If you have not yet set up your Affiliates credentials in the Create settings, please start off by reading this article to guide you through.
Create allows you to add Amazon Affiliate links to your cards and automatically scrape information by using Amazon's Product Advertising API. This feature can save a lot of time and makes it super easy to display your Affiliate links on the site in an eye-catching manner!
In this article, we will help you troubleshoot common issues when using Amazon Affiliate links in Create.
"Invalid Amazon Credentials" Error
There are a few different error messages that you could receive when trying to add an Amazon Affiliate link to a Create List or Recommended Products.
The below message is most common:
If you receive this message, you won't be able to add an Amazon link to the card to be automatically scraped. (You can still add the link, image, and title manually if need be.)
There are several reasons why your credentials may read as invalid with the Amazon API. With a bit of troubleshooting, you should be able to identify the issue and hopefully get things working.
Common Causes for "Invalid Amazon Credentials" Error
When attempting to resolve this error, go through the below list of common causes one by one and follow the given steps, if applicable.
New Keys Not Finished Provisioning - If you're using a brand new set of keys, they must be finished provisioning, which takes around 24-48 hours. After waiting at least 48 hours, test again. If the 48 hours have passed and you still get the Invalid Amazon Credentials message, try clicking the "Clear Amazon Affiliates Provision Lock" button in the Affiliates tab of the Create settings. (This only appears after you add in or change Affiliate information.)
Incorrect Keys and/or Associates Tag - Sometimes, your Affiliate keys or Associates Tag may not be entered correctly. Refer back to your Affiliates profile and make sure that all information added in to the Create settings is accurate.
Links Are Not From U.S. Marketplace - Create can currently only process affiliate links from the U.S. marketplace (links ending in .com). If you are signed up as an Affiliate for a different country, those links will not be able to be automatically scraped. (You are still able to add links manually.) Please note that if you live outside of the U.S. and have U.S. (.com) links, everything should work just fine.
Not Enough Qualifying Sales - If you have just recently joined Amazon Affiliates, you may not yet have enough qualifying sales to use the API. Amazon requires 3 sales within the first 180 days. Try to add links to Create once more after you have reached that number of qualifying sales. To access Amazon's Affiliate help documentation to learn more, click here.
Generate a New Set of Keys - If none of the prior four steps seem to do the trick, generating a new set of Affiliate keys can help. You can do so in your Amazon Affiliates profile, then wait 48 hours for the provisioning period to pass and test again.
Other Messages and How to Troubleshoot Them
You may receive a message that may not be specifically related to an issue with your Amazon credentials. As long as you have confirmed that your keys are finished provisioning, your credentials are entered into the Create settings correctly, your links are from the U.S. marketplace, and you have enough qualifying sales, there may be an issue with the links you are adding themselves. Below are a couple of examples.
"Please use expanded Amazon Link" Message
Using a shortened link won't work with the Amazon API - it requires use of the full Affiliate link. Please refer to this help article on how to get non-shortened Amazon links for Create.
"No Data Found" Message
This error is essentially telling you there is something wrong with the link (other than being a shortened link), resulting in the API not being able to pull any information.
One reason you may get this message is that adding non-product Amazon links will not work with the Amazon API. If you try to add a link to a movie on Amazon Prime, for example, you will likely need to add that manually.
Another cause for this message would be if your affiliate link was incorrect. Perhaps part of the link was cut off when you copied it, so it is bringing up no results from the API. As long as it's a proper product link, we would suggest going back to copy the link again and trying once more.
If you are still experiencing issues after trying the above steps, our team is happy to help. Please email create@mediavine.com for assistance.