The Amazon Associates Program is one of the great ways for content creators, publishers, and bloggers to monetize their traffic.
Amazon looks for associates who bring value to their customers. So, if you’re a reviewer, stylist, content creator, or passionate curator who wants to introduce your audience to Amazon products, you might be the right person.
You include your Amazon affiliate links (Special Links enable accurate tracking, reporting, and accrual of commission income) on your websites, blogs, and social media platforms. When someone clicks on those links and buys something from Amazon, you get a cut of the sale as a commission.
To bring value to their customers, Amazon has strict policies and terms for those participating in the affiliate marketing program.
You are spending a lot of time and money, working hard every hour to promote your website (business), traffic is increasing, commissions are also growing, and you are happy and excited about this job. One morning, you wake up and receive an email with the subject: “Your Amazon Associates Account has been closed -…” When you open it, you see the message:
Hello …, Effective today, Amazon is terminating your Associates account as well as the Operating Agreement that governs it (link below). Please note, if you had configured this store ID to earn globally, we have closed your store ID in all those countries as well. 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:…
You will be very disappointed when you continue reading:
What’s next? You must stop using all Amazon Program Content (for example: Images, trademarks and other information in connection with the Associates Program) 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 appealing. See Appeals help for more information, found here: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GACDBRFKVDTXSPTH. Amazon.com
You feel discouraged and want to quit and have many questions in your mind:
- Will my Amazon Associates account be closed?
- Can I appeal?
- Will I receive money?
- Can I sign up for another affiliate marketing program?
- I am in the process of selling my website. Will it be completed?
- What should I do next? Appeal? Create another account? Change domain name, etc.
Based on my experience with the AffiliateCMS.com community, you should take a deep breath and calm down. Based on my experience with the AffiliateCMS.com community, you should take a deep breath and calm down. Let’s see why the account is closed below and check your violation.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Common Reasons
Below are common reasons members of the AffiliateCMS.com community encounter for their accounts being closed. In some cases, there are Amazon Affiliate accounts with only one violation and cases with multiple violations. When you appeal in this case, the success rate is considered zero.
1. You have a previously closed Associates account
Your current Associates account is closed because an account belonging to you (or a person or entity connected or affiliated with you) has previously been closed for violations of the Operating Agreement or one of the other Amazon marketing programs. Please refer this link for more details https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/policies.
If you have this problem, it can happen in one of two cases:
Case 1: You (or a person or business associated or affiliated with you) have previously had an account closed for violating the Operating Agreement or one of the other Amazon marketing programs.
Amazon will not explain in detail the factors determining how accounts are related.
Here are the factors we can consider:
- Account information includes: Account name, address as well as tax information
- Payment recipient account information
- You use a domain name that was previously in violation
- Previously, to use the Onelink function, you had to create an Amazon Affiliate account in the UK and Canada. It’s possible that a US account is closed, but that’s still the case in other countries
- Other factors such as the same computer browser, same network IP address, etc
Case 2: There are not enough qualifying sales for 180 days (Account Dormancy)
Previously, you created an Amazon Associates Account, but in 180 days, that account did not create three sales. So, you create a new account and use the same information. From there, they determine whether the new and old accounts are related.
2. The sources of your traffic are unclear
The sources of your traffic are unclear in a way that we cannot reasonably determine the site(s) or application(s) from which a customer clicks through your special links to get to the Amazon Site.
Amazon determines that the traffic source to your website is unclear or that the traffic source is not interested in your content. You direct that traffic and hope they click to Amazon so you can make money from purchasing cookies.
I don’t recommend using some of the ways below to generate traffic for your website. It’s easy for Amazon to close your account:
- Pop-up ads from other website
- Spam on social media networks
- Place advertising banners on betting or porn websites
Another reason is that you use the rel noreferrer attribute in your link to Amazon. Another reason is that you use the rel noreferrer attribute in your link to Amazon. At that time, Amazon will not be able to check your traffic source, and if you use the OneLink function, Amazon UK will not be able to check, and your account may be closed.
3. Site/social media handle/mobile application that are currently not included in your Associates account
While reviewing your account we noticed traffic coming to Amazon from one or more site/social media handle/mobile application that are currently not included in your Associates account. Please ensure that the list of site/social media handle/mobile application associated with your account is complete, accurate, and up-to-date.
If you receive an email with the subject: “Your Associates account is at risk of closure”:
Hello …-20, Your Associates account is at risk of closure. 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.
- While reviewing your account we noticed traffic coming to Amazon from one or more site/social media handle/mobile application that are currently not included in your Associates account. Please ensure that the list of site/social media handle/mobile application associated with your account is complete, accurate, and up-to-date. Please do refer to the Operating Agreement for more details https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/policies. An example can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/…, https://twitter.com/…
Also please ensure that the list of site/social media handle/mobile application associated with your account is complete, accurate, and up-to-date. Please do refer to the Operating Agreement for more details https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/policies .
What Next? Within five business days please correct the violations and notify us when you are in compliance through our customer service contact page: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/home/contact. Please choose the subject ‘Warning/Information Request Response’ from the dropdown menu, and be sure to reference Issue Code 83441-US in the comments field. If you do not respond within five business days, we may close your Associates account and withhold commissions. More information. For more information about what we’re looking for in your response, see our Warning help content, found here: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GPPXH5WSX22AUNKR. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Amazon.com
On websites, social networks, or apps that contain your affiliate links to Amazon, make sure you update your Associates account.
