The Amazon Associates Program is one of the most popular affiliate programs (Amazon Affiliate) to monetize your blog. If you are a new blogger who has just started, it is very natural that you would be making mistakes. Why so? It’s because you need to follow so many rules and regulations. If you will be making these sets of mistakes, you will not be able to earn much as others would be making. Moreover, it will also get you banned.
So, go through some of the rules and the mistakes that can get your Amazon associates account banned.
1. Auto-tag, iframe, automatic cookie install
Do you know that 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 browse on Amazon, the cookie will last for about 24 hours. If they add the product to cart cookie lasts 90 days. Unlike other things, 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. So, if you don’t want to get banned, try to avoid using iFrame’s on your site altogether.
2. Using your affiliate link for your own purchases
Unlike other programs, Amazon also doesn’t allow buying for yourself through your own affiliate link to get a commission. So, you can’t buy any product through special links for your personal use or resale or commercial use of any kind.
3. Use Amazon affiliate links in the email
Amazon forbids any use of affiliate in the ”offline promotion or any other offline manner”. This includes e-mails too. Now some will argue that emails are not used offline. You would need an active Internet connection. While that may be true, most email platforms also allow users to access their emails once they have been read on a mobile device or downloaded to a desktop email client. This 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. Have more than one account
Amazon only allows one account per individual. This is done to limit spam and make sure that their bans carry weight. 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.
So, these were some of the mistakes which can ban your Amazon Affiliate Program.
