Is really referral or affiliate are not allowed in Forum ?

[Lucius]

There are always exceptions when it comes to ref links, and those who are active in gambling boards may have noticed over the years that some members put a ref link in practically every post. I asked that question back in 2019, and in the discussion that followed, the global mod wrote his opinion.

Referral Link In Post Is Allowed?

Apart from the fact that ref links are allowed in signatures, they are allowed in if they are used in a website link that can be set in the profile settings.

[ZAINmalik75]

I have seen the posts of some members in some places of the forum that referral link or affiliate link is not allowed in the forum. But is it really not allowed? Because I have seen some campaign managers and users using referral links in their posts & signature.
So the question arose in my mind, is it really prohibited to use referral or affiliate links? Or referral or affiliate link can be used following some rules.
Seeking for some answers 

Usage of referral links is disallowed but only in the post, if you will even share some website or a link to some kind of platform, many will doubt you as it might not be needed here but you still shared the link which means, you might be trying to get some traffic to your or someone's website. In short, you can put a referral links in your signature and on your ANN threads, because it is allowed there. But you can't just make any post and at the bottom you put the referral link.

But to do that, you can put a referral link in your signature but I will say avoid it, because simple will look unattractive, try to make it more attractive like the current signature many users are wearing.
I am wearing a advertising link but I think it is not a referral one, because I am not erning from the referral I am earning by just wearing the link and you can also wear the link but you have to be eligible for that. As different ranks have limitations to wear enough characters of signatures.

[Helena Yu]

Based on the forum rules, referral code (referral link) spam is not allowed - fair enough.  But if your post is on-topic, has good, relevant info and you include a referral link, that seems to be fine. 

Definitely you give a new insight, but I don't expect people will include their referral link to their posts because this will increase the chance their posts might be deleted. Some people are also skeptic when they see someone post contain their referral, they think those people only want to promote their referral even though they post on topic and high quality.

[EarnOnVictor]

Also, affiliate and referral links are used on the signatures you see all over the place and no one will ever penalise you for creating your own signature and embedding the referral/affiliate links into it as well. I believe this still serves the same purpose as the person who embedded it in his posts directly instead of the signature design.

So in your opinion it's alright to wear a signature that leads to a site and then getting paid a fix amount, but it's not alright to have a special link for the same site to then earn as people click on it and use the service? Which one is better for you as a promoter, a fixed payment, or a dynamic one? Here is a better question, what if you are advertising your own site?

If you don't know the reason for restriction on ref links, here is why:
Scammers advertise for fake profit by promising good return, but in reality they just scam the unsuspected newbies. So it's not allowed to do that. Everything is in place for a reason, to avoid abuse.

Just what I was saying, I still see no valid reason for the restriction from what you pointed out here. Do you think people can't still embed their links in their posts with or without the forum allowing it? Of course, they do it. How does this stop the evil plan of those guys who are daredevils and only care about achieving their aim? Moderations and users reporting such are enough to settle it without affecting anyone. What you just said doesn't contain a good reason to me. Should we cut the head because of a headache?

Anything the forum says is fine by me since I have no external links to sell apart from my signature campaign, but at times, a rethink is a good forward too. Be it because of scams or not, people with bad intentions are still letting others know what they are selling in many sections of the forum. And if what you claimed is the true reason why it is not allowed, then the reason is not so nice. By doing this, you outrightly restrict those who are just posting legitimate company business while those who are posting their scams which you think you blocked still find their way to propagate their news. Moderation is key here.

[OgNasty]

They are allowed in your signature.

Yes. There are even some campaigns that their signatures have referral links. This can be used to know if there are people from this site (Bitcointalk) that join (the site with the campaign) or use their service through the referral link.

I use one in my signature. I think it’s great that some signature campaigns allow their participants to do this as it brings them additional revenue for advertising for the brand. I can also understand why the forum doesn’t want people spamming their referral links everywhere and think the way it is done now is a nice win-win for everyone.