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Does Genius Link Follow Amazon's Operating Agreement?
Does Genius Link Follow Amazon's Operating Agreement?

Yes! But there are some rules to follow...

Matt Mustarde avatar
Written by Matt Mustarde
Updated over 5 years ago

Short answer:
Yes! Geniuslink is safe to use with Amazon and has been trusted by thousands of Amazon associates for years.

Long answer:
If you're an Affiliate Marketer thinking about using Genius Link to promote your products, then you might be wondering if our service complies with Amazon's Operating Agreement. You’ll be happy to know that Genius Link falls completely in-line with Amazon’s Operating Agreement, and we work hard with their team to ensure our users get the best experience possible with both services. If you're interested in learning more, please check out our guest post in the Amazon UK Education Center!

If you're not entirely convinced, below is a screenshot one of our users sent us after asking Amazon if Genius Link is safe to use as an affiliate. We think this response does a fantastic job of illustrating our relationship with the Amazon team, and hopefully this reassures you that Genius Link is fully vetted and compliant with the Associates OA. If you'd still like to verify this for yourself, we recommend you to reach out to Amazon directly via their contact form.

Even though Genius Link works closely with Amazon, it's still important that Associates follow Amazon's guidelines when sharing links. As long as you follow all the rules laid out in their Operating Agreement, you won’t have any issues using Genius Link. In fact, if you look closely you’ll notice that the following sections of the Amazon OA and support articles allow you to use link shorteners like Genius Link, but simply ask that you are clear about their use.

General Link Requirements for Associates

  • "You will not cloak, hide, spoof, or otherwise obscure the URL of your Site containing Special Links (including by use of Redirecting Links) or the user agent of the application in which Content is displayed or used such that we cannot reasonably determine the site or application from which a customer clicks through such Special Link to the Amazon Site."
    Program Participation Requirements, Section 4. (v) "Responsibility for Your Site

  • "You must clearly state the following on your Site or any other location where Amazon may authorize your display or other use of Content: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Except for this disclosure, you will not make any public communication with respect to this Agreement or your participation in the Associates Program. You will not misrepresent or embellish our relationship with you (including by expressing or implying that we support, sponsor, or endorse you), or express or imply any affiliation between us and you or any other person or entity except as expressly permitted by this Agreement."
    Amazon Associates Operating Agreement, Section 5. "Identifying Yourself as an Associate"

The Long and Short(link) of It

If you use any URL shortening service for your links, you should always carefully review the links you create. Associates aren’t allowed to frame the Amazon site with any other URL, so if the links you build don’t resolve to the www.amazon.com domain in the address bar, you cannot use them in the Associates Program. You will also want to carefully review your links to ensure your Associates tracking ID is included when the shortened URL resolves to the Amazon page. Additionally, because of the way shortened URLs function, Amazon may ask you to provide the specific sites on which the shortened URLs are posted and to make any social network profiles on which you post these URLs publicly accessible for verification purposes.

So long as you're honest with your audience and follow Amazon's guidelines responsibly, then using Genius Link with Amazon will be no problem. If you have any questions regarding this topic, or just aren't sure if you're following the Operating Agreement properly, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We hope that Genius Link helps you grow your audience around the world, and become an even more successful affiliate marketer!

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