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.
Recent Comments
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Hi Phil,
Thanks for the update, I have not been using text and image myself.
I have only been using the text link, so I can hide the fact that it is a product from AMAZON.
You mentioned what are they replacing this with?
I received an email from Amazon associates that said you can now create an image for your product and then share the image which contains your affiliate link within the image, the affiliate link is hidden and disguised as a picture.
Maybe you already know this or dont. Its a way of getting sales without the customer realising that they are clicking on an affiliate link. Its called a shoppable image.
This is what I am doing now:
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-gb/library/guides/shoppable-images-on-stores
Regards
Brian
Thanks for this. I thought shoppable images were for your own branded store on Amazon, not for affiliate links, but I'll explore further.
This may or may not be helpful to some of you who have already investigated into this.
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GTPNVFFUV2GQ8AZV
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/assoc_credentials/home
for this last site you click on tools pull down menu then click on product advertising api Under the “manage your credentials category” you can view your existing access keys or “Add Credentials” , and then download your keys using the “Download Credentials” option.
Thanks, Jeremy. I've covered all this in the video training I've prepared but the problem is even after getting all the credentials, waiting the 72 hours for them to become effective, a call to the PA-API returns an error message. Everything has been done correctly according to the documentation but it's not working.
Well sounds like you've definitely done your due diligence Phil! Hopefully will have a fix for this soon for everyone.
You might like to check out my latest post at Amazon Affiliate Update Training . It explains why I'm doing 2 videos on this and includes the link to the first one.
Amazon has done similar games before. They just decided to stop something, and it didn't work anymore. All the previously used links/codes just go kaput.
It's different by country, though. So are the conditions about who gets access to what features. In the UK, you can only become an Amazon Affiliate if you have a certain number of proven followers on YouTube, Instagram, etc.
I use SiteStripe all the time. I never used the Image and Text+Image, so my numerous content with the affiliate links is safe until Amazon comes up with some other Kaput system.
Thanks for that information, Andy. So you don't show an image of the product you're affiliate linking to? Or do you get round that somehow?
I write the review and use one or two pics from the product posted on Amazon. Maybe I edit them a bit if I must, but mostly I don't.
Showing the images in any way other than by the code Amazon supplies is a contravention of their tos.
Not if you use the URL on your website or post. Like this: 
You can use that code anywhere, within the post, as a widget, etc. You can change the parameters, of course.
Interesting. Thanks, I'll experiment with that and compare it with the code supplied by Amazon.
Yes, I've done it for one of the products I promote and it returns a nice big image.
But, while it's more sophisticated than a product image screen shot, it's still just displaying a jpeg image from Amazon's media file.
It remains my belief that contravenes their tos.
You are not hosting the image. They're.
It won't serve as a clickable image to your affiliate link but you can put that text link from stripe anywhere in your blog separately.
I will look into the relevant section of the TOS though.
so, what about if you right-click, save-as the affiliate links' image, upload said image to website media file an manually add the link to the image?
Amazon's tos say you can only display the image using their code. So uploading the image itself and displaying it contravenes that.
You aren't allowed to copy images from Amazon.
The code I showed doesn't move or copy the images. They remain on the Amazon servers intact. The data is merely "streamed" temporarily to your page every time the page is loaded, every time someone looks at your page, but they never being copied, uploaded or otherwise altered.
I got geniuslink to work, so i'm busy changing links and removing images. luckily, it's not that many
It looks interesting, though I'm not sure that it overcomes this issue. Still, they have a free trial, so I'll probably give it a go. Thanks.
Remove Amazon images from your posts and just have the link.
Clicking on the link opens a plain page showing an image of the item. I set it to open into a new window and no-follow.
See my page https://survivalpreppersupply.com/10-ways-to-use-drones-for-survival-security-monitoring-part-2/
Teri
amalinks ($11/mo - 1 site) just works w Amazon. Lasso does any affiliate, although twice as much/mo at $24/mo.
You might like to check out my latest post at Amazon Affiliate Update Training . It explains why I'm doing 2 videos on this and includes the link to the first one.
I appreciate you taking the time to keep us up to date.
They are making it more and more difficult to promote their products. It used to be an easy place to start and get the hang of affiliate marketing, now it is getting more complex each time they make a change.
I was already struggling to find product images - this makes it almost impossible.
The only solution for me is going to be to find an alternative to Amazon.
Any suggestions?
There are many vendor affiliates. Try searching [niche] affiliates.
I'm currently preparing video training on the new Amazon methodology for obtaining images and other information but have run into a problem and am waiting on a support ticket with Amazon.
i agree...i think that they are shooting themselves in the foot...but I'm not Jeff Bezos...for me the text and image was attractive...i'm turning to the products offered at SFI but too early in the game to determine if this platform is going to be successful...they have been around for awhile but I'm starting to realize that simple longevity doesn't amount to much...
I was with SFI many, many years ago but don't remember much about them. I agree text+image was useful as it took seconds to implement an image based link to the product you were promoting.
that's what I liked about it...for the small commissions paid to affiliates it was probably worthwhile for Amazon to pay it...maybe they're gettin' too big for their britches eh?
You might like to check out my latest post at Amazon Affiliate Update Training . It explains why I'm doing 2 videos on this and includes the link to the first one.
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I have many sites using sitestripe - I've already got so many links broken due to the last update and being unable to change all those original links.
Maybe it's time I stop using Amazon.
I have had the same problem with google over the years changing things as well as other sites.
When a company changes things to the point that the affiliate has to go back and rearrange everything time after time; it's time to say farewell.
I'm still trying to fix the previous sites and social media from all the broken links from this and other companies that have closed down. Frustrating.
Thank you for the information.
RitaAnn~
Just checked this morning. All the Image and Text+Image links on mt demo site are broken. Amazon has carried out its threat/promise, just a couple of days later than they said.
Well Poo.
Big sigh...
I guess it's time to remove those links then.
Either remove them or fix them...
I was hoping for a more colorful and lucrative adventure. LOL
At times it seems I'm fixing links.
Thank you,
RitaAnn~