Identifying Yourself as an Amazon Associate - Duplicate Content?

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In the Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement is written the following (in the point 10):

However, I'm afraid that if I add this on my website, my website will get penalized by Google for duplicate content as there are many websites that have this written on them.

How should I proceed then?
#main internet marketing discussion forum #amazon #associate #content #duplicate #identifying
  • If it's a requirement of being an Amazon Associate, then you probably should put it on your site.

    Duplicate Content?
    However, I don't think you have to worry about duplicate content here. Duplicate content is an issue when the same content appears multiple times on the same site. It's not an issue when it's across different sites.

    If you're really worried about it, why not turn the text into an image...
    • [1] reply
    • I'm sorry I could not let this slip. Duplicate content is bad enough when on your page, but not nearly as bad as when it is content that is on different sites. Bottom line JUST SAY NO TO DUPLICATE.

      PS, I will bet that the line has an exemption in the Google calculations
      • [1] reply
  • andrej,
    if this snippet of text is only 5% of your total content, then I wouldn't worry about that.

    There are sites that do content curation all the time and they still do very well on Google.

    If you want to comply with the Amazon Associates TOS, one or another way it has to appear on your page.
    • [1] reply
    • The thousands of other Amazon Associates, myself included, do not seem to have a problem with it.

      al
  • It's not considered as duplicate content and Google will have no problem with it.
  • I have any disclosure info on a seperate disclosure page and set it as noindex so it won't shouldn't get crawled and indexed. Not saying it's foolproof or even necessary, but it's just what I prefer to do.
  • Am I missing something? What's the issue with editing the robots.txt file specifications to prevent Google crawling the area of your site you place the text on?
  • This whole thread is like worrying that the sun is going to burn out tomorrow.

    If including a standard notice would penalize sites nobody could have an adsense site that wasn't penalized for having the notice about "cookies" that Google requires of all publishers.

    Read and understand the "duplicate content" rules, they are pretty straightforward.

    1. Simply republishing content scraped from other sites is bad.
    2. Repeating the same content on numerous pages on your site is bad.

    Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Demystifying the "duplicate content penalty"
    • [2] replies
    • Yeah that's ok, if you don't mind it as a footprint for scrapers etc to find your site.
    • This whole "duplicate content" paranoia is getting out of control. Worrying about a standard notice required by the seller is like worrying about your menu having the words "About" and "Home". Not only do they appear on every page of your own site, they appear on millions of other sites scattered across the web.

      Besides, if this is going to cost you sleep, put the required verbiage in an image, link it to the same text on a single page, and no-follow or no-index the link.

      The suggestion about using the robots.txt is crazy if you think about it. Most Amazon associates are trying desperately to get those pages ranked. Why would they disallow the spiders from crawling them?
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • If it's a requirement it's a requirement. Set the page to no index and you should be just fine. You only need to be concerned if the content was an article that has been exploited all over the blogosphere. Putting a disclosure statement on your site that others have is not something Google will penalize.
  • I can only speak for myself but I've never tried getting a disclosure page ranked, quite the opposite.
    • [1] reply
    • If you're talking to me, I never said anything about trying to rank a disclosure page.

      Most associates, and the OP if I read correctly, are worried about putting the verbiage on product or review pages - pages they are trying desperately to get ranked.

      My advice was to use an image of the verbiage linked to a disclosure page, then block the spiders from following that link. One could also use the robots.txt to block access to the disclosure page, but not if the verbiage is on every page.
      • [1] reply
  • You worry too much. Put it on your site as they ask. Google really doesn't care about 2 lines of text.
  • Thank you all for your replies and advice.

    I have another question: Can that disclaimer statement be on the About page of my website? They don't say that it has to be on the homepage.
    • [2] replies
    • I believe it can be anywhere.
    • It just needs to be on the site somewhere.

      I have mine on a privacy policy page.

      If you want to see some other examples of affiliate sites, you can google the disclaimer and see how others show it.

      The policy states "You must, however, clearly state the following on your site" it does not ask for it to be on each page.
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    Identifying Yourself as an Amazon Associate - Duplicate Content?

    In the Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement is written the following (in the point 10): You must, however, clearly state the following on your site: "[Insert your name] is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to [insert the applicable site name (amazon.com, amazonsupply.com, or myhabit.com)]. However, I'm afraid that if I add this on my website, my website will get penalized by Google for duplicate content as there are many websites that have this written on them.