Hi all.
I have set up Amazon Affiliate program on hubpages and featured Amazon products on a number of my hubs. Looking at it after a while, the link-type report in the Amazon account shows that no one has clicked on the products so far. I wanted to know whether this actually works, so I clicked on the product links myself. To my surprise it is not shown in the Amazon report. What is going on? Have anyone used this report?
I know Hubpages splits impressions, but it seems that no one ever clicked on the product links so far.
Hi path-finder,
It can take a lot of effort and careful product placement to make money with Amazon. Robin offers some good tips in the HP Blog: http://blog.hubpages.com/2013/07/hubpag … your-hubs/
Also, it's a bad idea to click on your own products. Amazon can recognize when you do and it's against their policy (they may send you a reprimand for doing so). That is probably why your click isn't showing up.
After a month or two with Amazon, I began to wonder the same thing. I used my husband's computer and Amazon account to click on a product I wanted to buy and see if it actually showed up in my affiliate account.
It showed the clicks and exactly what was purchased, including two other products I purchased that I did not click on. But there was no revenue from any of it
I sent Amazon an email asking about this, mentioning there were items that had been purchased but no revenue. I got a very nice email back implying that perhaps I or a family member had clicked on the product and purchased it and that Amazon does not pay revenue for those products. DOH! They got me. They're smart, them Amazon people!
However, it did show me that my product link was working. And they didn't reprimand me. They didn't contact me until I contacted them first asking what was up.
I have been placing Amazon ads for four months now and have 17 hubs and around 10 blog posts with ads. It is rare indeed that anyone clicks on them. But I did finally have activity a few times, one here, another there, none for a long time again now. I think I've earned revenue a total of three times. The other day I noticed on my website that an Amazon link had been clicked, but no one purchased.
So it's slow going. I understand your biggest question to know if your link is even working since you clicked on it and did not see any clicks on your report. In writing this reply to you, I did some surfing around my Amazon reports and discovered there is a "link checker". Click on Links & Banners, which is the far left option on the horizontal menu. Then in the left column is an option for Link Checker.
I'm SO glad you got me messing around with stuff, because I discovered that one of my links is not working right, because I think I chose the wrong option when I created the link. And it makes me think I probably have several incorrect links! So now I will be checking every single one of them to make sure they are working.
Aside from the Link Checker, if you are still not sure, I'd try to Amazon forums or contacting Amazon directly with your questions.
I'm off to check links now!
The links are working! I just checked using the Link Checker. The first time it was a negative, then, after refreshing the hub page and copying the same link again, the link tested positive for a valid affiliate link. I guess this is how the impressions are split. I've found that, If you see your Tracker ID in the link then it leads to your own account; you get credited for the sale.
Thanks for your reply.
If you login to Amazon associates acct and click to view tracking ID report you should see clicks if they have been generated. If you don't see any clicks that means no one clicked on those products.
Sometimes HubPages code appears in the capsule, and sometimes your code appears. That's how the sharing works. You may have clicked on the ad while the HubPages code was showing.
You cannot use your special links to buy amazon products for yourself or have someone buy amazon products for you I am assuming even though you used your husband's computer you shipped items to you so it wouldn't count toward your earnings. Also if someone buys a product on Amazon and ships to someone else and not themselves you will not get paid for that sale.
Thank you lovebulglena. Yes . . . I get all that. But like path-finder, I finally felt compelled to test out a link somehow to see if it even worked. I knew I wasn't technically supposed to and, obviously, Amazon caught me. This is why I shared it with path-finder, so they wouldn't bother to try the same.
Amazon don't pay per click, so you can click on your own Amazon links as often as you like.
You just cannot buy from that link, because Amazon will discount the sale. They know the IP address of the person clicking. Not only that, they are likely to kick you off the program if they suspect you are buying. They store a 24 hour cookie when you click-through, so remember not to order anything from Amazon in that time-frame.
If you have no clicks at all showing, when you or someone you know has clicked on an Amazon link, then remember that that this may have happened during HP's share of the revenue time.
To sell through Amazon, you really need to reach a targeted audience.
Your hub may be extremely informative, and may help the potential buyer make up his mind what product he wants to buy.
Chances are he was searching for information about that product when he happened by your hub. You may help him to make up his mind, in which case he is likely to click through to Amazon and get the 24 hour cookie if he doesn't buy there and then.
He may decide to buy something else entirely while he is browsing Amazon, and you will get the commission.
Amazon sales happen when you target an audience.
Identify what people want to know about a product. Answer that query. Attract buyers, not browsers.
So Amazon credits us for sales of products that we haven't featured, though we helped the person get to the product? Glad to know this. Thanks for the info.
Yes.
If you can write a hub in such a way that every reader simply has to click on your Amazon link and go through the Amazon, your sales with soar. That 24 hour Amazon cookie is worth its weight in gold. Anything at all they buy in that time-frame will be credited to you.
Product reviews are probably the best way to achieve that nowadays. Write about a product you know, and try to choose an angle not extensively covered online already.
We used to able to write simple sales pitches about a product and get sales, but Google and HP have mostly put paid to that. HP don't seem to like pure sales hubs, and Google always list the shops first in search.
Now you need to find an angle, something the shops don't tell you about, even if it is a downside.
Else, write about how to grow something, and include products. Write about how to decorate something, and include products. How best to do something, and include products.
If you get viewers, you will get Amazon clicks, and sales.
Don't write a hub and stick in products as an after-thought. Target the sales. Write paragraphs around your products. Make them stand out.
Good luck!
by Spacey Gracey 14 years ago
I really should know this by now but....On the orders report there are five columns:1. Product link conversion2. Product link clicks3. Items ordered through product links4. Other items ordered5. Total items.I don't really understand what they mean.I get reports where there is a 1 in the 'items...
by Sally Gulbrandsen 8 years ago
I have always added my Products via a keyword search but I have been asked to add a couple of products via links instead. I am not sure whether my being in the UK makes a difference but should I be adding links from Amazon.com or from Amazon UK? I know that most of my traffic still...
by Jack Lee 7 years ago
From your own article...I have a unique case. In one of my articles, I recommemd a natural supplement that is good for joints.This product works for me. It is something I use myself. In this article, I have an Amazon link to this product.When I ran out, and time to reorder, is it allowed for me to...
by Victoria Van Ness 6 years ago
I'm kinda pissed and extremely dismayed. I've been with Hubpages and Amazon Associates for 5 years now and haven't made a dime with Amazon the entire time. I've reached out for help numerous times and not a single person told me that I have to get my Amazon links from the Amazon Associates website...
by Raye 13 years ago
Word is out... if you are a CA resident and have an Amazon associateship, you should be seeing an email very soon canceling said account. Amazon just sent out a press release,http://www.boingboing.net/2011/06/29/am … socia.html
by Emily Tack 10 years ago
I know we are not supposed to ever click on links in our own hubs, or other people's hubs, either. At least that is my understanding. While I was putting a new photo up on one of my hubs, my finger slipped on the mouse, and off I went to the Amazon product I was linking to. Do I need to send an...
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |