Amazon Affiliate Rules – 18 Mistakes You Might Be Doing That Could Get You Banned

Amazon’s Affiliate program is a decent source of income for many bloggers and website owners. But do you know all Amazon affiliate rules mentioned in TOS?

The Amazon Associates Program is one of the most well-known affiliate programs. You can love it, or you can hate it, but the truth is, if you do it right, you can earn good commission by referring as an affiliate to Amazon.

Like every network or affiliate program, Amazon reserves the right to ban you anytime and usually without proper explanation. If you break any of Amazon’s long list of Terms of Service (ToS), all of the hard work you’ve put into your niche site could fly out the window.

I know that you hate reading Terms of Service. Who doesn’t? And even if you do take the time to read, you will not understand most parts. Terms of service are there to outline the rules, expectations, and boundaries. They help you know what is and isn’t okay between you and your service provider.

Amazon doesn’t make it easy for you to understand their rules. They are spread out over six different documents:

Together these documents are more than 25 pages long. Amazon can be pretty ruthless when it comes to banning affiliates for doing the wrong thing. Often, accounts are permanently suspended, taking with them the possibility of ever being able to make money on Amazon again.

 

Amazon Affiliate Rules

If you are an Amazon affiliate or planning to sign-up, read about these big mistakes that can get you banned from the program.

1. Auto-tag, iframe, automatic cookie install

Amazon by default stores cookie information for users who click on your links and end up on Amazon. If they click on the link and just browse on Amazon, cookie lasts 24h. If they add the product to cart cookie lasts 90 days.

Like many things in this world, affiliate business can also be manipulated. If Amazon thinks you are engaging in suspicious activities, you will not only be banned but possibly go to court.

To make sure you don’t trigger any false flags, avoid using iFrame’s on your site altogether, as that’s how shady sellers use this trick. Here is an example from eBay affiliate program about a person who made $28 Million with his system and ended in court.

 

Amazon associates guide

 

2. Using your affiliate link for your own purchases

Amazon, as probably all affiliate programs, doesn’t allow buying for yourself through your own affiliate link to get a commission.

Rule #29 of the Participation Requirements states: “You will not purchase any Product(s) through Special Links for use by you or for resale or commercial use of any kind.” But it shouldn’t be a big problem if you accidentally do it a couple of times.

 

3. Use Amazon affiliate links in email

Amazon explicitly forbids any use of affiliate links in “offline promotion or in any other offline manner.” This includes e-mails too.

Some may say that emails are not used offline. You need an Internet connection. While that may be true, most email platforms also allow users to access their emails offline once they have been read on a mobile device or downloaded to a desktop email client.

That means that using Amazon Affiliate links in email can quickly land you in hot water. Instead of sending traffic to Amazon in emails, link to a page on your site that includes your affiliate links.

 

4. Including links in eBooks or PDF documents

Just like email, ebooks and PDF documents are easy to access offline. This means they are a big no-no for placement of Amazon affiliate links.

While some users point that Amazon bans emailing links but never mentions eBooks, Amazon account agreement states otherwise: “In any printed material, mailing, SMS, MMS, email or attachment to an email, or another document, or any oral solicitation.”

 

5. Using link shortening or link cloaking

Amazon is very concerned with affiliates misdirecting audience. Amazon wants users to know where they are being directed to as the reputation of the Amazon depends on how affiliates are referring the site to visitors.

For this reason, Amazon bans link shortening that doesn’t make it obvious that you are sending users to Amazon.

Amazon explicitly states that under their 30th Participation Requirement.

You will not cloak, hide, spoof, or otherwise obscure the URL of your site containing Special Links (including by use of a redirecting page) such that we cannot reasonably determine the site from which a customer clicks through such Special Link to the Amazon Site

 

It is recommended to use Amazon’s default link shortener service, Amzn.to. You can also use any shortener plugin to make links look shorter. But you have to mention product name or Amazon, so the person knows where he will be redirected.

 

using Amazon shortening service
6. Have more than one account

To limit spam and make sure that their bans carry weight, Amazon only allows one account per individual. Some business owners may qualify for an exception depending on the nature and scale of their business. Feel free to contact Amazon and ask for some leniency.

 

7. Promote Amazon with copied content

Amazon wants to be sure that Affiliates are sharing links on high-quality sites only. That means that if your site has only content copies from Amazon, is all advertising copy, or doesn’t have any meaningful content, Amazon won’t look at you favorably.

When you first join as an Amazon Affiliate, you will need to meet quality guidelines on your site. As long as you maintain that level of quality, and make sure that your site contains genuine content and not entirely copy content, you should be okay.

You can, of course, use critical pieces of information and put them in comparison tables, or use them in your text and reviews. But you shouldn’t copy and paste large chunks of product description and put it unchanged on your niche website.

 

8. Use Amazon user reviews as your own

You can base potential endorsement of a product based on how well that product is reviewed. In fact, relying on the user-generated reviews on Amazon to determine the quality of products is a good idea overall.

But don’t copy product reviews directly. You could rewrite them or write your own using opinions stated in reviews on Amazon. Don’t ever copy and paste those user reviews to your own site, or pass them off as your own.

 

how to properly use Amazon reviews on niche site

 

You can find this rule in participation requirement #28: “You will not display or otherwise use any of our customer reviews or star ratings, in part or in whole…”

But, there is a loophole in this rule. If you continue reading this rule, it says on your site unless you have obtained a link to that customer review or star rating through the Product Advertising API and you comply with the requirements set forth in the License Agreement.”

This means you can use Amazon reviews and ratings on your site but only if that info is pulled from Amazon API, which can be done using one of many WordPress and WooCommerce plugins for Amazon affiliates which support that feature (if you use WordPress).

 

9. Offering incentive

Providing incentive is one of the tricky ways marketers use to increase sales. While this works for digital product marketplaces, there is no place for it in Amazon affiliate program.

