YouTube will terminate your account if you post links to amazon as an affiliate...

Why are you surprised to find this out?

YouTube wasn't created for affiliates to spam 'review' videos. Nor was it created for marketers to use as a free source of bandwidth for other types of promotional video spam.

-Chris

Would it be allowed to send traffic to a landing page, that then automatically redirects the visitor to Amazon, or any other page?

Hi yes, if you spam videos with amazon links your accounts will get suspended.

however i have a youtube acount with over 200 videos that has amazon links and has not been suspended ( 7 months now)

its all in the quality of the videos.. even using PLR videos can get you suspended

even if you use landing pages, your accounts can get suspended if the videos are of poor spammy quality..

-Brandon

YouTube was set up as a "community" to socialize and share information like Facebook and not intended to be for marketing purpose.

Nevertheless, it is a great source for driving traffic to your web site with squeeze page to capture leads.

Can you code the links with adf.ly or tinyURL?

Not a huge shock, really. I'm surprised it's lasted this long. There's SO MANY awful amazon product review videos (err...slideshows).

Maybe it's another way for Google, owners of Youtube, to crack down on hit and run marketing. Is there anything in Youtube's TOS prohibiting aff links in the description? If there is, there should be no question about getting the boot.

just try to promote with YT and I look this thread, made me know the truth...

Well first off it is against Amazons own TOS to link directly from Youtube to Amazon so all those doing it, if they have not been banned from Youtube yet if Amazon fines out you will have your Amazon account terminated also.

You need to direct them to your website first and then get them to click through to Amazon.

There is nothing wrong with putting a product review on Youtube if it provides value and information on a specific product in fact there and tens of thousands of excellent review videos on youtube.

The problem comes when it is purely an advert which Youtube does not like and I have seem many linking through to Amazon which is a big red light to YouTube.

Youtube is a fantastic traffic source but you need to be very careful especially if you are linking directly through to Amazon using a cloak or directly.

Kickin it on Amazon

Gaz Cooper
Amz Training Academy

Thanks bro for sharing your results crystal clear.. It shows Youtube is fighting spam and affiliate videos like never before.

The best way I can think of monetizing Youtube video traffic is sending them to some form of "content pages" that can take the visitor to the next step of the video watching..

Here's what I do...I create a web page that has:

1. My Youtube video embedded

2. Amazon and/or Ebay ads

3. Relevant article from EZA

4. Sometimes email subscribe form, depending on the niche

I add a link to this page in the Youtube description.

People never seem to learn.

Any business that you try and build on a platform that is beyond your control is gonna get shut down at some point.

Looks like May is the popular month to bring threads back from tonight .

Many people are just spamming YT. There is no doubt that using a landing page is the best option and also building a list along the way.

I got a question.
Will they ban you if the affiliate link is inside the video?

I know I'm a bit late on this thread but I've just taken a look at the Youtube TOS. Long winded though it may be, is the following section appropriate?

You agree not to use the Service for any of the following commercial uses unless you obtain YouTube's prior written approval:

• the sale of access to the Service;
• the sale of advertising, sponsorships, or promotions placed on or within the Service or Content; or
• the sale of advertising, sponsorships, or promotions on any page of an ad-enabled blog or website containing Content delivered via the Service, unless other material not obtained from YouTube appears on the same page and is of sufficient value to be the basis for such sales.

Am I correct in thinking that you need Youtube's written consent to use their videos on your sites if you are selling something? eg Amazon products, your own or affiliate products, Unless you have other non Youtube content on the site that they deem OK.


Could this be the reason accounts are banned?

You can always try some workarounds, but you will risk getting banned, so I don't think it is worth it. Back in the day, YouTube didn't have this rule at all and even if the videos are still online, they won't ban them, so that's why you see some videos with millions of views linking to Amazon which are still around.

If you are just starting, the only "legal" way is to do honest reviews and link them to your website. You don't need a landing page, you can create an Amazon store and people won't even have to go to their website until they checkout, so that should improve your conversion.

YouTube will ban your account for sure if you direct link it to an Amazon page.

I have tested this extensively, good reviews, just images (copyright or not), music, w/o music, etc....

This is what I found out: You can have the most crappy video in the world - YouTube will keep it.

If you have the best video in the world. Even if it was created by Hollywood Filmmakers -- if you link it directly to Amazon, you will be BANNED.

I had about 5 test accounts banned trying to see how far I can push YouTube.

Now I don't know about a created Amazon store (never created one), but if you send the link in your description to a landing page, you will be fine

Also, you can't use direct Amazon link with Yahoo Answer!

Thanks for sharing. If anyone read the terms and condition while uploading a video in Youtube then i believe they would not face this type of problem. It is clearly stated over there.

I tried to make video responds under other videos, the account got banned.
I am not sure if this is the reason though.

Don't know about affiliate links.
But you can put a clickable link in the video "description" that is right below the video box.
Some of the links go directly to the Amazon product page for an ebook, etc.

Not sure why YouTube does that but i can think probably it's because they do not want to get their selfs sued due to copyright laws ... probably redirecting the link to another website and from there getting to amazon will do the trick ..

