[thelist] Site Critique requested

[Andy Warwick]

On 2001-10-08 16:16, Marc Seyon at seyon at delime.com wrote:

> Andy, aside from the layout not working as described by others, I'm
> wondering about the Amazon logo under Associates.

I'm working on the layout as we speak... lol
 
> Yes, we of the web development community (should) know what that means, but
> will a client? I've seen a letter from one company claiming to be
> affiliated with Yahoo, E-Bay, Amazon, AOL, etc. This letter was sent to
> various companies in an attempt to drum up business, one of them being a
> client of ours - it's obviously good marketing speak to ally yourself with
> such big names. But when we told the client what this "associate" and
> "affiliate" status really meant they were most displeased.

This had occurred to me actually, hence the presence of the [d] next to it,
which I've now made active (try clicking that and you'll see what I mean).
 
I've re-read the Amazon affiliates instruction, and the only thing I've
missed AFAIK is the "TM" next to the logo.

If a client asked, I'd certainly make it clear what the relationship is, and
on forthcoming pages where I list recommended books, etc. I'll certainly
have a paragraph making this "associate" status clear and disclosing my
interest in having a visitor click that button.

> Technically there's absolutely nothing wrong with calling oneself an Amazon
> Associate, but morally, is it right to do so in this manner?

Not sure what else I can do. I've complied with the terms of the program
AFAIK, and added a disclaimer/explanation next to the logo. I certainly have
no intention of passing off this as anything more than it is, as - as you
said - that would be morally wrong.

Is it the term and header associate that you have a problem with, or merely
the link with Amazon itself. If the later - which remains your prerogative -
then I'd have to disagree. If the former, I do see where you are coming
from. The "relative" weighting such a header gives the button certainly may
imply some relationship that isn't intended; any suggestions as to how to
"fix" this? If possible I'd rather give the button some context that makes
the situation clear, than just floating it in as an afterthought.

> I apologise in advance if no one else sees this as being somewhat duplicitous.

No problem; i'd be very interested to hear if anyone has a problem with
this, and ideas for possible solutions.

The last thing I want to be is duplicitous.

(No offence taken BTW Marc; this is a valid point that might even deserve
it's own thread.)

-- 
Andy Warwick       

email: andy.w at creed.co.uk                      PGP ID: 0xB1D73499
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