Questions and answers

Links

Why do I have two links for the same product?: Each post gets its own link, so you can see how every post did. If you post the same product on Monday and again on Thursday, those are two posts with two links. But if your task sends the same product to the same channel twice within 15 minutes, you get the same link back: that is one post sent twice by mistake. Links created before 30 September 2026 did not have this rule, so you may see some pairs from before then.
Can I delete a link?: Yes. On your channel's page, open «All links», tick the ones you don't want and choose «Delete». Their clicks are deleted with them. By default the link keeps working for anyone who has it in a post, and its clicks are no longer counted. You can also tick «Also stop them from working»: Amazon links stop at once, other links within a day.
How long do links last?: A year from the day they are created. After that the short link stops working.
Do Amazon links open the Amazon app?: On iPhone and iPad, yes: the link tries to open the Amazon app and falls back to the website. On other devices it goes straight to the website.
Can my links use my own domain?: Yes, for free. You add a redirect on your own website and turn it on in Holdout. See how.

Why doesn't a click show up right away?: Clicks are collected every few minutes. A click usually shows up within 10 minutes.
What counts as a click?: A person opening your link. Two kinds of visits are not counted. Previews: when you post a link, Telegram, WhatsApp and similar apps open it once to show its photo and title. And likely robots: programs that follow links, such as search engines, deal trackers and anything that comes from a server rather than a home or mobile connection. Both show up apart, under «Not counted», and you can see each visit in the Previews and Likely robots tabs of the Clicks page.
Why is a visit marked as a likely robot?: Because it says it is a program, or because it comes from a data center (cloud and hosting providers such as AWS, OVH or Contabo) instead of a home or mobile connection. Many deal trackers open every new link they find in Telegram channels this way. Someone browsing through a VPN can be counted as a robot too: we prefer that to counting robots as people.
Why is there no count of unique visitors?: To tell two visitors apart we would have to store their IP address or put a cookie on them, and we do neither.
Can I get my click-through rate?: Not from Holdout. It needs to know how many people saw your post, and only Telegram or WhatsApp know that. Previews don't tell you either: each app builds one per post, not one per reader.

What is a channel?: A place where you post your deals: a website, a Telegram channel, a WhatsApp group. Each one has its own stats and suggestions, so create one for each.
Do I need an API key for each channel?: No. There is one key for your whole account. In the «Shorten URL» step in Botize you choose which channel each link belongs to.
What happens if I regenerate my key?: The old one stops working at once, so your Botize tasks can't create links until you update the Holdout connection in Botize with the new key.
What happens if I delete a channel?: Its links, clicks and stats are deleted. The links you already posted keep working until they expire, but their clicks are no longer counted. It can't be undone.

Why does a suggestion say «Learning»?: Because your channel doesn't have enough posts or clicks yet for it to be reliable, and it tells you how many are missing. Suggestions only use your channel's own history, never other people's, so a new channel takes a while.
Why can't I use «Try a product» yet?: It compares the product with what has worked in your channel, so it needs some history first: 8 posts with a title that are more than a day old, and 20 clicks between them.

Do I have to upload my sales reports?: No, it is optional. If you do, Holdout shows your sales next to your clicks for the dates the report covers. Days without a report show as a gap, never as zero sales.

Who can see my data?: Only you. What you send with your links and what we measure of your clicks is never shared or shown on a public page, and is only used for your own suggestions. Privacy policy.
Is Holdout free?: Yes, for Botize users. See pricing.