Cloaking is a black hat search engine optimisation (SEO) technique (means an iniquity technique) in which the content presented to the search engine spider is different from the user’s browser. Cloaking relates to web design. It is the act of differentiating between two website visitors in order to provide specialised content to each. Most people use cloaking for getting a high listing in search engines, without modifying their existing content. Cloaking is a form of the doorway page (web pages that are created for spamdexing) technique.

Different cloaking scripts and services work differently, most determine how to handle traffic by analysing the IP address of the visitor. They then compare that particular address with a list of known “spiders” (search engine programs that index web pages). Some cloaking scripts will redirect the spider to an optimised web page. Some of those allow the spider to recognise that it’s been redirected. Other cloaking scripts only redirect human visitors. Generally, humans have fewer problems with redirection.

There is nothing essentially illegal about cloaking. Cloaking itself is not illegal, but what the person does with the technique may be illegal. To affiliate or to adopt cloaking, there are many software in the market that would allow you to protect and hide your affiliate links. Affiliate cloaking will not only protect your affiliate commissions, but also improve traffic on your affiliate links, and therefore overall conversions.

But still using a cloaker can get your website banned from search engines, unless you have followed certain precautions. So, it is advisable to make fair efforts to promote and get traffic to your sites; other unfair ways may benefit initially but may turn out be harmful in the long run.