Associates Widgets FAQ
The Amazon Associates Program will be retiring all support for widgets. Please find additional detail, as well as key dates and alternatives available to you. We care about your success and have offered alternative solutions to replace your widgets, which you can find below.
As a reminder all flash widgets are already deprecated since December 15th, 2020. The process to retire all other widgets will begin on March 1st, 2022 and conclude on April 1st, 2022. Features will be shut down as described below:
1. March 1st, 2022 - Creators will no longer be able to create new widgets or edit existing ones, but existing widgets that are supported by Amazon Associates tech (non-Flash) on creators’ pages will continue to work.
2. April 1st, 2022 – Widgets will no longer be supported by Amazon Associates. Creators should plan to complete their migrations to other link building solutions before this date.
1. What are widgets?
Widgets are web applications that you can install on your websites to monetize your traffic. When a shopper visits your website, Amazon Associates will serve content to your shoppers through these widgets. Originally introduced in mid-2000s, widgets have niche applications that serve specific monetization needs.
2. Why is Amazon retiring widgets?
At Amazon Associates, we want to offer the best tools for you to monetize your content effectively and provide a first-class shopping experience for your visitors. As customer preferences for online browsing and shopping evolve, we have found that widgets in their current form are not optimal for encouraging conversion and as a result accrue lower referral fees for you. We have decided to deprecate this capability in favor of other better performing link building tools.
3. Which widgets are being retired?
The widgets being retired are search widget, wishlist widget, my favorite widget, contextual recommendations widget, product cloud widget, contextual shop and share, and mp3 widget.
4. How does the widget retirement impact me on March 1st, 2022?
After March 1st, 2022, you will no longer be able to create or edit the ad code for any widgets through Associates Central. Existing deployment of widgets on your websites will continue to work, but we strongly recommend you take this opportunity to migrate them to more suitable alternatives (see below).
5. What happens to my existing widgets after April 1st?
After April 1st, 2022, Amazon Associates will stop supporting all widgets. Any existing widgets on your websites will stop working. After April 1st, widgets placed inside an iFrame will appear as a blank space, and widgets placed as-is on a webpage will not render anything.
6. What changes do you recommend I take?
We care about your success and recommend that you take action as soon as possible to remove all legacy widgets from your website and consider alternative link building options we offer. You can choose between Site Stripe, Associates Central link building, Product Advertising API, and feeds.
7. Who can help me with more information?
If you have any further questions, please contact Amazon Associates Customer Service.