A Warning About Affiliate Links & Google Plus
Today I just wanted to share something that has just happened to me and that I think many people may be unaware of. The other day i wrote an article on Wealthy Affiliate about generating traffic that was quite popular. Today I decided that I would share that article socially on Twitter, Google plus and Facebook.
I figured that this may well gather a few interested people into joining Wealthy Affiliate and so used my affiliate link to link to the article.
Normally I only post affiliate links within pages that I have created on my website. However today I posted an affiliate link that I had shortened, directly into a Google plus post. Although I was posting this link with good intentions, it seems that Google Plus does not take kindly to affiliate links at all. I was totally unaware of this!
This was the message that I received:
This makes me sound like a criminal, I only wanted to share an article!
Plus when I clicked the "learn more" link in this warning it took me to the Google plus content guidelines where I couldn't find anything that mentioned affiliate links. The most annoying thing with this is that every time I go onto Google Plus, this message pops up every time!
Just wanted to warn you guys to stay well clear of posting any sort of affiliate links on G+, even if it is with good intentions.
Speak to you soon,
Andrew
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After looking further into this annoying pop up, it would seem that many people are affected by this every day. The sad thing is that there is little that can be done for this particular message. If your account is suspended you can appeal, but with a warning you just need to watch the pop up message appear every time you want to do something on G+.
Google are very difficult to communicate with and it seems that the only way forward is to prove that you are being a good member of the community by not doing naughty things!
Personally, I'm not going to worry too much about this. Apparently the message can take weeks or even months to disappear. There's nothing more I can do about it, so I might as well just move on and stop wasting my time trying to figure it out.
I have the same problem. Just change the content up a bit, and I think you'll see a difference. I haven't seen the message again since I started posted different things. Sadly I have not been able to post WA because i'm not sure what will happen and I don't want to lose my privileges so for now i'm working on earning their trust. Good luck to you!!!
YAMARIS28
hey hun, could you have a loook at my google+ and see if you can see what i did....i got mine lifted very quickly from the appeals section but they still havent told me what i did wrong and i am a bit weary of posting anything LOL its crazy :-))
you can get to it through my site or if you pm me i will give it too you there :-)) If you dont mind that is :-))
If it is your article on WA. You can share the direct link and any people that reach WA and join are credited to you.
If you are sharing someone else's WA content you need to use the affiliate link to get credit and should write about it on your own site (where you embed the affiliate link) to share to Google.
So, you can share your WA content just don't use your affiliate link to do so.
Google also appreciates it when you add value to your post. Write a paragraph introducing people to the content you are sharing. Don't just post the link.
Hi Labman,
so you are saying if we post a blog on WA and use our WA affiliate link or the referral link and share on Google plus, that won't be rejected? Am I understanding you correctly? I'm so new to this, I want to learn the easiest way to use referrals etc...
If you create a blog post here at WA and you share with the un-affiliated link, you will get credit when people sign-up after visiting your WA blog.
Google doesn't like direct affiliate links.
Yeah that's true. I had actually written a couple of paragraphs with the post in question. Going by what someone else was saying it would appear that Google Plus isn't keep on us mentioning WA at all.
Hey Andrew, this happened to me too......not the affilate link bit but the WARNING...i nearly had kittens....NOW,.....if you go to the help section of this you WILL find an appeals link.....what i did was write to them and i explained that i did not know why this happened and that i was not aware of any rules that i had broke as i had read the guide lines too.
They were very good and they lifted the suspension of my G+ pages the next day.....BUT ......they still did not tell me what i had done to make this happen in the first place.......if i find out i will let you now :-))
GREAT POST......people new to GOOGLE+ really need to know this :-) xoxo to you and yours
Thank you for the info. I will take a look at that and hopefully get rid of that stupid pop up warning that still comes up every time I try to do something!
I had this problem several times before The penny dropped as to why Google didn't like it. It's a bit unfair and knocks your confidence a bit when you are starting out and trying to get your stuff out there but there are ways to get around it, especially if you use relevant photos and images within your posts. You can click on your pictures and see a pencil click on it to insert your URL update as always go to view your site and share your picture to Google with your social sharing buttons within your site. I still think it isn't fair. lol. Try and keep lighthearted, it will all work out o.k.
Thank you! Really appreciate that. I'm just putting it down to a bit more experience. At least other people are aware now as well.
None of the social media platforms look kindly on affiliate links. Some will strip out your affiliate info from the link and others warn you to stop. Shortening links or redirects from other pages can be problematic too. You can link to an article with affiliate links, but taking someone to an affiliate link directly or bouncing with a redirect generally gets you in trouble.
Unfortunately, Google has become too big for its boots!
Google+ has also stopped me from sharing "my own blog posts" for some unknown reason or another. I can share and +1 other peoples stuff but I've not been able to share a post for the last 10 weeks, without it being pulled down.
Google provides NO help and support options for contact whatsoever. I've tried getting answers in the G+ community forum on 2 occasions but nobody understands why either.
I've not been spamming multiple communities nor doing anything I shouldn't be.
I recommend that people be cautious when posting articles on G+ because they can/will penalize you for whatever pathetic reasons.
After wasting my time building up a following of 2,500+ people over the last few years, I'm now going to try for a new account.
Neil
This also happened to me... After some time its back to normal. Try to avoid posting articles after articles. Intercalate with images and text. This is working for me
No worries! Yep, this is really annoying! We give them content and they slap our faces... lol
Yeah, this is absolutely ridiculous. I'm having the same problem. I'm not suspended but I can't get rid of the warning message and there is no support at all to contact! Crazy.
This has been happening to me too. I tried leaving feedback and got nothing.
It also wouldn't let me share any links for whatever reason.
Eventually it started sharing my links again, but that message still comes up on Google+ not only when I log in but whenever I navigate between pages.
Really annoying so I'm hoping it will go away soon!
This is so crazy! I'm having exactly the same issue. Can't get rid of it and it pops up when doing anything! Google provide zero support too. I'm at a loss right now as to what to do?
Hello Andrew-74, I think when you take authorship of your Google Plus, that won't happen. Check these links below. Setting up Google Authorship on Your Website How to Set Up Google Authorship in Wordpress Setting Up Google Authorship on Wordpress Why Google Authorship is still important –Based on Research I think I conquered Google+ Authorship and Publisher
This is pretty common in most social media, even though some may allow it to be posted. Most affiliate programs prohibit the use of a direct link from the social media. All links should go directly to your website then allow your content to drive the user to the affiliate link.
It is much more work, however it is a safeguard.
Whether the social media allows it or not, it could be an issue with the affiliate program. It seems to be a best practice to not direct link from social media.
This is at least what I learned.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
I think this been the norm - way back when article marketing, the same rule applied. You could link to your site but not directly to an affiliate offer.
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Hey Andrew, I had the same thing happen to me.It was actually from a page that advertised wanting people to post on their page.When I read the full terms on the page that I posted they claimed it took them some time before they got around to accepting the post and it could send up a red flag which it did resulting in that particular warning.
Really? That's absolutely ridiculous! How long did it take you to get rid of the warning? Its taken me two months!
Heck I haven't gone back yet. I have a number of Google accounts. I'm learning a little but from each one of them!!