You will not offer any person or entity any consideration or incentive (including any money, rebate, discount, points, donation to charity or other organization, or other benefit)

 

10. Linking from sexually explicit or violent sites

Under item 2 of the operating agreement, Amazon explicitly forbids using affiliate links on sites that contain certain materials.

If you are not sure if your site could be considered as prohibited from Amazon point of view, check in with Amazon before posting your links.

I got to say I never liked this rule. What if someone wants to get you banned? He takes you affiliate link or affiliate id and puts it on site with material which is forbidden by Amazon affiliate policy.

This is why you need to enter in Amazon associates settings every website where you intend to promote Amazon products.

 

11. Paid search to Amazon

Amazon defines paid search placements as follows in their Associates Operating Agreement: “Prohibited Paid Search Placement means an advertisement that you purchased through bidding on keywords, search terms, or other identifiers.”

While paid placement can do a lot to increase your affiliate commission, it can also lead directly to an affiliate ban. By paid search placements I mean it is forbidden to create Google or Bing ads and put your Amazon affiliate URL.

Instead, put a link to your website on which you have Amazon affiliate links. But you can’t buy search placement for branded terms.

PPC > Amazon Referral Links  – NO

PPC > Review Site > Amazon Referral Links – YES

 

12. No sales in 180 days

Once you sign up for Amazon Affiliate program, you need to sell at least 1 product within 180 days, or you will no longer be an Amazon affiliate. However, you can re-apply to become Amazon affiliate anytime later only under this circumstances.

If there has not been a referred sale through your Associates links within 180 days of sign-up, the application and your Associates Central access will be withdrawn.

 

13. Violate Amazon’s trademark policy

No matter how big your Affiliate site is, Amazon can shut down things quickly if they believe you are in violation of their trademark rights. Amazon owns a ton of trademarks, not all of which have anything to do with the phrase “Amazon.”

Proprietary products like Kindle are trademarked too, and you can quickly violate these trademarks by including trademark information in your site’s domain name.

However, you can use a trademarked name in your post permalink. Example:

bestkindlereviews.com – NO

mysiteexample.com/best-kindle-reviews – YES

 

14. Social media promotion without knowing rules

While Amazon generally does not allow you to share affiliate links on sites you do not own, social network sites are an exception. However, there are a few important rules that govern sharing links on social media.

In general, avoid sharing links on a sexually explicit or violent social media pages or using Amazon trademark info in your page titles. For example, creating a Facebook page named Amazon Deals and posting affiliate links of product with discount.

To make sure that you are sharing acceptable links on your social media, be sure to click the “share” buttons from the Amazon Affiliates Stripe when you are logged into your affiliate account.

 

how to share Amazon affiliate links on social media

 

15. Mentioning price in content

You may think the discussing price in content will not be an issue, but doing so is not good practice in Amazon affiliate program.

Amazon changes the prices of items regularly. Putting price information in your content means that your site will look obsolete when changes occur.

Here is what it says about price display in Amazon Operating Agreement:

If you choose to display prices for any Product on your site in any “comparison” format (including through the use of any price-comparison tool or engine) together with prices for the same or similar products offered through any web site or other means other than the Amazon Site, you must display both the lowest “new” price and, if we provide it to you, the lowest “used” price at which the Product is available on the Amazon Site. You may not otherwise include price information on your site.

 

The true is you can mention the price in your content but you must put the disclaimer under the price mentioning when was price last updated.

You can do that automatically using Content Egg (see Content Egg review), EasyAzon plugin or WordPress theme for Amazon affiliates or using non WordPress solution like Fresh Store Builder (check Fresh Store Builder review).

Those products will automatically update price from Amazon using product advertising API. Be noted that if you get RequestThrottled error, you have most likely hit you API usage limit.

When you write an article “best products under $100,” all products prices must be under $100 at all times. These post types are very risky. Don’t use texts such as “check Best price on Amazon,” “check the cheapest price on Amazon” etc. If your prices aren’t the cheapest or best, you get a ban.

 

16. Lack of Privacy Policy on site

Amazon requires that you have a privacy policy on your website. Privacy policy don’t have to be long and complicated. You just need to mention few answers to questions:

  • Who is collecting this information? (you + what other third-party partners)
  • What kind of information are you collecting on them and how? (e.g. credit card numbers, email addresses, names, mailing addresses, IP addresses, demographic data)
  • When do you share it?
  • Where do you use this information?
  • How do you protect sensitive identifiable information? (especially credit card numbers!)
  • How can I find out what you know about me?
  • Why do you collect it?

 

17. Not having disclaimer that you are Amazon affiliate

Amazon requires you to identify yourself as an affiliate. But they help you out by giving you the exact text they want you to use on your website:

[Insert your name] is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

The most logical place to include this information is your TOS and privacy policy page.

But that isn’t the only place you should be identifying links as affiliate links. You need to put disclosure on every post or page where you have affiliate links. Most people put it in sidebar or in footer.

 

18. Using proper BUY buttons

You can’t use any Amazon buy button except the ones provided specifically for Amazon Associates. You can’t use button images find on various places like Google, nor you can’t create your own.

The only Amazon buy buttons you can use are the ones provided by Amazon to participants of Amazon Associates Program.

 

using proper Amazon affiliate buy buttons

Yes, I know. They are probably ugliest buttons you have seen lately. I guess you could also use buttons on your website that are not graphics/images. Something like only button with text.

 

Amazon Affiliate Rules Final Words

Hope above mentioned Amazon affiliate rules will help you stay on right side with Amazon.

For more information about all of these common pitfalls, and all of the other things that Amazon wants you to know about being an affiliate, make sure to check out the full Amazon Affiliate’s agreement.

Sometimes it is best to contact Amazon if you are not sure about some parts of your website. Don’t risk your status as an Amazon affiliate. For more info regarding Amazon affiliate program, you can check my Amazon affiliate guide.

