Shut down by Amazon and the FTC

Hi everyone,
I have really missed my friends here at WA!
I have been very, very busy and very discouraged. Luckily, I am too busy with life to dwell on the negative developments in my websites.
First Bing stopped ranking my posts about coronavirus. This was quite a blow because my traffic was growing through February and by March 12th I have over 800 users per day to my nutritient site. It was amazing. After Bing penalized me it all crashed.
Then a few weeks ago Amazon informed me that they shut down my affiliate account. That means they are also not going to pay me over $600 that I earned. It was almost time to get paid (there is a 60 day delay) for the huge sales I made in March. They claim I violated the agreement by writing about coronavirus. Of course when I signed up there was no coronavirus and so there was nothing in the agreement about it. The ban from Amazon affects not just my nutrient site but also my pet site as well. I cannot make sales from any of my sites now with Amazon. I can change all the links but it gets better.
Just last week I find out I am being ordered by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to take down my posts regarding coronavirus as well. They also threatened my other unrelated posts.
So now I can't even find new affiliates since I had to take down the posts all together. They claim it is unlawful to suggest or imply there is any treatment for coronavirus.
This is why I am so upset. I am not some snake oil salesman. I never claimed I had a cure. I specifically said there was no cure and no one knew what would work yet since it was a new disease and there had not been testing. I shared supplements, vitamins and minerals that have been shown in studies to work against other coronaviruses like SARS. I spent many hours putting together citations and links to full articles (not just summaries) so anyone could read the studies for themselves. They did not have to take my word for anything. The research was there for the world to see. I also said I was not a doctor. I was sharing academic research. These are peer reviewed studies published in well regarded scientific and medical journals! This is not some voodoo magic of questionable origin.
Apparently in the United States is it unlawful to publish links to scientific studies and links to read more about or purchase a vitamin or mineral supplement if you so choose.
This is very upsetting because I worked very hard to share only information which was verifiable and had research to back it up. Still, I never said anything would cure anything. These supplements can weaken or kill SARS, Strep, Staph, Swine Flu, Avian Flu and more. They have been clinically shown to work. That is a fact.
I said that in my response to the FTC. I said I have complied and taken down all posts related to coronavirus however the fact that these supplements work against OTHER strains of coronavirus is a fact whether they censor it or not.
They have the nerve to cite my own text from my posts in their warning letter. They cited my own words where I said there was no cure. So clearly I was not saying there was!
I am surprisingly calm considering this is crushing years of work.
I have been very busy since my husband ended up in the hospital with a series of health problems including Type 1 diabetes and double kidney infections that required a tube to be put in his back to drain the surrounding infected area.
Needless to say my websites had to take a back seat as I had to continue my regular job as well as managing the 9 rental units and taking care of him.
I am THRILLED to say he is getting better and almost back to full speed. It was an awful few months however. I had to take him to the emergency room three times in a month for three different things.
We just got two vacancies filled though we had two more water leaks to deal with in the old building during his time as well.
So, that is what I have been up to. Oh and our higher ups decided to get new carpet at the office though we are absolutely broke (the State of Alaska) so we have to move everything out of our offices including hundreds of files by Tuesday. While just getting back to the slightest bit of health, my husband came in on Memorial Day to help my move files.
I miss all of you and hope you are doing great!
I don't want to give up though I don't know how to fight the United States federal government. The FTC cites the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) in their threats as well.
Robert was right. He warned us months ago not to write about any supplements for coronavirus and not to recommend anything for any condition. I thought I was so small that they might not notice me. I was wrong.
I can't imagine giving up WA even though my sites are a shambles now. I am pretty burned out since I am afraid they could come after me for my other posts even if they are not related to coronavirus. I could still change all my links on my pet site of course but that will take a long time.
I hope to work more on my WA promotion site eventually. I am glad we have WA and an affiliate program we can count on.
Please let me know how you are doing!
Jessica
Hope Aaron is feeling much better. You take care of your own self. Don't let this horrible action on the part of FTC and Amazon bring you down. I find it hard to believe that Amazon is not going to pay you what you have earned. Oh, it makes me so angry I'd like to hit someone...but couldn't hit them hard enough to do sufficient damage.
Sending you every positive thought in the book.
I was also sorry to read about your husband's health. I do hope he will soon be fully recovered.
I know it's easy for me to say, but try to focus on doing all you can to stay strong. This time will pass and just think about the story you will be able to write in future, about how you overcame this unpleasant and unfortunate event!!
You can do it, Jessica :)
With kind thoughts and sending wishes for bright times ahead.
Valerie
Totally shocked at reading this.
Yet another reason to avoid Amazon after they stabbed their affiliates in the back in April.
As for the FTC, it amazes me that they can do this when all of your blog posts are in the public domain and the can see evidence that you didn't flout any rules.
That is bureaucracy at it's worst. Don't check anything, just send out cut and pastes from official documents and tick it off as job done.
Please remember though, this is not game over. As hard as it is to come to terms with at the moment, it seems it's time for a change of direction. Rinse and repeat everything you've learned and achieved at the results will start to come in again.
Warmest wishes coming your way for renewed success.
Cheers
Rich :-)
I used to have great and easy access to my Amazon Affiliate account, moved a lot of products from them to my sites but now... my logins are met by 'the email address that you used does not have an account connected to it' or something to that effect.
Never changed anything. Did not get any notification that I lost my account.
The best to you Jessica.
You will figure it out!
Joe
I hope this is good news for you - Commission Factory, based in Australia, now has 550 programs listed within the Affiliate Programs tab here on WA. Hopefully you can find some alternatives to Amazon so you can then monetize your remaining content. Once again the evil monster named Amazon hurts another blogger. Seriously, pivot away from them. They could care less about you. Obviously!