A controversial story came out in July about the fact that Amazon had supposedly refused to pay an affiliate his commission on affiliate links placed on Twitter and there was some speculation that using URL shorteners with Amazon could also be a problem.

The original story came from Search Engine Journal, reported by Joshua Odmark. No Precedence For Social Media – Amazon Hangs Us Out To Dry
Jangro blogged it: Affiliate Links in Twitter, Amazon Says No
And so did I: If You Twitter Affiliate Links – Amazon Won’t Pay

Today Amazon clarifies their stance on social marketing, twitter marketing and URL shorteners, saying they are all fine to use, if used within Amazon’s guidelines. Joshua wrote the story again, this time with support and feedback from Dave Cotter, head of Amazon’s affiliate program.

The piece was written as a GUIDE to social media marketing for affiliates and Amazon lays out the ground rules that they assume will also be acceptable for most other affiliate programs, although you should always check each program’s TOS.

Social Media Affiliate Marketing Guide 101 – With Amazon

I would like to thank Dave Cotter, head of Amazon’s affiliate program, for contributing to this guide. After writing an earlier social media affiliate marketing article, Dave reached out to me to create this guide to help affiliates all over the Internet understand the proper way to approach affiliate marketing on social media.

The purpose of this article is to clarify exactly what is acceptable from the standpoint of Amazon. Since Amazon has been one of the leaders in affiliate marketing, if you follow their suggestions there is a good chance they will also be applicable to other affiliate programs. Please keep in mind that in order to be sure, you should read the guidelines for each affiliate program individually.

Shawn Collins also recently blogged about his approval for using affiliate links on Twitter for the Amazon affiliate program. Tale of the Affiliate Done Wrong