If you want to share your Amazon experience or highlight anything I missed from the Amazon Associates Agreement that you consider very important, feel free to mention it in the comments below.


DISCLOSURE: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, I might get a small commission, without any extra cost to you. Read more about it here.

243 thoughts on “Amazon Affiliate Rules – 18 Mistakes You Might Be Doing That Could Get You Banned”

  1. I want to create a affiliate web site like owntheyard.com!
    I think there are 600 articles and 300 of them have affiliate links.
    If i create a web site, when should i add affiliate links?
    I know adding affiliate links to all my posts are harmfull for Google Seo.

    For example i have 300 topics and I want to add links to 150 of them.
    When should i add links after a few months later? or Should i add links before publish?
    Whats is the right way to start Amazon Affiliate in a blog?

    I mean, for example i published 100 arcticles and after a few months later i get trafic, then should i add links?

    Thanks

    Thanks

  2. In amazon Affiliate, can we use products videos? in our top 5 products reviews video that will upload on youtube.

  3. Hi, thanks for posting this valuable content. recently my website should have banned from amazon affiliate . so can i added those baan website to added a new account ? is it legal or could not be possible.

  4. With offering incentives, while you can’t offer any sort of financial incentives, can you offer something like a free eBook about the product you’re promoting?

  5. Hi, Can we use facebook page as a landing page for Amazon affiliate ? Can we share product links directly to our facebook page or groups?? there is a option on amazon site strip on upper right for sharing the links on facebook and twitter. is this the only way to share amazon links to facebook ??

  6. What exactly does this mean?:
    Your website/app/social media account includes an unapproved use of Amazon trademarked words, images, or reviews (which may include variations or misspellings). We do not allow the unapproved use of URLs, trademarks, logos, amazon web views etc. that include words that are trademarked by Amazon and this is a violation of our Trademark Guidelines

  7. Hello Kasa – Thank you for your informative article and for answering folks’s questions.

    I’m looking to create a social shopping app where users can shop together for Amazon items.

    Do you know if this violates Amazon’s affiliate terms? In other words, does the affiliate program allow you to create a new, unique shopping app or does it only allow you to include links to Amazon items next to your own original content?

  8. I have a Question!
    I don’t know how to write articles for Amazon Affiliate. That’s why I copy paste articles from other websites that have best description or recommendation for Amazon product and then replace my Amazon Affiliate Links.
    Is Amazon suspend or accept my account after qualified sales generated.

  9. I have a gaming channel where I don’t review products or anything.. Can I leave a link to peripherals I use? Would that be aloud, or?

  10. Hello,
    I have a youtube channel(15kish subs) and my content is snippets from a TV documentary. I get many copyright claims in my channel but youtube says its okay to run the content and they will be playing ads with it (even if i didnt monetize it), and the ad revenues goes to the rightful copyright owners. Now, say for example , the documentary features about “Bamboo”… the uses of bamboo… products made from bamboo, like bamboo Lunch boxes, which is mentioned in the documentary…. Could i promote any bamboo lunch boxes in amazon different from the documentary? Will i be banned in amazon for posting affiliate links which is not my original content (but youtube allowed it.. with ad revenue from rightful owners ofc..)…?

  11. Am I allowed to post item links in Facebook groups? for ex… when someone asks for a recommendation on a comforter. I search on amazon and find one I like. This may or may not be inMy actual store. Then I post the link in the group.

    1. Hi Sarah,

      If you will do that, you will need to add FB groups, in which you intent to post, in your Amazon Associates account.

  12. Hello kasa,
    I rewrote the product reviews I got from Amazon and put them in my website. I did plagiarism on them before posting. Will I be banned. Secondly I used pictures from sites that approved I can do so. Will Amazon get be banned. These are my two questions

  13. Hey, i have a question !
    After getting 3 sales , do you know how much time they take to review the account and do we get any notification for the review and approval ?

    1. Amazon will send you an email after you have done 3 sales successfully and if your account is not approved then you can reapply. I don’t know how long it takes them as there is no specified timeframe.

  14. Domingo Hernández

    Hi Kasa,

    Thanks a lot for your very complete post, it has very helpful content.

    I still have some questions I would like to share…
    I am currently working on the launch of an Amazon price tracker…

    But I have just been rejected from the Affiliate Program:

    “Your website / application / social media account includes the unauthorized use of words, images or reviews (which may include variations or misspellings) that are trademarks of Amazon. We do not allow unauthorized use of Amazon URLs, trademarks, logos, web views, etc. that include words that are trademarks of Amazon as this violates our trademark guidelines.”

    After reading your post, I think I might have some problems regarding the following points:

    13. Violate Amazon’s trademark policy

    15. Mentioning price in content

    18. Using proper BUY buttons

    Let me explain myself.
    Could you please also answer the questions below?

    1) Can I have in my logo or title of a page of mine something like “Best Amazon Deals”? (this also applies to URL like /us/best-amazon-deals)
    2) I understand I cannot have a “Buy button” redirecting to Amazon’s product with an Amazon logo on it. So the following button example [https://ibb.co/rFdYHhx](https://ibb.co/rFdYHhx) does not comply. Does it comply?
    3) Does it change something to change the text, from “Buy in Amazon” to “View in Amazon”? Example: [https://ibb.co/hBTC4q3](https://ibb.co/hBTC4q3)

    4) If I simply remove the logo from the “Buy in Amazon” and “View in Amazon” buttons, will I comply then?
    5) I have prices on two different pages. The landing/deals page, where I only show the price (using Keepa API since I don’t have yet access to the Amazon API), and the product detail page, where in addition to a graph with the price history I show the price with date.
    Example of deal’s page: [https://ibb.co/D8z3mNs](https://ibb.co/D8z3mNs)
    Example of the product page: [https://ibb.co/ZHdptBc](https://ibb.co/ZHdptBc)
    Does it comply?

