Amazon Associates Sales by Video: Tracking IDs and Sub Tags

Amazon Associates doesn't send postbacks, so the only way to see which video earned an Amazon commission is through Amazon's own reports. Amazon's official tool is the tracking ID: a separate ID per channel or link, with reports for each. For click-level detail, a sub tag (the ascsubtag link parameter) can carry a click ID, and the downloaded earnings report can then be matched to clicks row by row.

Why Amazon is different

Networks such as Impact and Awin call a URL the moment a sale is recorded. Amazon doesn't. Your sales live in Associates Central, and you get them out by viewing or downloading reports. Anything that ties an Amazon sale to a video has to work from those reports.

Amazon also reports by shipped item, not by order. A report shows what shipped, what it sold for and what you earned on it.

Method 1: Tracking IDs (Amazon's official method)

Amazon's help center describes tracking IDs as identifiers you create in Associates Central to track the performance of multiple websites or individual links. They stay attached to your main Associates ID, so they are not separate accounts, and your earnings still roll up into one payment. You can view earnings for all tracking IDs together or run a report for each one. Amazon also says report data now includes the tracking ID for each transaction.

To use them for videos:

1. In Associates Central, go to your account and select Manage Your Tracking IDs.
2. Create an ID per video or per series, for example yourname-storm-20.
3. When you build a link for that video with SiteStripe or the link builder, pick that tracking ID.
4. Filter your reports by tracking ID to see what each video earned.

Where tracking IDs fall short

• They are manual. Every video needs its own ID chosen at link-building time. Pick the wrong one and the sale lands in the wrong bucket.
• There is a cap. Amazon limits how many tracking IDs an account can create, and has a help page about requesting more. A channel that posts daily will hit the limit or drown in IDs.
• One ID, one dimension. An ID can stand for a video or for a place (YouTube versus TikTok), but not both, unless you create an ID for every combination.
• No click detail. You see totals per ID, not which click or which day's traffic produced each sale.

Tracking IDs are still worth using for big, separate channels, such as a website and a YouTube channel. They are just a blunt tool for per-video attribution.

Method 2: Sub tags on each click

Many Associates links can also carry a sub tag in the ascsubtag parameter:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0EXAMPLE?tag=yourname-20&ascsubtag=storm-video

Where it is available, the value shows up in a Sub Tag column in Amazon's reports for any items bought after that click. Because it is a free-form label, a link tool can put a unique click ID there on every click, without you creating anything in Associates Central.

What we could and couldn't confirm:

• Amazon's public Associates help pages document tracking IDs, but we couldn't find an official Amazon page that documents ascsubtag.
• Tracking tools and Amazon partners use it widely, and many Associates reports include a Sub Tag column.
• Some tool makers report that sub tag data isn't shown on every account. Check your own reports for a Sub Tag column before you rely on it.

Keep sub tags short and stick to letters, numbers and hyphens. Tool makers report that spaces and special characters can get cut off.

How rows get matched to clicks

Matching a report row to a video works like this:

1. A viewer taps your link. Your link tool records the click (which video address, which place, which link) and gives it an ID.
2. The tool sends the viewer to Amazon with ascsubtag= set to that click ID.
3. The viewer buys. Amazon later lists the shipped item in your earnings report with the click ID in the Sub Tag column.
4. You download the report and give it to your tool. It looks up each Sub Tag, finds the click, and credits the commission to that click's video and place.

Rows with an empty Sub Tag are sales that didn't come through the tool, for example someone using an old raw Amazon link. They still count as income but can't be tied to a video.

Doing it in Vyrl

In Vyrl, add your Amazon links under Links with Affiliate network set to Amazon Associates. Leave ascsubtag out of the link: Vyrl adds it with its own click ID on every click. Then:

1. In Associates Central, download your earnings report as a CSV file. Make sure the report has a Sub Tag column.
2. In Vyrl, open Networks, choose the file under Amazon Associates report, pick the currency (USD, EUR or GBP), and select Import.
3. Vyrl reads the revenue and earnings columns, matches each row to its click by the Sub Tag, and tells you how many rows it imported and matched.

Rows marked as returns, or with negative earnings, are counted as reversed. Re-importing the same report doesn't double count, so it is safe to upload again if you aren't sure whether you already did. If the file has no Sub Tag column, Vyrl says so instead of importing it.

Once imported, Amazon earnings sit next to your other networks, so you can compare commission and earnings per click by video, by link and by share link. Report import is part of the Creator plan; see pricing.

A note on disclosure

Amazon's Operating Agreement requires a statement that you earn from qualifying purchases, quoted in the agreement as "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." For videos, the FTC's guidance for influencers says the disclosure belongs in the video itself, not only in the description. See affiliate disclosure for videos for how to word and place it.