Can I use photos from Booking.com?

Hi,

the question is simple, can I use the photos of accommodation on my website from booking com if i am an affiliate at booking com?

I found those 2 rules in their affiliate FAQ and i am confused:

7. The Affiliate shall only use the Booking com accommodation descriptions and photo?s to generate traffic exclusively to the Booking com website.

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Which Booking com content can I use on my website?
The only Booking com content you're allowed to use on your website is available in the Partner Center. For example, you can use our search box and banners, and create deep links to specific Booking.com landing pages. You're not allowed to "scrape" any Booking com content in any way. For more information on the content policies, please consult the Affiliate Agreement, which you accepted during online registration.


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They do not respond to my emails. So whats your opinion? Can I use the images from their site or not? If I am an affiliate at their site....

And a separate question - booking com doesnt use any cookies which i dont like. Hotelscombined use 1 year cookies, pay for leads but I read a lot of bad review here at BHW, but that was from 2 years ago. Whats you opinion on booking com vs hotelscombined?

Clearly it states that, if you are sending traffic to them you can use those images. If they raise an issue show them this point in the terms and conditions as well the number of mails you had sent. Can't possible see any problem with using those images. You can go a step ahead and run a few filters on those images to make em seem different and make em attractive as well.

Its quite clear. You cant use images from their site. That's pretty simple and clear. You can use any images they put in their partner area and you can use them as much as you like. They might only have their license to use certain images on their own site and would be breaking copyright rules if they let you use them , so that's why they put what you can use in the partner area first. You cant just right click on their site and save.

Well it isnt quite clear, because you two have an opposite opinion about it. Somedevil thinks that i can use those images and you, Islandman1010, think that i can use only the pics from that particular area on their site. The problem is that they dont have any single image in that area. There are no accommodations in the partner area, only info about your affiliate account etc.

Whats not clear about that part?

Which Booking com content can I use on my website?
The only Booking com content you're allowed to use on your website is available in the Partner Center.

Somehow i cant quote the same sentence again but what about this sentence? I have to send it as an image

Shameless bump...

Best answer is to ask them. Write to their affiliate section and wait for an answer. probably they will guide you to their aff banners which you can use. When you join, you will get the search box, their deep links, and their banners. The other images are copyright and you may need special permission to use some of them. Ask them about the special permission and give valid reasons why you need those particular images.

I wrote them an email but without success... no reply. I will wait for a few more days but well, i will take the risk and just download them, hopefully i will get an reply soon. I will use it only for the promotion of their affiliate so hopefully no one will get mad at me because of this.

I also found this on booking :
Downloads

To extract part of our inventory (descriptions and pictures) in our database we can enable the Downloads tab for you after we've reviewed your website.
Choosing an accommodation, city, region, airport or landmark, you can download the information onto an Excel sheet and place it on your website.
We recommend that you include a Deep link or "Book now" button to redirect users to your affiliate link on Booking .
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I have looked at agoda , which is owned by the same company and have found this:

Can I use Agoda travel content on my site?

Agoda provides affiliates with banner links, text links and other customized tools for use on the affiliate sites; This includes hotel data and details. however, the use of any other content or modifications thereof is only allowable under the express permission of Agoda. Please refer to the 'Agoda Affiliate Agreement' for further details.

Just an update - i received an answer from booking eventually and they granted me access to a database dump of their accommodation where I can find 1 picture to every accommodation which i am allowed to use. But for me thats not enough.

I would like to have your honest opinion guys - do you think its risky to use more images from someones accommodation in my webdirectory where i basically make free advertisement for them? I just put a booking affiliate link to it. Would someone get angry at me because of this and sue me if i basically bring him clients for free?

I also live in a country in which i havent heard of a single case of someone paying for images. But maybe i am wrong.

Also if my whois is secret, i dont have any contact info at my site (can they find me easily?) and my site accepts user submitted content/pictures, would that make it easier for me? In case something goes wrong...

I dont advocate stealing pictures, i see it more like a win win situation, because i will use those pics to bring them more people without asking anything in return.

So, your opinion? Is it risky?

If you use your content and find more good images from google that better for your site rank

Yeah, i use my own content but i cant use my own images if i am writing about one specific accommodation. And I cant take photos by myself of every hotel etc. in my country, that would be too expensive.

I just hope nobody would want to sue me.