Affiliate link clarification
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I’m so confused on what is and isn’t allowed as far as affiliate links go… I’ve searched but I keep getting conflicting information.
Here’s my website: https://traumamamadrama.com/ I’m on the Premium plan.
I’ve just added the affiliate links from Fun & Function and Discovery Toys – are these allowed? I personally sought out these ads and placed them on my website because I feel they are relevant. Please let me know if not and I’ll remove them ASAP.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Please read these support docs:
Monetize Your Site https://en.support.wordpress.com/monetize-your-site/
Affiliate links https://en.support.wordpress.com/affiliate-links/1. WordPress.com allows bloggers to insert text affiliate links within post and page content to most third-party affiliate programs, provided they are not the primary content of the site in question.
2. Image affiliate links in posts and pages and any banners, affiliate links in sidebar or footer widget areas, are still considered to be advertising and are not allowed on WordPress.com blogs.
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So to clarify, because these are attached to images, they’re considered banner ads?
I’m sorry, I’ve read that page several times and couldn’t figure out if what I’m posting qualifies as something that is not allowed. I need it spelled out exactly – “what you’ve done is not allowed” or “that’s okay.”
Sorry!
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2. Image affiliate links in posts and pages and any banners, affiliate links in sidebar or footer widget areas, are still considered to be advertising and are not allowed on WordPress.com blogs.
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I will type modlook into the sidebar tags on this thread for a Staff follow-up. How do I get a Moderator/Staff reply for my question? https://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-help-in-the-forums/#how-do-i-get-a-moderatorstaff-reply-for-my-question Please subscribe to this thread so you are notified when they respond and be patient while waiting. To subscribe look in the sidebar of this thread, find the subscribe to topics link and click it.
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Okay – I’ve removed the ads for now to be safe.
For anyone who follows up, the code I’d used was :
<img src=”http://static.shareasale.com/image/62473/logowithtagline_00.png” border=”0″ />
I’d thought such ads were okay to use with my Premium plan and because they were relevant, but then I got confused on this since the code DOES result in an image… I just want to be sure I’m following the rules!
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this part got left out of the text above; it comes before the <img tag:
< a target=”_blank” href=”http://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=827414&u=1387587&m=62473&urllink=&afftrack=” >
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Hi there,
The policy used to disallow image affiliate links and the text @timethief quoted comes from our old support document on affiliate links, but that policy has recently been relaxed. Now, affiliate links linking out from images in your posts and pages are fine, as long as the product being linked to is relevant to the content of your post and the main purpose of the post and the site is not just to drive traffic to affiliate sites.
You can find the updated policy here:
That said, we don’t allow affiliate linking for specific types of services or for disreputable merchants. More details at that link.
Banner ads in the header and sidebar, and use of advertising networks like Google Adsense is still not allowed under any plan on WordPress.com, but if you have your own domain and sufficient traffic you can apply to our WordAds program.
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The policy used to disallow image affiliate links and the text @timethief quoted comes from our old support document on affiliate links, but that policy has recently been relaxed.
Wow! I am red-faced. Thanks. I will endeavor to update my links and copy and paste answer.
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Thanks everyone! From what I’m getting, image ads are allowed in POSTS but not SIDEBARS or FOOTERS.
I’ve decided to just go ahead and self-host next month so that I don’t have to worry so much :)
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This changed very recently and wasn’t really announced aside from the new support document :)
Ads are not allowed anywhere outside of WordAds, but affiliate links in your posts don’t count as advertising as it’s related to the content you’re using.
If you want to self-host that is of course your choice, but keep in mind it will involve a lot of technical site maintenance that we all do for you on WordPress.com, and it’s significantly more expensive even at a cheap hosting plan. You can find more information on self-hosting here:
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