#1322 Display changes requested by Amazon

[Ahasuerus]

As per http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/ISFDB:Community_Portal#Display_changes_requested_by_Amazon posted on 2019-10-24:

As many of you know, the ISFDB project participates in the Amazon "Associate" program. What this means is that:

Amazon gives us programmatic access to its internal database (aka "the Amazon API")
when we link to Amazon.com or Amazon UK, we embed an Amazon-issued affiliate ID in the URL
when a user follows an Amazon link with our ID embedded and buys a book, we get a few cents per book

The money that we get is typically in the $5-$15/month range and goes to partially offset server costs. In the grand scheme of things it's inconsequential and we could easily live without it. However, having programmatic access to the Amazon database is a big deal since it enables Fixer to create automatic submissions. They make it much easier to keep up with (at least English-language) new books. If we stop embedding ISFDB IDs in Amazon URLs, we will stop making money for Amazon and they will revoke our access to their database.

The latest update to the Amazon "Associate" agreement and the latest Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines require Amazon Associates to disclose that they make money from Amazon links. Here is the specific language that I and, reportedly, many other participants, received from Amazon a few days ago:

... you must include a legally compliant disclosure with your links ... A clear disclosure could be as simple as "(paid link)", "#ad" or "#CommissionsEarned" ... It should be placed near any affiliate link ...
... the following statement clearly and conspicuously appears on your Site: "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases."

I am not thrilled with these requirements because implementing them will make us look more like a referring service and less like a bibliographic site. At the same time I expect that the advantage of having programmatic access to Amazon's data outweighs the disadvantages.

My current thinking is that we could add "As an Amazon Associate ISFDB earns from qualifying purchases -- see the ISFDB FAQ" to the bottom of Publication pages, right under "ISFDB Engine - Version 4.00 (04/24/06)".

For link-level disclosures there are two areas of the Publication page that are affected: the drop-down list under the recently renamed "Amazon Links" and ASIN external IDs. (Note that only Amazon.com and Amazon UK links are affected at this time.) We could display something like "affiliate link" next to Amazon.com and Amazon UK links. The FTC guidelines seem to say that "affiliate link" might not be "adequate" "by itself", but it's open to interpretation. I'd rather wait and see what happens than use "(paid link)" or "#ad", which are misleading. "#CommissionsEarned" may be a fall-back position if "affiliate link" turns out to be insufficient.

2020-10-10 update. The specific language requested by Amazon on 2020-10-05 was as follows:

To comply with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations, your link-level disclosure must be:

1. Clear. A clear disclosure could be as simple as “(paid link)”, “#ad” or “#CommissionsEarned”.

2. Conspicuous. It should be placed near any associate link or product review in a location that customers will notice easily. They shouldn’t have to hunt for it.

In addition, the Operating Agreement requires that the following statement clearly and conspicuously appears on your Site: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”

The phrasing that we ended up using was "(paid link)" next to ASIN/ISBN links and "As an Amazon Associate ISFDB earns from qualifying purchases” at the bottom of Publication pages.

[Ahasuerus]

Implemented in:

biblio/common.py
common/library.py

Installed in SVN 552 on 2020-10-10. Closing the FR.

[Ahasuerus]

Part 2 - Adjusted the wording based on editor feedback:

biblio/common.py
common/library.py

Installed in SVN 554 on 2020-10-13. Keeping th FR closed.