    6) Would it comply if I just add the date on the deal’s page?

    Thank you very much for your help!

    1. Hi Domingo,

      No, you can’t use “Amazon” keyword in title, logo or URL.

      I would personally avoid using Amazon name as text or logo in buy buttons. I really don’t know what is the proper usage as Amazon doesn’t have clearly mentioned policy regarding this, but it is best to avoid it.

      Showing price with the date is fine. But never use “Best Price” anywhere.

  15. Hi,
    I created an amazon affiliate account and made $294 with bounties only but today I received this message from Amazon:

    “Hello khuzaima114-20, Effective today, Amazon is terminating your Associates account as well as the Operating Agreement that governs it (link below). Why? We reviewed your account as part of our ongoing monitoring of the Amazon Associates Program. During our review, we determined that you are not in compliance with the Operating Agreement, found here: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/agreement. The violations include the following:
    We have found violations in the manner in which you are referring Bounties from your site to drive potential customers to complete a Bounty generating activity.
    What’s next? You must stop using the Content and Amazon Marks and promptly remove all links to the Amazon site. Because you are not in compliance with the Operating Agreement, Amazon will not pay you any outstanding commission income. Please be aware that any other related accounts may be closed without payment of any commissions. Amazon reserves all other rights and claims. In limited cases this closure may be appealable. See Appeals help for more information, found here: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GACDBRFKVDTXSPTH. Amazon.com”

    Can you please tell me where I am wrong? I think I used images provided by amazon for bounties (but not banners) to redirect my customers to my link. Is this where I am wrong? Please tell me

    1. Hi Khuzaima,

      I can’t know what you did wrong as I don’t have access to your site nor I ever promoted bounties so don’t know the rules for it.

  16. Hi, great information. But I have some doubt in my mind that Is it safe to share Amazon affiliate links in Telegram channels? I got few subscribers on Telegram but was curious to know about this. If I do this, Will Amazon ban my account or not?

  17. I wanted to have a loyalty program that offered rewards for being in the club. It would have nothing to do with buying or clicking Amazon affiliated links. Is that against the reward rule?

  18. My Amazon Account got terminated….. its shows me this dialogue box – “Purchases resulting from Special Links on your Site have been for personal use or have been made by your friends, relatives, employees, contractors or business relations”

    What’s the issue with this ? how to can I avoid this mistake in future ?

    1. Hi Sam,

      It seems you or your relatives or close associates used your own affiliate links to purchase. Nobody knows how Amazon tracks that and how they know. It is also question how accurate that tracking even is. But I doubt there is much you can do now.

  19. Hey,

    I was thinking to start an affiliate marketing and amazon is one of the best choices, but as I used to with Google Adsense so this post on Amazon Affiliate Rules helps me reduce the chances of mistakes.

    Again, thanks, and good luck with more exciting posts.

  20. Can I use the https://www.wzone-plugin.com/ plugin without my Amazon PA API. Will my Amazon Associates account get banned. What are your views about this plugin and Kingdom theme in Oct 2021.

    Also what is the best Amazon plugin to import product details, images, reviews, ratings, prices etc.

    1. Hi Palla,

      Yes, you can use WZone if you don’t have API. Your account will not be banned because of that.

      I think WZone and Kingdom theme are good combination for creating Amazon affiliate sites. You can use WZone to import what you need. I personally use Content Egg.

  21. Hi Kasa,

    Thank you for your informative post. You helped me save tons of time. I wonder if I only made 2 sales within 180 days. Is my Amazon Associate account approved?

    Many thanks

  22. Hi!
    1. Can you be an amazon affiliate and an amazon seller?

    2. If you can be both, can you post links to your own products?

    1. Hi Tony,

      Yes, you can be Amazon affiliate and Amazon seller. Yes, you can post links to your own products. You only can’t buy using your own affiliate link.

      1. I am just getting started posting youtube videos. I am including Amazon affiliate links in the YouTube description. A client asked for a link to a specific product I had mentioned but have not made a video about so I texted her an affiliate link. Was this a violation?

        Thanks
        Laura

  23. Thank you for the article. Can you clarify if you can post prices of Amazon items on social media if you use a disclaimer such as “item price as of 9/13/21; may change at any time.”

    The posting would not be in a comparison format but something like this: “Wooden toy $2.99.”

    For social media, I’m specifically interested at Facebook.

    Thanks!

  24. Will amazon banned my affiliate account if my competitor is clicking more than 1000 thousand times every day? My clicks were 200 before my competitor was clicking but now it is coming more than 1000 clicks every day but sales are coming to the same percent.

  25. Madhurima Ghosh

    When I shared my affiliate ac in my fb page they banned my ac but why I didn’t understand please help

  26. Hi Kasa,
    Someone may have already asked this question, but I was wondering about this;
    I have a product and game review website, where I use a star rank system, similar to amazon’s own system, but of my personal review of products (my own opinion, my own review nothing is borrowed or copied), I have heard that doing this can get you banned? But as you stated up top, it only seems to be an issue if the review is copied from their site? Hopefully you can shed some light on this for me.
    Thanks!

  27. Hi, I am going to sign up for Amazon affiliate, This article really helping me, well executed, worth reading, keep sharing with us, keep doing this quality work.

  28. informative article because i just started affiliate now on my new blog for the first time but yet not applied for amazon affiliate programmer.

    1. Your safest bet would be to take your own pictures of product. But if you don’t have access to products, you can use product images from Amazon (this is somewhat grey area).

    1. You can’t use any Amazon buy button except the ones provided specifically for Amazon Associates and I still stand by that. Anything other is risk.

  29. Hai,

    Thanks for sharing the valuable content,

    I have some doubts regrading Amazon associates

    If I only promote Amazon Bounty program without any sell
    Amazon will approve my account or not ?
    I hope you will reply 😊

    1. Hi Rishi,

      By promotiong Amazon Bounty program you are still referring sales. So if you refer at least 3 sales you should be approved.

