What CAN and CAN'T we do with the description link?

[Nac]

Hello.

Can anybody explain or refer to an explanation of what use can we do with the link the the video description according to youtube's TOS?
It's really not clear...

I know for sure that affiliate links aren't allowed and it's only a matter of time until somebody rats you out and you get banned.
But...Is a link to an amazon product (not affiliate) allowed?
Iv'e been contacted by somebody who wants me to put a link in one of my videos referring to his amazon kitchen product.

He's willing to pay for it...

Is this a risk for my channel?

And if it is - what exactly is the problem? Linking to amazon? or getting payed for it? maybe both?

Thanks you guyz

 

[TigerXtrm]

There's a large grey area concerning video descriptions. People will tell you that Amazon links are not allowed, yet you see them absolutely everywhere. There are entire (very successful) channels around who make their primary income through affiliate links. I think it comes down to whether YouTube considers the link spam or not. If the video is garbage and has nothing more to offer than pointing to the link in the description then it's most likely going to get you a warning. Someone doing 20 minute high quality reviews of a product and putting a link in the description is a lot less likely to be warned for it. Not what you'd expect from the TOS, but that's how it seems to work in practice. I've had affiliate links in some of my video descriptions ever since I've started making them and I haven't had any trouble so far.

As for accepting money from someone to put a link there, I'd be careful there. Not only because the site in question may be a serious violation of YouTube's TOS. But also because the link could be seen as spam if it has absolutely nothing to do with your video content. However I've also done that on a few occasions (on my personal channel which has an insanely popular video that I can't monetize). Got paid like 50 bucks to put a link there for a month and never had any trouble for it either. But yes, I do think that would be illegal if YouTube found out. How much risk are you willing to take?

 

[Nac]

Thank you for your answer!
Since I got A LOT to lose - I think I'm not willing to take that risk...
Youv'e helped a lot! I appreciate it