X Is Auto-Loading Your Links—Affiliates Just Found a Way to Turn It Into CPM Cash | HackerNoon

The article reveals how X’s introduction of link preloading early November 2025 is creating opportunities for affiliate marketing by increasing the apparent traffic through affiliate links by 20-50%. This inflation in traffic offers a new way for affiliates to generate substantial CPM revenue, particularly in the current market conditions. Beware of the Terms and Conditions though! (of both X and your affiliate marketing platform)

A $31 Billion Industry Is Quietly Exploiting X’s Newest Feature: And There’s a 60-Day Window Before Networks Catch On

Picture this: You wake up one morning in early November 2025, check your analytics, and your traffic from X has doubled overnight. Then tripled. You haven’t changed a thing about your content or posting strategy. What’s happening RIGHT NOW?

Welcome to the most underreported traffic phenomenon of the year, and potentially the biggest opportunity affiliate marketers have seen since the early days of Facebook ads.

The Secret Behind the Sudden Traffic Spike

Here’s what’s really going on: X recently rolled out a feature that preloads external links in tweets the moment they appear in someone’s feed. Not when someone clicks. Not when someone hovers. The instant that tweet with your link scrolls into view, X’s in-app browser starts loading your page in the background.​

To the average publisher, this looks like a massive win. Only 2 days ago, Chris Best, CEO of Substack, publicly celebrated what appeared to be a 4x traffic increase from X. Even after accounting for “fake views,” he confirmed traffic was “up substantially”.​

https://x.com/cjgbest/status/1985464687350485092?embedable=true

What This Really Means: Ghost Visits That Count

Every time your affiliate link appears in someone’s X feed, you’re getting a page load. Not just an impression. Not just a potential click. An actual server request that:

• Logs an IP address​
• Executes JavaScript on your page​
• Fires tracking pixels​
• Triggers analytics events​
• And potentially registers as an “impression” or “visit” in many affiliate tracking systems​

One X user by the name of ILIAS ISM took note and tried it. In a now deleted X post, he just posted a bunch of affiliate links, like this:

https://affonso.io?atp=linkto https://www.brandbird.app/?via=raf https://byedispute.com?via=linkto https://codefa.st/?via=linkto https://customgpt.ai/?fpr=raf92 https://datafa.st/?via=linkto https://app.emergent.sh/?via=raf https://feather.so/?via=raf https://getimg.ai/?via=raf https://outrank.so/?via=linkto https://postel.app?atp=linkto https://shipfa.st/?via=linkto …

I think you get the point. It was just a post full of affiliate links, as a joke/test. (Don’t worry, HackerNoon doesn’t prefetch links like X now does.)

But today (5/Nov/2025) came these tweets (and if these get deleted, I have a screenshot):

https://x.com/illyism/status/1986107765396300256?embedable=true

You can see what happened… Of course, Ilias Ism has an X following of over 21,000 people and his first tweet (with the links) most likely had a big reach.

The Affiliate Marketer’s Dream Scenario

X’s preloading reality: Every impression in someone’s feed is now potentially triggering a full page load, running scripts, and firing tracking pixels, all without the user clicking anything.​

Think about the math here. If you’re getting legitimate engagement on X and your posts are being seen by thousands, you’re now getting phantom traffic that many ad networks will count as real impressions. One analysis of similar prefetching behavior found it can create traffic spikes so significant they can “inadvertently DDOS your site”.​

Why Affiliate Networks Might Not Catch This (Yet)

Here’s the beautiful part for those willing to move fast: most affiliate networks aren’t optimizing their fraud detection for this specific scenario yet.

Traditional click fraud detection looks for:​

• Multiple clicks from the same IP in rapid succession
• Bot-like behavior patterns
• Clicks without corresponding user engagement

But X’s preloading creates a different signature:​

• Legitimate user IPs (because real people are scrolling)

• Natural timing patterns (spread across genuine viewing sessions)

• Actual JavaScript execution (your page is really loading, just in the background)

  

The Parameter-Based Tracking Sweet Spot

While cookie-based affiliate tracking faces challenges due to X’s isolated in-app webview, URL parameter-based tracking works beautifully in this scenario.​