  30. Good morning and thank you for the insightful article.

    I have 2 quick questions:
    1. If i say the price in a youtube video i made but don’t include the number in the description, is that okay? (i see people mentioning price in basically every youtube product video)
    2. I am very new to making content online, and to affiliate marketing – but have already made several sales on amazon through my youtube channel – i’ve made over 3 “qualifying” sales but still haven’t got any official word if i’ve been accepted into the program or not. Do you guys potentially offer a review service to make sure i am currently following all of amazon guidelines?

    1. Hi Tymek,

      To answer your questions:
      1. Yes, it is okay.
      2. I don’t offer service where I check site if it is compliant with Amazon affiliate rules.

  31. Hi, great information. But I have some doubt in my mind that Is it safe to share Amazon affiliate links in Telegram channels? I got few subscribers on Telegram but was curious to know about this. If I do this, Will Amazon ban my account or not?

  32. Hey,

    This is a really helpful article. Thank you. Just one question. You wrote: “6. Have more than one account”. But what should i do, if i want to scale my amazon affiliate business over more than one country? In this case it’s necessary to get one account (using with different email addresses for login) for each country in my eyes, isn’t it? What do you think?

    Thank you for your feedback in advance.

    Greetings, Chris

    1. Hi Cris,

      I don’t mention that you register more than one account. I wrote that Amazon allows to have single account. I don’t recommend creating multiple Amazon accounts.

  33. I have an affiliate website and i also have facebook page and a instagram page with the same name can i sell my own products on my social media pages with the same domain name as those pages are linked with my website?

      1. Hi,

        I think i am having a similar question.

        I have my own dropshipping website. I would like to give a space for amazon affiliate products too. Will that work as per amazon rules?

        Any advise how to promote amazon affiliate products in our website?

        Regards
        Bravo

        1. Hi Basha,

          So you have dropshipping business but on the same site you would like to promote Amazon products as an affiliate? From business standpoint, you would be making competition to products you are selling.

          Will that work per Amazon rules? I don’t see reason why it would be against rules.

  34. Hi your article is on fire… Thanks a lot for wonder info.
    My queries are given below,

    1. Can we use subdomain for Amazon associate & how to monetize it? (Because its content is not 100% unique, So what steps I have to take)

    2. Should we download posters & banners or images from Amazon site & upload on our website, So is it good for SEO & Amazon Associates?

    3. Rejected account can automatically approve after fulfill their conditions? or we have to re-apply it?

    Thank you.

    1. Hi,

      To answer your questions:

      1) You can use subdomain and you monetize it like any other website. But if content is not unique I don’t see how you intend to drive traffic. Also, you risk getting banned from program. Amazon doesn’t like thin content.
      2) It is good for SEO but not all merchants allow that their product images are downloaded and used on another site. Though, most will not have problem with that if those are generic product images.
      3) You will need to re-apply.

  35. Hi. Thanks for this.
    I’m just curious though, is it safe to place a product image, as well as a description and shortened amazon affiliate links together in an image for sharing on social media like Instagram?

    For instance, I want to share about an Aerogarden unit, then I create a blank image using any photo editor, I download the product image I want to share from amazon, copy the shortened amazon link, product name, very little description and then paste them all on the blank image.
    Then I go ahead and share this image on social media so that anyone who sees the image online can type in the link and go to the page.

    I do see people do this and wondering if it’s safe as I want to try it too?

    1. Hi,

      You can do that. I think it is safe to do. The only issue could be product image as they could be copyright protected.

      Also, I have never seen someone putting link in image and expecting other people to enter link manually. I doubt that converts well.

  36. Very good article, Its really helpful post, Thanks for sharing with us. I want to ask one thing that can we just share affiliate links through Facebook and Instagram?

    1. Yes, you can share on social sites. Be sure to use Amazon affiliate link for sharing on social sites. Also, you need to mention that link is affilieate either with hashtag like #ad or writing that it is aff link.

      1. Do you have to inform Amazon of your social media site that you will be using the affiliate links, if you originally signed up stating your website/blog? Will you be required to continue making sales on your website (for example, you no longer want to right blogs and want to concentrate of your FB group instead)?

  37. Really valuable content. Thank you so much.
    I have a doubt.
    Can i use amazon product images to my gadget review site?
    Can i use product videos to youtube channel?
    Pls give answer

  38. After reading your in-depth article about the Amazon Affiliate Rules, I came to the opinion everyone should read this article to master amazon affiliate marketing. It’s a full value-pack article for beginner and intermediate blogger.

    Thank you for writing in-depth amazon affiliate rules! I will follow your affiliate rules in my upcoming blogs.

    Thanks Again!!!

  39. Can I use Amazon name in my blog post of facebook page ,because I am facebook page for Amazon affiliate marketing.
    For example : Best Amazon product on my post, #Amazon_Home etc can I use in my post?

  40. I was adding facebook link as affiliate link to become affiliate, but it showing “Website name contains word(s) which are not allowed” error. I don’t have any page what to add? please help me

      1. Hi Kasa
        I am going to wright review/article of products on my website.
        so do I need a privacy policy and terms conditions?
        or I just only need a affiliate dicclourse?

  41. Lol! They sounds like Google!!! Dictators!!!
    I dont have much idea about amazon affiliate, am just started a month before. This article is really usefull, I used to mention price in my contnet, But i removed the price after reading this.
    Thanks for the tips brother.

      1. Hi Kasa,
        Its Rajarajan again, I found this website while looking for content idea.
        https://bestopedia.org/helmets-for-scooty/
        He placed price in all products review, Can you see it once and say is this ok with amazon affiliate.
        I used this same framework in my new affiliate site.
        Mentioning price will help user. So, I used the following disclaimer with my price
        “Price : ₹ 409 (Updated as of Sep 2020, Check the Latest Price Above)”
        Can i do like this, Am so confused with this price part.
        Kindly help me.

