Not a big huge issue, really, and certainly not on the level of the last amazonfail, but I don’t imagine I’m the only one that’s received this email in the last day or so. Absolutely ridiculous, considering I’ve never used Adwords (although I did look into it as a source of income about two years before I bought and built this domain). I don’t know why it bothers me – I’ve been trying to work on another form of affiliate partnership with the books I’ve got listed (they’re not available everywhere, unfortunately, but Amazon does have them) and I’ve only ever – in 9 years of association with Amazon – made maybe $3.00 and change, most of that in 2000 when I had a handful of Webseed sites, which have since been removed from my account. Since adding this site, I’ve made $0.11. None of these has ever or will ever be paid out. They only pay out at a particular threshold, and if it’s not claimed within a year, they absorb it.

Or that was the excuse given when I asked about my missing funds.

So, here’s the email I received, and my response to it. Bold italic emphasis mine, to indicate their outright lies. I will grant that they say IF I use adwords to drive traffic here, that’s different.

You are receiving this email because our reports indicate that you have sent users directly to www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca or www.endless.com through paid search advertisements that were displayed to users who searched on keywords which you bid upon and purchased in search engine keyword auctions. As a reminder, starting May 1, 2009, we will no longer pay referral fees to Associates who send users to www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca or www.endless.com through paid search advertisements on Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other search engines, and their extended search networks. Of course if you use keyword bidding as a component of your strategy to drive traffic to your own site, you may continue to do so. Associates will continue to be paid referral fees on qualifying sales that result from traffic coming to www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca or www.endless.com from a customer affirmatively clicking on a Special Link on the Associates’ site(s). If you’re not sure if this change affects you, please visit this page for FAQs.

We appreciate your continued support and participation in the Amazon Associates program. If you have questions or concerns, please write to us by using the Contact Us form available on Associates Central.

Sincerely,

The Amazon Associates Program

This e-mail was sent to (redacted), based on Associates ID jodleeble-20.

Please note that you must use this e-mail address to access your account in Associates Central or when contacting Associates Customer Service.

To manage your e-mail preferences, update your account settings.

Message Category: Reminder: Change to Amazon Associates Program

© 2009 Amazon.com. All rights reserved. Amazon.com is a registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. Amazon.com, 1200 12th Ave. S., Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98144-2734, USA.

My response to Amazon.com’s associate warning email:

I just received an email stating I would not be receiving payments for referrals to your company. Supposedly your reasoning for this is that I use the google adwords programs.

Guess what? I DO NOT USE THAT PROGRAM! I have no adwords, no google trappings, nothing of the sort on my site. Nothing. I DO NOT PAY for google placement.

If google has spidered the aStore I have on the site, is that my fault? I have most damnably assuredly NOT been using adwords.

I don’t even know why you’re bothering to refuse to pay out the what… 11 cents I may have made in the last how many years of using your associates program??

Pretty pathetic.