When X preloads your link, it follows the full redirect chain: t.co wrapper, any URL shortener you’re using, and finally your affiliate link with all parameters intact. That means tracking IDs, campaign codes, and sub-affiliate information all get passed through and logged.​

For affiliate marketers using platforms like Impact, ShareASale, or CJ Affiliate with parameter-based tracking, this translates to legitimate-looking traffic that passes through their systems.​

The Numbers Game: Scale Meets Opportunity

X has approximately 600 million monthly active users with 250 million engaging daily. The platform’s algorithm changes in recent months have stopped suppressing external links as aggressively as before. Combined with the preloading feature, this creates a perfect storm:​

1. Higher organic reach for posts with links than in previous years
2. Automatic preloading multiplying that reach into actual server requests
3. Affiliate tracking systems not yet adjusted to filter this new traffic pattern

The Gray-Hat Opportunities

Let’s be honest about what’s happening in certain affiliate marketing circles right now. While we’re not explicitly recommending these tactics, it’s naive to pretend they’re not being discussed:

Strategy 1: The Volume Play

Some marketers are reposting the same social media posts all day (using social media scheduling tools), knowing each view triggers a preload. With X’s 280-character limit and easy account creation, scale is trivial.

Strategy 2: The Engagement Farming

Create controversial or viral content with your affiliate link embedded. Even people who don’t click but scroll past are generating trackable impressions.​

Strategy 3: The Shortlink Maze

Layer multiple URL shorteners before your affiliate link. Each preload follows the entire redirect chain, potentially triggering tracking events at multiple points.​

Strategy 4: The Bot-Amplified Scroll

Since 66% of links on X are shared by bots, and preloading triggers on view (not click), automated engagement artificially multiplies your preload events.​

The Window Is Closing (But Not Yet)

Here’s the harsh reality: this won’t last forever. Major factors that will eventually shut this down:

1. Affiliate networks will adjust their fraud detection algorithms to filter X-preloaded traffic
2. X might modify the preloading behavior after privacy concerns escalate
3. Ad networks will catch on that CPM rates need adjustment for preloaded traffic
4. Regulatory pressure around user privacy and unintended data exposure

Privacy advocates are already raising alarms about preloading exposing user “IP addresses and browsing patterns” without consent. The EU’s GDPR could force changes. X has faced nine privacy complaints over similar data handling issues.​

But right now, in November 2025, we’re in the sweet spot: the window between “new feature launch” and “systems adapted to prevent exploitation.”

The “Legitimate” Approach

For those who prefer staying on the right side of terms of service, there are still massive opportunities here:

Focus on engagement metrics beyond vanity traffic. While X is sending preloaded visits, track actual conversions, time on page, and scroll depth to identify which of your X traffic is real.​

Use this for brand awareness plays where raw impressions matter. If you’re promoting a SaaS with big commissions, even legitimate click-throughs from this inflated exposure can be lucrative.​

Leverage the reach boost for content marketing. The preloading feature makes posts with links perform better overall, as X’s data shows posts with links now get “substantial” traffic increases.​

Test aggressively. With X’s new UI making it easier for users to engage with posts while browsing links, optimize your landing pages for the unique behavior patterns this creates.​

Act Fast or Miss Out

Every major platform shift creates a temporary arbitrage opportunity. Remember when:

• Facebook’s News Feed algorithm was easy to game (2010–2012)
• Instagram’s hashtag reach was unlimited (2014–2016)
• YouTube’s suggested videos could be manipulated (2015–2017)
• TikTok’s FYP was wide open (2019–2020)

Early movers made fortunes. Late adopters got scraps. Those who waited for the “perfect moment” missed it entirely.

X’s link preloading is the November 2025 version of those opportunities. The affiliate marketing industry is projected to hit $31 billion by 2031, and right now, a disproportionate amount of that growth is going to marketers who understand what’s actually happening on X.​

So here’s the question: Are you going to read this article, think “interesting,” and do nothing?

Or are you going to test one X campaign this week and see what happens?

Because by the time everyone else figures this out, the networks will have patched their tracking, X will have adjusted the preloading behavior, and you’ll be kicking yourself for not taking advantage when you had the chance.

The gold rush is happening now. Most people don’t even realize the mine exists yet.

Are you testing X campaigns this week? Share your results in the responses. I’m tracking what actually converts.