Bing Ads + Amazon Affiliate Case Study

Update

No sales yet. Amazon takes awhile to update sometimes.

Bing stats:

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Amazon stats:

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Amazon is showing no clicks because I think it hasn't been updated since Oct 23.

I'll keep you guys updated.
 
Does Amazon allow this kind of traffic?

I've heard Amazon doesn't allow direct linking from PPC, whereas Google and Bing are fine with it.

Found this on another site I won't backlink:

I’ve done this before, only to have all my sales reversed leaving me with a big advertising cost and no revenue to cover for it.

However, if OP is interested, I can help him with redirecting and cloaking so Amazon doesn't have a clue.
 
So I have no sales. Looks like my Amazon stats are all messed up. I may have sales but hopefully my stats are back to normal tomorrow. My $10 budget will be finished tomorrow around noon so I will post the final results then.
 
So I have no sales. Looks like my Amazon stats are all messed up. I may have sales but hopefully my stats are back to normal tomorrow. My $10 budget will be finished tomorrow around noon so I will post the final results then.
Try to create a simple WordPress website and list amazon products using some affiliate plug-ins..you can direct the traffic and test the results..just my two cents.
 
Try to create a simple WordPress website and list amazon products using some affiliate plug-ins..you can direct the traffic and test the results..just my two cents.

True. But this case study was about direct linking to products.
 
Interesting. Their customer service online chat people must not provide good info then. Had a girl tell me only FB and Twitter were approved for allowing direct links. Probably why they provide the share links for these two on the site stripe. I'd be skeptical to try the others as I'm worried about getting banned. Please let us know how it goes. I hope it goes well for you :)

OP is very lucky. That's all nothing else. Once luck runs out, that's it. Kiss goodbye.
 
OP is very lucky. That's all nothing else. Once luck runs out, that's it. Kiss goodbye.

Yes, perhaps there is some truth to what people have said, that at first, Amazon will approve a lot of sites. But it's not until they get some serious sales going does Amazon decide to truly audit the site carefully. Then ban for whatever reasons they feel like that you've violated their policies, even though you've been doing nothing different since you were first approved.
 
Yes, perhaps there is some truth to what people have said, that at first, Amazon will approve a lot of sites. But it's not until they get some serious sales going does Amazon decide to truly audit the site carefully. Then ban for whatever reasons they feel like that you've violated their policies, even though you've been doing nothing different since you were first approved.

Actually, they approve all affiliates now, then, they audit after getting sales and its time for payment.

I would always use a lander no matter what paid network I am using. It's a great way to build a name for my site as well
 
Even though OP want to see if directly linking works I think it would be more helpful for everyone if you could test if Bing ads converts or not with a good landing page. Because even if it works Its not something we can do without rising out accounts. Also I think a catchy domain and a good landing page would give better result. I have done it with social traffic. I think it would work with paid search traffic too.
 
Actually, they approve all affiliates now, then, they audit after getting sales and its time for payment.

I would always use a lander no matter what paid network I am using. It's a great way to build a name for my site as well

Technically incorrect.

The rejection/approval comes after 3 qualifying sales. You have to first prove to them you can generate at least some sales, then their team will manually review all aspects of your website. The proof here is the fact that you will not get paid those commissions, if (after 3 qualifying sales), you get rejected.

I was referring to the idea someone posted that after 3 qualifying sales, they approve. Then, not until you get a significant amount (lets say, $5000+) of sales, do they decide to go back in and revisit your website where they start nitpicking every detail. Because now you've proven yourself, they decide to assert their iron fist to ensure you are abiding their policies and not somehow destroying, degrading their brand, cheating on sales, etc. And if they find anything out of place, they ban you.
 
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The proof here is the fact that you will not get paid those commissions, if (after 3 qualifying sales), you get rejected.

Strange, because I've got banned twice by them, and they still paid me. In my case, it was only a matter of a couple bucks, however, they paid about 3 months later.
 
Read a lot of stories of people getting banned and not getting a significant chunk of change they had sitting there from previous months sales. Maybe there is a cap to that as well to which they're willing to have their accountants clean up the mess of not paying someone. Either way, from all the stories I've read, and after browsing 100's of existing sites out there, Amazon seems to have a broad level of inconsistency when it comes to enforcing their policies/rules for affiliate sites.

