Are You Violating Amazon Associate Program Rules?

Amazon strictly enforces the terms of their operating agreement for the associates program. It is important to understand the rules and comply in order to protect your account from unnecessary closure.

Last Updated: 3/26/2017

There is no need to feel intimidated. Amazon wants you to succeed and they want to help.

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Here are some Do's and Don'ts for your website:

Do call Amazon Associates Customer Service. They are extremely helpful and knowledgeable and they want to help you succeed. I have spoken with them many times and have always been glad I called them.

Do ask Amazon to review your website with you while you are on the telephone together. They will look at your content, answer your questions, and help you resolve any issues.

US and Canada
1-800-372-8066
Sunday - Saturday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time

International
1-206-266-2992 (Please ask to be transferred to the Amazon.com Associates Program; long distance charges will apply)
Sunday - Saturday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time

Do read the operating agreement.

Do include the following in your privacy policy or affiliate disclosure and in the footer of your website ( the footer is an easy way so it can be found for every page and post where products are displayed on your website).

From Section 5 of the Trademark Guidelines:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Do use Amazon's banners instead of directly putting their logo's on your website. That way there is no question they are from Amazon.

Do reapply if your account is closed, make corrections and update the links on your website.

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Don't promote Amazon products offline (off of your website). Do not distribute links via email, RSS, third-party sites, paid advertisement, text or print. For more, see section 6 of the participation requirements.

Don't copy and paste Amazon logo's onto graphics.

Don't shorten or cloak Amazon links using Pretty Links or other services. Use the Amazon Associates button bar for shorter links.

Don't have more than one associates account. You can add websites to your single account. (If you need more than one account, get their approval.)

Don't copy and paste product reviews onto your website.

Don't have friends and family make Amazon purchases from your website. Amazon understands that occasionally purchases will be made by you or relations via your affiliate links. They are not going to automatically close your account, but you may not be compensated. If it is done repeatedly, then they will close it. Customer service says "It is an advertising program, not a discount program."

Don't plagiarize content from other websites. They check for plagiarism.

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Once you apply to the Amazon Associate's program, you have 180 days to make a sale, you will receive a reminder email after 90 days. If your account is closed, simply reapply. You can reapply an unlimited number of times.

After your first sale, Amazon will review the sale and your website for approval. Their customer service reps are research experts. They check to see if a sale was made by friends or family and look at your content for use of logo's, plagiarism, and appropriate content.

At this time, Maine is the only state where residents are excluded from participating in the program. However, this is expected to be resolved soon and Maine residents may be included as soon as April 2017.

Read and participate in Amazon Associates Discussion Boards. Customer service representatives participate in the discussions. It is an excellent resource.

REFERENCES

Operating Agreement (for US residents):

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates...

Discussion Boards:

https://engagedforums.com/discussions/Amazoncom_As...=

If you find anything that needs be corrected in this post, please let me know.

Thank you for reading!

~Gina