Has Amazon Really Done This?

Has Amazon Really Done This?

While I don't promote Amazon products much (mainly because of the trivial commissions) I like SiteStripe because it's really easy to use.

Find a product you want to promote, click on Text + Image and download the html that will render your product's image, description and current price, along with a link to it on Amazon with your affiliate details embedded.

Or, if you want a larger image, click on Image to get the html to display it and then click on Text to show the description under or beside it, with both containing your affiliate link.

Even that can be a bit challenging for beginners but once you master it, it's dead simple and really fast.

Hey, Let's Make It Complex

So I get an email from Amazon this Saturday morning telling me that from December 1, 2023, they will be discontinuing both the Image and Text + Image from the SiteStripe options.

And from that date, any usage of them in your website will STOP WORKING!

What will they offer instead?

This is copied direct from the email:

You can still include images with your links through our Product Advertising API (PA-API)*. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Create a PA-API API key in Associates Central

2. Make a single call to the GetItems operation

3. Render the returned image URL on your site

You can continue to use SiteStripe text link and Mobile GetLink to create affiliate links for your content. Stay tuned for exciting updates to make it even easier to create links with Amazon.

Say What?

This is so bizarre and unnecessary that I checked the date to make sure it wasn't an April Fool's joke. And I checked the links to satisfy myself it wasn't a scam of some type. But all the links connected to Amazon.

With a background in IT, I understand what these terms mean, but that doesn't mean I know how to actually do it.

But I'll research it and post instructions here in WA when I have a procedure to follow.

The Icing on the Cake

You are not allowed to use Amazon's Product Advertising API until your Amazon Associates account has achieved the three sales within the first 6 months qualifying criteria.

So if you're still within that initial phase, Amazon is about to kick 2 of your most powerful tools out from under you. You'll have to make do with text links only, as well as having to go back through your website and update all your Amazon affiliate links!

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

This is one of the basic tenets of IT software development and it appears that Amazon has ditched it.