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Affiliate Disclosures, FTC Guidelines, What to Write, and Where to Put It
Today we’re going to talk about Affiliate Disclosures and FTC Guidelines.
If you want to get paid by the companies that you’re associated with as an affiliate then you’ll want to be in compliance with the FTC guidelines.
Ignorance is no excuse.
If you’re an associate of Amazon, then make sure you watch this video all the way through as Amazon has their own set of rules which we’ll talk about near the end.
Earlier this month I received some emails from companies that I’m an affiliate for regarding compliance with the FTC guidelines. The crux was that if their affiliates don’t comply, then they won’t pay them any affiliate commissions.
Heck, yeah! We want to get paid!
So let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of what is required by the FTC. It’s a long article so we’ll cut to the chase. The bit you’re interested in is "WHAT ABOUT AFFILIATE OR NETWORK MARKETING?”
FTCs Endorsement Guides - What People are Asking
Don’t take my interpretation of the guidelines as definitive, read it for yourself. I am not a lawyer.
But, in short, if you’re recommending a product or service for which you may receive compensation (affiliate commission) then your audience should be aware of this relationship so they can determine how much weight to give to your recommendation.
What to Write
It doesn’t have to have negative connotations. Make your readers want to click the links on your site.
This is one of the disclosures I use on my site:
The link at the end of the paragraph is to my affiliate disclosure page.
Here's another simple disclosure using a Paragraph block with a coloured background:
Feel free to change the words to suit your own style and circumstances.
Where to Put Your Affiliate Disclosure
So where do you put this disclosure? In a separate page on your site? No. In the footer? No. In the sidebar? No.
The guiding principle is that it has to be clear and conspicuous. The closer it is to your recommendation, the better.
So my suggestion is to put your disclosure just above, next to, or just below your first affiliate link.
But do it! Do it on every page that has affiliate links.
If you don’t then you may not get paid.
Amazon Affiliates
If you’re an affiliate for Amazon then use the exact words that they require in their Associates Program Operating Agreement. “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Or any statement previously allowed under their operating agreement.
Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement
Do not omit, change, or embellish Amazon’s exact wording (“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”) or you won’t get paid.
And getting paid is what we’re here for.
The Amazon associates requirements are in addition to the more generic disclosure you’ll use on your Affiliate Disclosure page.
Please note that Amazon requires a clear disclosure to be "near any associate link or product review". So please do what they require for every single link.
I received this email a few days ago:
More info about Amazon rules by DianeScorpio
More of my Videos and Tutorials
As always I'm here to help you,
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Diane suggested this training to me after I asked a question about the topic what I appreciated a lot as it answered a lot of my questions.
I try to get a good grip on the ins and outs of how to go with affiliate disclosures. I added a disclosure in an article I wrote and the merchant where I joined the affiliate program with, suggested to get the disclosure out of my article. Do you think in that case I can as soon as she suggested that herself or would you keep it in regardless? ( This is a merchant through share a sale)
I also have 1 article with 2 Amazon links in it and after your training, I changed the disclosure in the article to the exact wording in between the 2 links.
Do I understand it correctly that I don't have to put a link to the general disclosure in my article for Amazon? And is the general affiliate disclosure provided by WA sufficient to use for Amazon?
Does Amazon let you know when they have an issue with something on your site or they just not pay you?
Thanks a lot for your help, I appreciate it a lot.
Jude
ReplyAs regards Amazon, please read their Operating Agreement which I've linked to in the text below the video. You must use the exact wording that they say in their Operating Agreement, nothing more, nothing less. They probably won't tell you if you've done anything wrong, they'll just deny payment. That's the way they operate.
I am the representative here for ShareASale.com and Awin.com.
Jude, in answer to your question, you can put the disclosure before the article rather than in the article. That makes it easier on your reader, but still compliant.
Question:
1. I see the "Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement" starts out with "Welcome to Amazon's website...." this is confusing for me to put on my website as a page word for word because of the beginning introduction statement. Technically, if I copy and paste this onto my page, the "Welcome to Amazon's website....:" doesn't make sense to me for wording being on my website.
So based on your recommendation on how to follow Amazon's and FTC rules, I am going to copy and paste the agreement onto a page starting from here:
" Associates Program Operating Agreement
Updated: September 17, 2021. (Current Associates, see what’s changed.)
Welcome to Amazon’s website for associates (the “Associates Site”), where you can manage your affiliate marketing relationship with the relevant Amazon entities as set forth in Schedule 1 (“Amazon” or “us” or similar terms).
Any person or entity that participates or attempts to participate in our associate marketing program (the “Associates Program” and such person or entity, “you”, or an “Associate”) must accept this......."
Please read the Amazon's Associates Program Operating Agreement, understand it, and follow it through, exactly as they require.
You do need a separate page for your full disclosure. Use the template in Site Content and adapt it to your own style and circumstances.
My website has 7 articles, and I am still learning how to organize them. For now, they are on one page, right under each other, meaning if you stroll down you read the first article, then followed by the second, and the next, and so on.
Do I need to paste the disclosure text in every article or just on top of my website page? This way it will be always visible for visitors reading any article. Or do I need to paste it above every first link in every single article I write?
My theme doesn't allow to add a text/widget on top of the website I think.
How to add the text box in my site?
Can you advice please?
Thanks for your help in advance.
Remember that your menu, footer, and sidebar are not visible on the same screen as your affiliate link when your reader is using a mobile device. If you are not sure of the FTC guidelines then please read this https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking#affiliateornetwork
TIA
Also I don't know how to add a photo in the header/top of
my website, just like the examples of the themes have.
https://livetesol.com/
I watched your video about the affiliate disclosure form. I attached the form to my website but I am trying to do the little disclosure paragraph like you did with the link to my affiliate disclosure page. How did you add that to all your pages with link?