Clarification on affiliate links, please

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   Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

   My understanding was that we are allowed to put affiliate links in our Hubs occasionally, if they add value for the reader and if they're to reputable sites.  Has that changed?
   
   I have just had an affiliate link snipped when my Flamenco Shawl article was moved to Hobbylark.   There are a lot of Chinese shawls on the market so the link to a reputable supplier is useful to the reader, and the product I linked to is a flamenco shawl.

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   1. 75

      galleryofgraceposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      You should know by now that HP is not going to allow you to make any money that they cannot get a share of.

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      1. 88

         Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         I've been using affiliate links on HubPages for the last ten years with no problems.

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            Susana Sposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            You can if they're appropriate, useful etc and you are persistent in putting them back in, but I don't think HP want that to be public knowledge.
            
            I can understand why. They don't want all the affiliate marketers back here so they keep it strict and they keep it vague. To be honest I prefer it that way.

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            1. 88

               Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               Ever since Panda back in 2011, I've always been very sparing in using affiliate links and I do like the fact HubPages insists on them being relevant and useful. 
               
               In the example that was snipped, I feel it's an important link because it's hard to find good shawls online which are genuinely made in Spain.  You might say I could add the link anyway, without my affiliate ID, but why shouldn't I earn from it if I have that opportunity?

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               1. 98

                  Susana Sposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  I'm sure your affiliate links would add rather detract from your hub and agree you should benefit from the earning opportunity. I put the affiliate link back in and resubmit. Much like Amazon links, sometimes you have to be persistent in re-adding them before they're accepted. This is my experience anyway.

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            PaulGoodman67posted 7 years agoin reply to this

            You're allowed one or two affiliate links in theory, but in practice they do snip them sometimes. It seems to happen at the editor's discretion. Like Susana, I've never seen any hard and fast rules made public.
            
            I am still mourning the days when we could always put in two affiliate links without question and get 100% earnings from them.
            
            My Amazon earnings are less than a third of what they used to be - although that's mainly due to Amazon changing their percentages, and the various algo changes by Google.
            
            I guess HP has to react, but still...
            
            At least the HP Ads bring in much more than they used to!

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2. 81

   Solarasposted 7 years ago

   I had a link like that snipped a year ago; it linked to the only purveyor of that particular product. It seems they won't let you have any affiliate links. Naturally I removed the entire hub to spite us all.

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