Post about email from Amazon UK. program. not the Amazon.com one

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   2uesdayposted 14 years ago

   To clarify...
   I have a Amazon UK affiliate programme which I will use for my blog.
   For use on here I have the Amazon.com (U.S.A.) linked to my HubPages.
   I have recieved an email from th Amazon U.K. account team which will not effect the HubPages accounts but thought it best to make others who use different sites aware of this.
   To be honest I cannot fully understand what it means. I am going to need to read it several times to figure out what it does mean.
   I am sharing it here in case it affects anyone here and they do n't get to read the email as they need to act on it by February.
   
   
   Dear Associate,
   We're writing to let you know about some changes to the Amazon.co.uk Associates Programme.
   
   After careful review of our Associates programme, we have made the decision that as of February 1, 2010, we will no longer pay referral fees to Associates who send users to amazon.co.uk, /astore.amazon.co.uk or .javari.co.uk through keyword bidding or other paid search on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, or any other search engine, or their extended search networks. In connection with this change, as of February 1, 2010, we will no longer provide Associates who engage in such paid search activities with access to our Product Advertising API or datafeeds. If you are currently enrolled in the Associates Programme as a Paid Search Placement Associate and wish to continue to participate in the Programme after February 1, 2010, you must choose a new category that most accurately describes the method you will use to send users to the Amazon.co.uk or Javari.co.uk site. Of course, just choosing a new category is not sufficient - you will also need to stop sending traffic via paid search links, as you will no longer be paid for such traffic starting on February 1, regardless of what category you choose. You may change your category by writing to us using the Contact Us form available on Associates Central...   
   
   next bit is a link edited out
   
   If you are enrolled in the Associates Programme as a Paid Search Placement Associate and you do not contact us to modify your category on or prior to March 1 2010 your Associates account will automatically be closed.
   
   In addition, as of February 1, 2010 we will no longer pay referral fees on purchases made by customers who are referred to.amazon.co.uk or .javari.co.uk via Free Search Results. Free Search Results are links containing an Associate's tag displayed in a search engine's free, natural, or organic search results in response to a search query which send customers directly to an Amazon site without the customer first being sent to an Associate's site and the customer clicking on a link to arrive at the Amazon site.
   
   These changes do not prohibit you from purchasing paid search advertisements or submitting links to search engines so long as the links that appear on the search engines send customers to your site. If customers arrive at the Amazon.co.uk or Javari.co.uk site by clicking on Special Links displayed on your site (ie, links on your site pointing to Amazon.co.uk or Javari.co.uk with Amazon Associates tags), you will continue to earn referral fees in accordance with the Associates Programme Operating Agreement. There are a number of tools available through Associates Central to assist you with integrating Special Links into your sites, such as aStore by Amazon, various customisable widgets, and the Product Advertising API.
   
   These changes apply only to the Associates Programme in the UK. If you are conducting paid or free search activities in connection with one of Amazon's Associates Programmes outside of the UK, please refer to the applicable country's Associates Programme Operating Agreement for relevant terms and conditions. edited out links.
   
   I do not think this will apply to me as my use of Amazon UK is limmited but I am a bit concerned in case I need to re-apply as by mistake I used Hubpages as my main  page when appying.
   
   Sorry for the length of this post. If it is relevant and helpful to anyone then that is fine if not it will be ignored and that is ok. too.

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      shazwellynposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The affiliate programe on hubpages only applies to amazon.com, so i dont think us UK'ers have anything to worry about here.  I think the recession has bitten harder here, so UK is not as profitable.  I understand why hubpages doesnt have links with amazon.co.uk now.  It makes sense.
      
      However, it just shows you how bad things are economically!  Ebay has dropped new referrals as well which is a real pain for me!
      
      I think things are going to get tougher with adsense and affiliate... the doors seem to be closing!

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   Dao Hoaposted 14 years ago

   Many of us are have trouble with Amazon capsules. Could this be the reason?

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   2uesdayposted 14 years ago

   Dao Hoa I do not think so the email was not from the USA Amazon affiliate accounts we have for our hubs and it said it was just Amazon UK. I had a look at one of the links and it looks as if they are also re-wording/updating some of their terms and conditions. One of them seems to me to be an Amazon UK version of the adsense rule do not click on your own ads. Although I may be reading it out of context.
   
   "New wording added in Section 4 Paragraph 2 (highlighted in italics)
   You may not purchase products during sessions initiated through the links on your site for your own use, for resale or commercial use of any kind. This includes orders for customers or on behalf of customers or orders for products to be used by you or your friends, relatives, or associates in any manner. Such purchases may result (in our sole discretion) in the withholding of referral fees and/or the termination of this Agreement. In addition, Products purchased as a result of Paid Search Placements or Free Search Results (or Sessions initiated by a Paid Search Placement or Free Search Result) will not be eligible to earn referral fees. Products that are eligible to earn referral fees under the rules set forth above are referred to as "Qualifying Products"."
   
   
   To be clear Amazon UK and the Amazon.com that we use here are not the same although there is something called Amazon central and the ability to click from USA to UK Amazon on some parts of the site. So the above should not affect Amazon on HubPages as far as I can understand it. My problem with reading things such as my email in the  first post is that I am not familar with some of the words/terms used to do with web-sites and search engines.

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   Dao Hoaposted 14 years ago

   Thanks 2uesday for clarifying.

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   kephriraposted 14 years ago

   I got that email too, I think it just means that if you pay to advertise an affiliate link in the sponsored part of search results you'll have to stop doing it. You cvan still advertise your own webpages with affiliate links on them though. The bit about the organic search results shouldn't make a difference, its just that a search engine might crawl an amazon page with your id in it and decide to include that in the search results rather than the basic amazon page. Unless you are adding an indentical link to quite a few indexed pages that is unlikely to happen, but if it does happen then you won't get paid for traffic straight from the search engine to amazon any more.

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   2uesdayposted 14 years ago

   thanks kephrira it is good to read your understanding of it as I was a bit puzzled by some of the terms used. I wish you had written the email as you managed to simplify it for me.

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   Drwibbleposted 14 years ago

   Thanks kephrira, that's how I interpreted the email as well. It's always good to have confirmation that from someone else that I understood it correctly.
   I agree with you 2eusday, the email was fairly cryptic and took a few reads for it to sink in.

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      2uesdayposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Drwibble I thought it was my lack of Internet knowledge that made it hard to understand. I guessed it was not about blogs or sites like HubPages but some of the terms in it I had never heard of. It is reassuring that on HubPages are willing to help others understand things. I am grateful.

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