My as i ask what you were banned for?
 
Good luck mate can't wait to hear more.
 
Final Update

Sorry for the late reply it was a busy day with my other businesses. Like I said before, I've wanted to try this and had some spare time and thought it would be a good learning lesson for you guys too.

Bing Stats:

stats1.png


$9.96 Spend
150 clicks

Amazon Stats:

stats2.png


0 Sales

My conclusion:

After reading all the comments here from people who know Amazon, I would not try what I did for the sake of your account. Sure I could have bought a domain, picked related niche products and did some serious retargeting with hi quality product images. I know how to do all that but just not interested in doing it. I have alot on my plate as far as business goes. But this case study was just out of curiosity.

Final notes:

Don't direct link to products. You will get alot further doing some serious product research to see if it's worth promoting. Buy a domain for the niche you want to promote and start your own affiliate store. And lastly use Bing or whatever you want and laser target those people interested in what you have. You will see way better results.

Thanks for following me on this.
 
Final Update

Sorry for the late reply it was a busy day with my other businesses. Like I said before, I've wanted to try this and had some spare time and thought it would be a good learning lesson for you guys too.

Bing Stats:

stats1.png


$9.96 Spend
150 clicks

Amazon Stats:

stats2.png


0 Sales

My conclusion:

After reading all the comments here from people who know Amazon, I would not try what I did for the sake of your account. Sure I could have bought a domain, picked related niche products and did some serious retargeting with hi quality product images. I know how to do all that but just not interested in doing it. I have alot on my plate as far as business goes. But this case study was just out of curiosity.

Final notes:

Don't direct link to products. You will get alot further doing some serious product research to see if it's worth promoting. Buy a domain for the niche you want to promote and start your own affiliate store. And lastly use Bing or whatever you want and laser target those people interested in what you have. You will see way better results.

Thanks for following me on this.
You can do it again but do this instead
Bing traffic=>Unlisted unboxing product video=>amazon link in description =>$$$
 
Technically incorrect.

The rejection/approval comes after 3 qualifying sales. You have to first prove to them you can generate at least some sales, then their team will manually review all aspects of your website. The proof here is the fact that you will not get paid those commissions, if (after 3 qualifying sales), you get rejected.

I was referring to the idea someone posted that after 3 qualifying sales, they approve. Then, not until you get a significant amount (lets say, $5000+) of sales, do they decide to go back in and revisit your website where they start nitpicking every detail. Because now you've proven yourself, they decide to assert their iron fist to ensure you are abiding their policies and not somehow destroying, degrading their brand, cheating on sales, etc. And if they find anything out of place, they ban you.

Simply said, there is NO perfect review/ security check.
 
I would also like to note, my roomie ordered something from Amazon after being on my site. Order showed up in the Amazon reports, but no money. I inquired to Amazon, and they said it wasn't a qualified purchase because it looked like the person who ordered was a family member. So even though she used her own Amazon account, the house address or IP from house router triggered a flag in their system so it did not qualify. They watch this stuff very carefully of course. Thought about doing a test, and have her order something but her use wifi and deliver to a different address, just to see if it would qualify, but I don't want to even entertain the thought of 'gaming the system' after all the legit hard work I've put into my new affiliate site.
 
Final Update

Sorry for the late reply it was a busy day with my other businesses. Like I said before, I've wanted to try this and had some spare time and thought it would be a good learning lesson for you guys too.

Bing Stats:

stats1.png


$9.96 Spend
150 clicks

Amazon Stats:

stats2.png


0 Sales

My conclusion:

After reading all the comments here from people who know Amazon, I would not try what I did for the sake of your account. Sure I could have bought a domain, picked related niche products and did some serious retargeting with hi quality product images. I know how to do all that but just not interested in doing it. I have alot on my plate as far as business goes. But this case study was just out of curiosity.

Final notes:

Don't direct link to products. You will get alot further doing some serious product research to see if it's worth promoting. Buy a domain for the niche you want to promote and start your own affiliate store. And lastly use Bing or whatever you want and laser target those people interested in what you have. You will see way better results.

Thanks for following me on this.


Time to look for a job :D
 
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