        1. Hi,

          If stating price from Amazon then you need to write on which date was that price. Using “Price : ₹ 409 (Updated as of Sep 2020, Check the Latest Price Above)” is the right way to do it.

          Mentioned website does not follow Amazon rules regarding price nor does it have Amazon affiliate disclosure clearly shown (it is best to put it in sidebar or footer). Link to disclosure page is not sufficient.

      2. your article helped saved my time I have a fb page with good number of followers i have applied for Amazon influencer program and it’s approved I didn’t made any sale yet my question is if someone from other country buys from my Amazon link will I get my fees or its only available for country to country

        1. Hi Aman,

          You get commission only if the user purchases on the Amazon store locale to which you redirected him. If you want to earn on all Amazon country stores, you should use Geniuslink or OneLink.

  42. Shashank Chaudhary

    Hii. I am a affiliate programer. And I use only fb to share my products links just like that you given in pictures. Is it true

  43. Hi it is very useful content, I am in amazon affiliate programme my account has been banned

    1) I had used chat bot in my web page can I use it ?

    2) I had added multiple products to my web-site, so can I affiliate multiple products at one website ?

    3) I am using wzone plugin to import products to my website is it ok to use?

    1. Hi,

      To answer your questions

      1) Using chat bot is not against Amazon affiliate program rules.
      2) Could you elaborate what you mean by adding multiple products? It is perfectly fine to add more than one product.
      3) WooZone plugin is fine to use.

      I have checked your site and it seems you import products from Amazon with their images and description taken from Amazon. This is a big NO. You have to at least use your own description and add value. Your site is considered thin content site and you will also never rank in search engine results like that.

  44. Hi,
    I have a website based on educational products like teaching and learning aids. I am interested to do amazon affiliation on my site & I have some doubts, can you pls help me?

    1. In my web site, I have a product, contact, about us, pages, and one blog page. My blog page in the Malayalam language, will I get amazon affiliation for the Malayalam content page?

    2. Is that compulsory to add product review? If yes where should I put this, I am planning to use Enhanced Links as a sidebar.

    3. Are there any cancellation charges?

  45. Hi there,

    I’m creating an online course on Teachable and am wondering if I’m allowed to include Amazon affiliate links on Teachable? I can’t seem to find this info anywhere.

  46. Rehan Shaikh

    Hi Kasa,
    Thanks for sharing this and it’s really helpful.
    I also started an affiliate program and I have some queries related to that so I hope my questions will be answered soon.
    1. I’m going to show only those products which are best in rating and at low cost and I don’t want to add any content in it so it’s like an online store only product and price will be shown on the product page. so can I do that?
    2. Can I make an advertisement post or promote products that contain a Product image, price, and website link and share it through WhatsApp (as other E-commerce companies do via Email) and it will take them to my website where they can see or search for that specific product and purchase?
    3. Is it compulsory to add a privacy policy and disclaimer on the website?
    Kindly help me with the answers.
    Thanks,
    Rehan Shaikh

    1. Hi,

      To answer your questions:
      1) You can. But a I am aware Amazon wants you to add content and provide value to visitors. Just putting product and price is considered thin content and doesn’t represent value. I have seen many get banned from Amazon program because of that.
      2) Don’t know how Amazon looks on promotion via WhatsApp.
      3) Yes, it is strongly recommended.

  47. Great article, I just wanted to ask I am not a medical professional so can I start amazon affiliate for medical equipments? Like sthethoscopes, glucometers?

  48. Hi,
    Very informative content, Nicely done.
    Q: As an amazon seller and affiliate, is it ok to promote and review my products on my brand website without issues ?

    Thanks.

  49. hi
    Very alarming article for existing associates. We have one query
    we have a youtube channel. It has amazon product videos like 10 best gaming mouse etc. All videos are made by copying amazon content and image to power point then converted to video. In the description it has amaoz product link above which it is clearly mentioned that following are amazon affiliate links.
    Is it against policy of amazon affiliate.
    Is affiliate account under risk or is it safe?

      1. so if we rewrite this content in our own style and use amazon product image then is it accetable ?
        We will also give product buying link in the youtube description box.

  50. I have a movie YouTube channel but it does not contains original content.

    I want to promote Amazon bounty products on my YouTube channel.

    Will I get approval if I applied for Amazon affiliate program??

    1. I don’t know the process or requirements regarding the YouTube channel. But I doubt they will know that it is not original content unless it is very clear.

  51. Thank for Content very useful

    Can i use a text link “Buy on Amazon” Instead of buy button is prohibited on The topic 18.?

  52. Hello My One Question?
    I can Use Amazon Affiliate Product Photos On Woocommerce Products listing.
    I mean Affiliate products image Download My PC Then upload Woocommerce products and External link add affiliate. It’s Legal. Please Reply as soon as possible.

    1. You mean you want to use images on Amazon for particular product and use on your site? This depends. Best practice is to use your own images if possible, but if you can’t, in most cases you will not have problems in using images found on Amazon product listing.

  53. Hi,
    Great run down on rules and regulations. I previously had started a Affiliate account (10 days running) and have made some really great progress. Sadly I was denied because my social media platform did not measure up to standards. I will be reapplying, and listing my new platform that is specifically based on “Amazon deals”. Now my question is: what happens to all my past “clicks, orders, and revenue made”? Unforntunaly I did not list my banking since I was new to the whole program, I was a little thrown off that they denied me so out of no where I guess you could say. Is there a way of getting that all back?

  54. Sir,
    i am facing issue like “! Website name contains word(s) which are not allowed”
    when i put my Facebook link in “Enter your website”

    please help to resolve it.

    1. Its becoz as this post says that u can’t send traffic to amazon from social media websites and you are doing same that’s why amazon sends you that message you can’t use words as u mentioned…

      Hope you understand

      1. Al Jovayer Khandakar

        To make more clear. I can use my websites’ post links on the social media but can’t use affiliate referee links on the social media that I don’t own. Is it okay?