Account Settings => Edit Your Website, Mobile App, And Alexa Skill List
Here are the Comments on the contact form:
Hello,
This email is a reply to Issue Code 83441-US.
Thank you in advance for sending me a warning email. After reading the warning, I take action to solve the issues and update the newest information for my account.
Issued: “While reviewing your account we noticed traffic coming to Amazon from one or more site/social media handle/mobile application that are currently not included in your Associates account. Please ensure that the list of site/social media handle/mobile application associated with your account is complete, accurate, and up-to-date.”
Below here is what I have done to resolve this issue:
1. I have already changed our contact information in our Amazon Associate Account.
2. I have edited my Website and Mobile App List: https://prnt.sc/…
I only use one website to earn money: https://www…..org (with my Tracking ID: …-20)
I also added my social media list below:
https://www…..org
https://www.facebook.com/…
https://twitter.com/…
https://news.google.com/publications/…
3. What are your websites or mobile apps about?: My website is a place for people to visit and access useful information contributing to the improvement of your home.
If you need further explanation, please let me know right away.
Thank you, and have a great day!
Best regards.
4. Your Site makes inaccurate, overbroad, deceptive, or otherwise misleading claims about products
Your Site makes inaccurate, overbroad, deceptive, or otherwise misleading claims about products, the Amazon Site, our policies, promotions, or prices. The content, links, shortened links, or Call to Action (CTA) or buy buttons on your Site do not provide accurate information. Please refer to the Operating Agreement for more details: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/policies/#:~:text=deceptive%20or%20otherwise-,misleading%20claims,-about%20any%20Product.
Your website contains false, exaggerated, deceptive, or otherwise misleading representations regarding products, the Amazon website, their policies, promotions, or prices. Your Site’s content, links, shortened links, Call to Action (CTA), or buy buttons do not provide correct information.
It could be because your content is old, product information prices have changed, and you haven’t updated it.
From September 2023 until now, many Associate accounts in the AffiliateCMS.com community have been closed for this reason.
5. You are storing or caching Amazon pricing content for more than the allowed 24 hours
You are storing or caching Amazon pricing content for more than the allowed 24 hours. You may store Amazon pricing content for caching purposes for up to 24 hours, but if you do so you must immediately thereafter refresh and re-display the content by making a call to PA API or retrieving a new Data Feed and refreshing the content on your application. See Sections (h) and (i) of the Associates Program IP License for more information: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/policies/#Associates%20Program%20IP%20License. We also found that your Site contains price tracking and/or price alerting functionality. Please remove immediately all price tracking and/or price alerting functionality content, since this is not allowed per the Participation Requirements.
6. Product Advertising API (PAAPI): Misuse this data or share your credentials
The Product Advertising API (PA API) provides programmatic access for users to search and get detailed product information. Users can get detailed information about products such as product title, description, image urls, prices, similar products, prime eligibility, offers and many other details that can be used to monetize their websites by giving recommendations and promoting the products.
You should not use PA-API data to drive traffic from third party sites such as Google Product Search or Bing Shopping.
7. Many people own an Amazon Affiliate Account
Each Amazon Associates Account has different policies and Commission Income Rates. There are accounts with high revenue and higher commission levels, so many want to add multiple websites to one account.
Bonus
Add other reasons you may have violated:
- Cloaking Links
- Including Your Special Links in your email, ebook
- Mentioning Prices (Or Availability)
- Using Amazon’s Star Ratings & Reviews
- Not Linking To Products
- Not Including An Affiliate Disclaimer
- Your Special Links are appearing as paid/sponsored links or advertisements on search engines platforms. These types of advertisements may be used to send users directly to your Site but cannot be used to send traffic to Amazon.
- Your Site is copying content from a website belonging to a third party
ACTION REQUIRED – Your Associates account is at risk of closure – …
Hello …-20, Your Associates account is at risk of closure. 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.
To complete our review, we need you to provide more information about how you’re referring customers to the Amazon Site. Within five business days please provide a detailed description of the methods you are using to refer traffic to the Amazon Site by providing: • A list of the Sites on which your Special Links or banner ads are posted, • advertising services you are using, • links to screenshots of your Site’s analytics tools that show your Site traffic and its sources, • the keywords you are using to drive referrals, • any plugins or browser add-ons you use, • live links to your Sites, • a sequence of links that allows us to duplicate the clicks the majority of your customers make to get to the Amazon Site via your Special Links, and • do refer Operating Agreement for more details
What Next? Within five business days please correct the violations and notify us when you are in compliance through our customer service contact page: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/home/contact. Please choose the subject ‘Warning/Information Request Response’ from the dropdown menu, and be sure to reference Issue Code 83441-US in the comments field. If you do not respond within five business days, we may close your Associates account and withhold commissions. More information. For more information about what we’re looking for in your response, see our Warning help content, found here: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GPPXH5WSX22AUNKR. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Amazon.com
Please note: To avoid disclosure of our project and keep project information confidential, if you receive an email like the above, please contact us via email [email protected]. We will support you for free!
Conclusion
When you join any affiliate marketing program, take the time to read their policies and terms of use. It saves you a lot of trouble and money and may even save you from having your account closed.
To avoid risks, you can exploit and profit from platforms such as ShareASale, Impact, CJ, Clickbank, Partnerize, and display advertising.
