abroad, or non US buyers, with a US mail
forwarding address or family were (or still are!) unable to see or buy stuff).

In any case, I'm in a western EU country and get the images etc ALSO on a IP
that I did not send for whitelisting, yet I also know in at least one ME country, they
still get the We're so sorry thing.

How they could block Canada puzzles me, cause was'nt there also Zappos.ca ? There
always was a link to that on top, and I always wondered if I still got commissions if
people followed that...

[Abigail]

my websites are all hosted in the US, my own personal IP service is in Canada, that IP was being blocked, however, i did introduce myself to vpn out of the US, through all this, thanks to you guys on this board and have kept on business wise - but there was wide spread publicity over the news about the hacking, in both the US and Canada and that I think has affected the online traffic out on the zappos links - now there is some sort of lawsuit happening out of texas over it all, quite the stir - but then as i said it seems to be settle down somewhat today.

[shmoogle]

Hey yeah, that's true of course, 24 million people had to change their passwords etc.
many had to wait for hours (see zappos on facebook), plus also because of that, they
kept all of zappos busy with questions etc, the publicity may also have had impact,
so all of that also sure slowed down sales. Still, my traffic to zappos (cj clicks) and the sales,
have been fairly matching my websites' incoming traffic, but so perhaps could have been
better still.

Indeed ABW is still a great place for this kind of situations, and it's a pity the recent and
current Zappos AM ppl are not actively using this place, like it once used to be. But maybe
they also have an affiliate blog or facebook or what and I am just missing out on that;-)

l8r!