  55. Hi, thank you for the great information! Do we need to make the affiliate links “no-follow” when we add them to our blog posts?

    1. Yes, it is recommended that you set affiliate links as no-follow or sponsored. You can use a plugin such as WP External Links for that purpose.

  56. Thanks for the info i needed and I want to ask one thing that can we just share affiliate links through whats-app?

      1. Can you make it more clear about it? To keep our audience more engaged the SEOs suggest to use image on the sites. I am working with some products that I don’t find in some licence free sites link pexel or unsplash. Even I don’t find them in google ” use with some modification” filter mode. So, to give clear pictures of the products, there has no alternatives to using amazon product’s pictures.

        1. Mandar Sonavane

          You can use the image link you get from Amazon Site stripe in the top left corner. All you have to do is copy the code and place it in your website at the location where you want the photo to appear. If it is a wordpress site, choose the custom HTML block and not the paragraph block and paste the code there. Amazon will provide you with images in 3 sizes through the links, small medium and large. I would recommend the large, however you can see which suits you. One thing to remember, as you are concerned for SEO, is that you cannot add any alt text to the image as you get it in the form of an HTML link. I would suggest try using the “labelled for reuse” feature in Google if you can’t get any images on pixabay, unsplash, free images, etc. Just go to Google images on your computer. Click on tools, usage rights and labelled for reuse. You can also check the labelled for reuse with modification images. If nothing works and this is an one-off case, try clicking your own pictures. Hope this helps!

  57. I just wanted to clarify. I was thinking about running a google ad to my website’s product reviews page and after reading this it seems I CAN do that is this correct? It is to a page on my website that has affiliate links. Thanks! You have a lot of good information here!

  58. Hi There.

    Thank you for summarizing all the rules for us. Really appreciated.
    I am about to launch my Amazon affiliate blog. One question about this item:

    >>17. Not having disclaimer that you are Amazon affiliate

    >>But that isn’t the only place you should be identifying links as affiliate links. You need to put >>disclosure on every post or page where you have affiliate links. Most people put it in sidebar or in >>footer.

    I have put the affiliate message (provided by Amazon) in my TOS page.
    Do you have any samples of sites that also put this information on every post (sidebar or footer)?

    Didn’t see that one coming 🙁

    1. Most website owners put a notice before or after post content. It can be done manually just by adding some text in your post content or using plugin which can automatically do that for you.

  59. Thanks a lot for all the useful info! Much work to be done.
    I’m not sure what “qualifying sales” means. In the Global Earnings Summary, I see that I made my first 5 Euros of 4 shipped items in my Germany locale (no product was ordered through product links).
    But I can’t see anywhere that I completed “3 qualifying sales in 180 days” in my amazon affiliates account. Am I overlooking something? Thank you

  60. Hello thank you for your efforts

    i want to ask>>> can i promote for my links in facebook ads (direct link ) with out make users visits my site then go to amazon? (without landing page))?

    1. No, direct linking is not allowed no matter if you use FB ads, Google Ads or some other type of advertising. You need to send users first to your landing page.

        1. And more important can I post Amazon associate/affiliate links on Pinterest pin, linking to my own amazon products?

        1. I can’t find now THE exact link regarding more info about it, but I have seen people getting banned because of direct linking. It was some time ago, but I doubt Amazon changed their policy regarding that.

  61. I enjoyed this article – thank you 🙂 Two things:

    1) According to the updated terms, the new disclaimer/disclosure is much shorter. “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases” as opposed to the old, “[Insert your name] is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com”. Thoughts?

    2) Is there a way to have a photo link to promote a specific page? I’d love to highlight a “brand” page, however, I have only seen it done with a link, not a photo. I’d like to have a photo that I can use as a featured image, etc., however, I read that screenshots, etc. of product is not allowed and can lead to being banned. Any ideas?

    Thanks 🙂

    1. Hi Kim,

      1) I still prefer to use longer version of Amazon affiliate disclosure.

      2) I dont think having photo with link would be an issue.

  62. This is very helpful! Thank you! I am having trouble figuring out which plugins to use to start an Affiliate STORE, since Amazon has so many rules. What plugin will allow me to use the image code that Amazon provides but allow me to set up the look I want? I know there are some once you get approval for the API, but you have to sell 3 products to do that. But I can’t sell three products until I set up a site. Thoughts>

  63. I have a channel that is generating sales for Amazon and thus I’m getting commissions but only for the window of time before they deny my application for not having enough subscribers (about 300 currently). I have reapplied several times and always receive payments for the referrals during the application period. My question is what stops me from continuously reapplying to limit lost revenue until I reach 500 subscribers?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Ryan,

      So you are saying that if you apply YouTube channel in Amazon associates program you need to have 500 subscribers? I am not aware of this so I am asking.

  64. If I get rejected from Amazon affiliate and I want to reapply. I have a few questions:
    1) Do I have to create a different website (with a different domain name)?
    2) I’ve read some people say, there is no opportunity for reapplying (they will reject you again, if they know that you have been rejected before), while others say, reapplying is not a problem.
    3) Do you think thisiswhyiambroke.com is completely compliant with Amazon’s policy? Its prices does not have an “as of…” date and time indicated. And its descriptions, though unique, are pretty short.

    Thank you

    1. As far as I know, once banned from the Amazon affiliate program you can’t use it anymore no matter if you have a new account or domain.

      But if you get rejected when applying, you can reapply again for sure.

      Site thisiswhyiambroke.com is not completely compliant with Amazon policies. They state price, but they don’t state date. And the price is in most cases wrongly stated compared to one on Amazon for that particular product. This is a big no.

      As thisiswhyiambroke.com is a huge authority site, I don’t know if Amazon ignores this on purpose based on the revenue they bring or really isn’t aware of this.

