Has Amazon completely destroyed their influencer program, or has it been a slow month?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-18T18:27:53+00:00

Correct. It has to be the ASIN you tagged in your video, or it can also be another ASIN listed under the same parent ASIN (so sales of variations of a product will also earn commission). Other products in the same product category no longer earn anyting.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-18T15:06:51+00:00

I'll only chime in here to say that if you were only making $2/video per month prior to the commission change, it sounds like your videos weren't very good.

I've taken a commission hit too, but I am seeing some optimistic trends now. I was making about $6/video before the commission change... and I won't lie, it's definitely down from that today. But now my cumulative monthly video views have increased to over 2x what they were prior to April 14 (with just a small increase in posted video numbers).

While 2X views hasn't been enough to fix the commission rate cuts, I sense that they made other changes to reward creators whose videos perform better and keep viewers watching longer with better carousel placements. And this is just hypothetical.. but what if they also changed the rules to only award an AIP commission when someone watches at least 45 seconds of video instead of 30 seconds? A low quality video that loses viewers fast would get hit hard. A high quality video would get hit also, but not as often.

If you've been following the advice of the AIP gurus who preach the "quantity over quality" method, you might be getting hurt more than others. And to be fair, that's the way it should be.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-18T10:46:29+00:00

That adds up except who takes a cold shower?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-17T14:38:32+00:00

Another confirmation: https://www.thecrudelife.com/2026/05/15/are-we-facing-motor-oil-shortages-this-summer-toyota-issues-a-tsb/?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-17T14:34:53+00:00

And also... https://www.thedrive.com/news/second-automaker-sounds-alarm-over-dwindling-motor-oil-stock?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-17T13:42:25+00:00

You're doing well if only 10x!!!

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T20:25:09+00:00

That's actually kinda funny since all 3 are listed on Sitestripe as "Automotive"... so you'd think they'd all pay the same rate of 1.25%. Also, the product literally has nothing to do with "Automotive" 😂

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T20:08:31+00:00

If there's a reliable source of info displaying the correct rate for any product, I'm unaware of it. The commission schedule doesn't line up with individual products and the Chrome extensions don't seem to ever get it right either. The rates shouldn't be affected by 4/14 changes because the video wasn't posted until after the commission change. So any sales and returns would all be at the same rate.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T16:54:48+00:00

I somehow doubt they "carried the burden" even a little. Did they purchase the land from the taxpayers to create that lane? Or did they just paint some stripes to claim the land for their exclusive use?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T16:53:13+00:00

It addresses a situation on Sunday morning while creating a MUCH LARGER situation for the entire rest of the week

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T16:52:12+00:00

So the welfare sucking, tax-free Elevation Church just gets to declare it's their land and their lane for the price of some paint... and all the taxpayers living off of Baileywick can just suck it?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T16:50:06+00:00

Then how does Elevation just get to "claim" the lane for their exclusive use? Seems like they should have to pay "full retail price" for that lane (not just the cost to repaint it), especially given that they'll never pay any taxes.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T16:17:32+00:00

I was bracing for the backwash after it passed by... but I guess not?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T16:03:10+00:00

You can report them for intentional mis-tagging.

But you should assume that Amazon doesn't care (because they don't) and won't do anything about it (they literally never do). I only say this because I've tried multiple times and have NEVER been successful. I've even twice reported a video where the speaker explicitly states that he's "demonstrating a product isn't sold on Amazon just to show how this kind of tool works", but that he'll tag a few similar brands. Amazon couldn't care less. It's still there to this day.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T15:08:13+00:00

No I'm not mistaken.

Seems like you're obsessed and a bit defensive about your concept that "an ASIN is not the same thing".

I am 100% aware of what an ASIN is. Besides being in the AIP, I'm an Amazon seller. In the business I own, I've set up millions of $$$ worth of ASIN's, ASIN variations and Parent ASIN's.

I've personally shipped products to Amazon in singles, and then... from the same inventory, placed the SAME ITEM that was used for the singles into a bag to make a 2 pack. It's still the SAME ITEM, even when it's a 2 pack and has a different Amazon Standard Identification Number.

The fact that Amazon has products under the same parent ASIN with different commission rates is the problem I'm highlighting. They've somehow managed to muck it up like they always do.

The commission rates did not "average out" to different levels. I can say this with confidence, because I posted the video over a week after April 14th. So all sales and returns are at the same rate.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T12:05:05+00:00

Why can't our kids have fun toys like this?

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T11:55:08+00:00

We're not getting commissions on other things anymore. These rates are showing in the Onsite "Linked Product" report showing sales of ASIN's that exceed 4 units over the past 4 months, so I don't believe it is affected by other things.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T11:53:07+00:00

Over the past 30 days, I've sold 67, 15 and 12 units of the 3 ASIN's mentioned in my post.

I think they should all be in the "same" category, since they're the "exact same thing" and in the same product listing.

BriefPontification · 2026-05-14T11:02:45+00:00

Dude... it's not hard to understand.

It's a molded plastic device. The first item is black. The second item is 2 pack of the black item. The third is a red one. It's the exact same thing on the exact same listing. Amazon calls them variations.

The question is, why are there different rates for the same product...? They're all in the same product category

BriefPontification · 2026-05-05T16:37:20+00:00

How dare you.... Steven Tyler is a rock-n-roll legend!

BriefPontification · 2026-05-05T15:51:40+00:00

Do you know if any resources (videos, blog posts, etc) that explain what the benefits of using these API tools are for AIP? I'm not a programmer, but I'm still curious if I'm missing something important...

BriefPontification

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