I made my own home made video for a product on Amazon, but made the mistake of putting the amazon affiliate link in the description section and of course, I got shut down by YT. Bummer I didn't see this thread first, huh? I ended up losing a YT account that had about 3 year's worth of videos on it and had a PR of 5. Now I have to start all over again...

It may fall under this category of YT's community guidelines. If your review is honest, well-presented, and well-thought out I can see how you could slide by this, as you really are providing something to the community -- you just have a money bias.

Meaning no, you cannot place your aff link on your video or video description. However you can send them to a page that then redirects them to purchase the product but only if the page consists of more content than just your video.

Simply direct them to a landing page/optin page/article etc and then redirect them to Amazon product. There is no problem with that.

Cheers!

Actually,they are plugins and services which creat youtube videos FOR YOU,it is not better then spam.

Quote from YouTube terms:

". . . the sale of advertising . . ."

I don't see how this affects putting YOUR link in the video description. You didn't SELL that link.

since google owned youtube they started to act like shit with affiliates, i don't know where are they going with their hate to affliates .indeed affiliates were the first reason why google reach where it is now .

peace

Bassem

where does the policy stand on this now (April 15, 2013)?

Yep pretty much common sense, I have NEVER had an account terminated but then again I dont put Amazon links in the description although I see many that do and then wonder why their accounts get zapped

Kickin it on Amazon

Gaz Cooper
Amz Training Academy

What if it is your own book though?
Not an affiliate link, but a link to your actual book.

That guy making 1000$ a day in Pinterest, was putting direct links to Amazon till Pinterest find out ... Amazon did not ban his account.

Create a high quality video, like those from adorama that talks about a product, in their case, it is cameras. Do NOT make it spammy. Have high production values and speakers that are very familiar with the English language - no out sourcing.

Output your video in 1080p or more. Have a set and use multiple cameras. Also remember to use a good video editing software program. For example, use sony vegas. There are so many.

Do not link to amazon. That is a given. However, do link to a high quality web site - your own.

Expect to see a steady trickle of traffic, but no flood, and approx seven percent conversion.

Good to know I was actually about to do this before I saw your post, guess I have to come up with something else now

If you want to use YouTube to drive traffic to your affiliate offers then IMO the best and safest way is to create useful tutorial videos that teach marketing strategies and techniques (or whatever your niche is in- doesn't have to be marketing) and only link to your blog. I'm not talking about a 1 or 2 page Blogger blog or something similar, either. I'm talking about linking to a blog that has plenty of good content and is not overloaded with affiliate links.

I have successfully been doing this on YouTube with the same account for over 5 years. I have never had an account deleted or suspended. In fact, this is the only YouTube account I have ever had. I have close to 300 live videos and get lots of traffic to my blog from them.

The videos I make discuss helpful techniques like how to generate traffic, how to write articles, how to set up a domain, how to set up a self-hosted blog, how to set up an email account in CPanel, how to take screen shots, how to make screen capture vids, etc, etc. Also, I make sure the videos are at least 5 minutes long. I do not use link URL shorteners or cloakers or redirects of any kind. I link directly to the home page of the blog.

My whole way of thinking on this stems from the fact that Google is all about providing a quality user experience when it comes to it's search results. Since Google owns YouTube, it stands to reason that the same policy would apply to their videos as well. A 1 minute review video of an Amazon or Clickbank product really doesn't provide much value to the user, and so I wouldn't be surprised if you have an account loaded with those types of videos and one day you try to log in only to find out it's been deleted.

The primary goal I hope to achieve with my YouTube videos is obviously to drive traffic to my blog in hopes that from there I can get the visitor onto my list. Once that happens then I'm free to market affiliate offers to them in my follow up series.

That doesn't mean that you should not put awesome content on your blog, however. It's an added plus if the user likes your content and decides to sign up to your feed as well. If that happens they will also get your new blog posts delivered right to their inbox.

I think some people have forgotten just how powerful having a popular blog can be. In theory, if you have lots of people opt-in to receive your blog posts delivered to their inbox, you don't even need to have an autoresponder. You can set up a feed using Feedburner and then place the opt-in form they provide in your sidebar and you could build up a nice little following like that. That's a subject for a different thread, however.

The point is that I have found out over the past 5 years as an Internet Marketer that taking shortcuts or providing poor or duplicate content in any form will not get you anywhere and will usually just cause you problems. Just take the time to create useful content and don't try to drop your affiliate links all over the place and you will have a much easier go of things.

I don't really know of any place that allows you to direct link to affiliate offers really. You cannot do it in article directories or forums for the most part, so why would people think it is OK to do on YouTube?

Yeah you can't have affiliate links in description anymore my old account got terminated also.

All affiliate links are strictly forbidden on youtube.

I'm assuming that all of the information here regarding Amazon affiliate links would apply to eBay affiliate links, or any other affiliate for that matter?

I haven't had a problem, you videos must have been pretty spammy

You can easily make much more money with YouTube directly, by being a YouTube partner,
and not using spammy links to any affiliate offers