    2. Yulius. Tbh, I was there before. When I am just a total beginner. I applied for Amazon Affiliate, start promoting here and there. To make it short, my account has been withdrawn. I even have an Amazon Affiliate Website. But it doesn’t convert any sales.
      Now, I can say, I am a lot wiser now.

  65. This is a really great post. I am trying to prepare for the Amazon website review portion for approval of my Amazon Associates Account.

    I can see by your article that I need to correct many things!

    If I am promoting a Football Jersey from a specific seller from Amazon, can I use the picture of that Amazon seller’s Football Jersey on my website? I need an image of the product I am promoting.

    I would of course link to the specific seller.

    Is that ok with Amazon?

    Thank you!

    Alisha

  66. Thank you. very good summary of the rules.
    If I may add a question:
    can one download the photos of the product description to create a video/ slideshow for youtube without violating the rules?

    Thanks

    1. As far as I know, this is allowed. Of course, sometimes images may be copyright protected but if it is general product images it shouldnt be a problem.

  67. Yash Gaikwad

    Can I create a website or Instagram account specially dedicated to best deals on amazon with following all those rules above.

  68. Yash Gaikwad

    Is it necessary to sell on amazon in 180 days or they will take down your affiliate account. Is it something everyone in this program do. Is it that of a big deal. Because I don’t think i can sell anything that is new headache for me.

  69. Hi
    Thanks to you for sharing helpful information. one thing is that i want to know can i share the Amazon link (which i create using my amazon associate account) from my Pinterest account.

    Thanks

      1. Hello,

        She would like to use the amazon aff link in Pinterest, for example, using a post, for me, I think it is okay the only thingand it’s clear is that is forbidden to use the link on ADS.

        Best Regards,
        Youssef HAMANE

  70. This article gave me lots of information about amazon affiliate program which is going to be very helpful for me. Thanks for this excellent article.

  71. Hi, I’m running a coupons/deals site specifically for Amazon deals. I update it every day to make sure all deals and coupons are up to date. Might this site be considered as copied content, since I only post deals and coupons on it, and I don’t provide much information about any specific product, other then an occasional new release comparison table? Also the name of the site is amzncoupons.com, do you think that might be a violation of the Amazon trademark? I want to do things right.

  72. Will using a button that says “View it Here” or “Check it Out” instead of a buy button be violating Amazon’s terms? I want a generic call to action since I will have links to products on other sites as well as Amazon.

  73. If I am running a ‘deal group’ on Facebook and post links to amazon on there…is there a way I am allowed to post the price of items? Like if I put a disclosure on every post or something similar?

  74. am preparing to set up blog, etc with Amazon Affiliate. What if I don’t get it all together and then not have a sale in the 180 days? It might take me longer to get going.
    Will Ii get kicked off Amazon

  75. Hi Kasa,
    Nice artical.
    I am creating price comparison website for India so, can I show my own website advertisement as a price compare website on YouTube ads, Holdings, TV Advertisement?
    Please guide me

    Thanks.

  76. Hi Kasa,
    Thanks for the article!
    I am planning to start an English learning course based on books on Amazon. I will buy books for myself NOT using my affiliate links. Extracts from books will be used as material for a class. And students will be advised to buy whole books on Amazon for in-depth reading and self-study. Is there any kind of violation? Thanks!

  77. I have an affiliate account of amazon, I have around 75 blog posts with good rich unique content. In every page I have posted 4-5 amazon links. I usually see everyday 60-100 clicks on my links in amazon affiliate dashboard. You wont believe I have not made any sales so far. Can you please guess what may be the reason??? Note: I have started putting these affiliate links only a month back…. please reply!

        1. I am not sure what exactly do you mean but you can always click on your affiliate link and see if your tag will be included.

  78. Harish Kumar

    Hi, I am going to sign up for Amazon affiliate, This article really helping me, well executed, worth reading, keep sharing with us, keep doing this quality work.

  79. Hi there Kasa and thankyou for a great article. I have used the word amazon in my article title regarding some products, do you think I would get banned for this?

    For example, “Best kitchen essentials on amazon”.

    I have noticed that a few established competitors have used similar keywords involving the word “amazon” and it seems fine for them

    Would love to hear your input, thanks..

      1. This is what I’m wondering about too.

        I saw a comment in affiliate marketing help forum at amazon, with someone claiming they were rejected by amazon because one of their posts had the word “amazon” in it. I don’t get it. iS it a problem or not, and if so, why?

  80. Dumb question. When you insert an Amazon text+image link it comes as an iframe. I’m assuming this is OK right???

  81. Thanks so much for this. All rules I knew apart from the having to use those specific buy from Amazon buttons provided by them.
    It’s like Amazon aren’t fussed about clicks and sales with the harsh degreee of a lot of their TOS.

    Also I want to add I’ve seen a big YouTuber and social media marketer influencer include Amazon affiliate links in a free PDF guide. How can he get away with it I am left wondering??

  82. This is a really helpful article! Thank you for deciphering some of the critical terms of these agreements. Do you have any recommendations on where traffic to your site should be before you apply for the program?

    1. I think you should at least have some organic traffic but I think that doesn’t matter much if you have a site with unique and quality content.

  83. What about text linking to products on Amazon? Do you need the user to know that it is an amazon link?

  84. Very useful Information.Thank God I was following their rules.

    I have Disclaimer on my website, still no Privacy Policy.

    Thanks for the information.

      1. Mustaque Khan

        Hello kasa.. Huge fan from india..

        I have 1 major doubt, will you please clear it?

        Doubt : If I join affialiate program from amazon. in (India ), and then generate 3 sales in india. And then get one link and attach with AAWP plugin to link amazon affilate with other multiple countries. And as in future I want to target amazon USA after getting one link globalization feature. Then if I add in future for every upcoming posts amazon .com (usa ) products links, will it affect anything, as my base account was amazon. in (india )??

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