One of my monetizing efforts on my web sites (aka making money) included Amazon Referrals. Unfortunately, due to a potential California Law, Amazon is terminating our relationship.
While this is very disappointing, I must admit that Amazon has not been the cash cow it once was for me – so I will survive. Others however, will not. I imagine that a lot of Amazon Associates will quickly “changing addresses” to their out-of-state friends or families while raising Cain over this with their local legislators.
I’m not sure how this will end since it does seem questionable on the one hand but completely constant with how state governments think (see the California Use Tax)
Notice of Contract Termination Due to Potential New California Law
Hello,
For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of California residents. Unfortunately, a potential new law that may be signed by Governor Brown compels us to terminate this program for California-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers – including but not limited to those referred by California-based marketing affiliates like you – even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It is supported by big-box retailers, most of which are based outside California, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that we must take this action.
As a result, we will terminate contracts with all California residents that are participants in the Amazon Associates Program as of the date (if any) that the California law becomes effective. We will send a follow-up notice to you confirming the termination date if the California law is enacted. In the event that the California law does not become effective before September 30, 2011, we withdraw this notice. As of the termination date, California residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned on or before the termination date will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.
You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of California. If you are not currently a resident of California, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. And if you relocate to another state in the near future please contact us for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.
To avoid confusion, we would like to clarify that this development will only impact our ability to offer the Associates Program to California residents and will not affect their ability to purchase from Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com.
We have enjoyed working with you and other California-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to California residents. We are also working on alternative ways to help California residents monetize their websites and we will be sure to contact you when these become available.
Regards,
The Amazon Associates Team
Followup:
Amazon Re-opens Associates Program to California Residents
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed legislation repealing the law that had forced us to close the program to California residents. We are pleased to invite all California Associates whose accounts were closed due to the prior legislation to re-enroll in the Program. Associates who re-enroll will retain all prior account settings (login, Associates ID, payment information, etc.). For more details and eligibility information, see our re-enrollment FAQs.
Changes to Amazon’s Product Advertising API
As part of our continued effort to ensure that Product Advertising API is an efficient and effective advertising tool, we’ve identified opportunities to streamline the API. Certain operations and response groups currently supported are infrequently used or are not aligned with the primary purpose of the Product Advertising API, which is to enable Associates to make money by advertising Amazon products in their websites and applications and sending traffic back to Amazon. The changes, described below, will help us continue to provide you with relevant and useful features to advertise Amazon products. The following changes to the API will take effect on October 25, 2011:
Associate Tag will be a required and verified input parameter in all requests to the API
SellerLookup, SellerListingLookup and SellerListingSearch operations will no longer be supported by the API
ItemPage parameter will be limited to a maximum of 10 pages for ItemSearch results
MerchantId parameter will no longer be supported for filtering offers, variations and search results
Merchants search index will no longer be supported
Data returned by the Offers and ItemAttributes response groups will be limited to the most frequently used attributes
For more details about these changes, please click here.