10 ways to prevent your Amazon Associates account gets banned

When you join the Associates Program you accept a number of terms and conditions that are outlined in our Operating Agreement and we know that it can be very hard to reach the end.

With that in mind, we have summarized the main cases for an account closure and the tips to prevent this from happening. Check it out:

Make it clear that your links will be redirected to Amazon website

Have you ever been through this situation where you click a link to a particular page and end up on a totally different website?

This is not a nice experience for consumers and makes your content not trustworthy. Amazon is a customer-focused company and seeks to deliver the best purchase experience for customers.

To do so it is critical to be honest. So when you post your Associates Customer link on your website/blog/social media make sure to clarify that your audience will be directed to Amazon website. Also, be careful when you use link shortening websites that make it difficult to understand the link.

To avoid this, you can use purchase buttons or phrases such as: “Buy from Amazon” and “You can find this product on Amazon website” next to your link, so you create a good purchase experience and still maintain a trustful relationship with your audience.

Do not purchase Amazon trademark keywords

Using tools to improve your website positioning in search engines, such as Google, can be great to improve your results, but you need to take some precautions beforehand.

Purchasing words that are registered by Amazon, such as Kindle and Alexa or their variables, is strictly forbidden and may lead to your account closure in our program.

Search for other ways to use these tools, for example, using general words including, but not limited to, home use items, black Friday.

Do not purchase media space on third party websites

Using images to engage consumers can be a great idea to enhance your conversions. However, purchasing media from third party websites redirecting to Amazon.com is not allowed in our Operating Agreement.

Try to create your website banners with links from your blog or social network instead and then create content on your website redirecting to Amazon.

You can also drive your social media posts with your Associates Customer link, but make sure to update your website list on our portal so we can have a perspective regarding where Amazon website traffic came from.

In addition, you can also use our banners on your website to direct your audience to a particular page such as Amazon Prime or some specific category. 

Ask your friends or family to buy using your Associates Customer link

Sending your link to friends and family so they can buy products available on Amazon.com.br seems to be a great way to reach the first three deals in the Associates Program. However, these deals are not allowed in our Operating Agreement as they do not add value for the customer.

Use cookies in the Associates Customer links

Deploying and recognizing cookies on your website visitor links is not allowing in the Operating Agreement. Learn more about your audience purchase behavior through our Reports or creating different Tracking IDs to explore each channel profile. You can adjust your audience thus to more engaging content.

Keep the list of your websites updated in our Program

When you register for our program we ask for a list of websites/blogs where our links will be published. This list is key for us to be able to validate your deals and your account within our program.

So make sure to always keep it updated and register your websites with the full URL, not just links such as www.facebook.com.br, www.instagram.com.br. You can do so by going to our portal.

Do not take up price in marketing

As stated before, Amazon is a customer-focused company and always seeks to deliver a quality and reliable purchase experience. That is why posting fixed price when you promote products is not allowed in our Operating Agreement, unless you are a PA API user.

As the values available on your website will not be automatically updated with the prices available on our website, you could provide outdated information and this would frustrate your audience.

Some promotions can last for one day only or sometimes we have events with higher discounts and fixed term such as Black Friday and if your information is not automatically updated, you can create a poor purchase experience for your audience.

Do not ask your audience to bookmark your Associates Customer link

It would be great that your audience had your link to Amazon website saved in their browser and used it whenever they buy on the website, right?

However, encouraging this type of behavior and asking your audience to buy products through your link in exchange for some benefit is not accepted in our Program and may cause your account closure.

Your audience could have an emotional appeal to help your channel and you should not take advantage of it

Do not use Associates Customer links in marketing e-mails

Several blogs and websites rely on weekly promotions and news e-mails to boost their product sales. However, using Associates Customer links in these e-mails is not allowed in the Associates Program Operating Agreement as it is from an off-line source.

One tip to prevent your account closure for this reason is to create marketing e-mails that redirect to your website and then create content that redirects to Amazon website. This way you avoid your account closure and still generate traffic to your website/blog.

Do not create links to service pages

We know that educating your audience about Amazon before recommending products could be a great idea to generate deals, however, do not use our help and shipping pages with the Associates Customer link. We expect you to add value for the customer and this can only be done through product recommendations.