Affiliate Link Injector

The Problem

Your SEO content pipeline publishes 30 articles a month. Each one needs affiliate links. The editor adds links but uses "We may earn a commission" — which the FTC has specifically flagged as non-compliant hedged language. Amazon affiliate links use search URLs (/s?k=...) instead of ASIN-based product links — a TOS violation that triggers account deactivation. CFD broker articles are missing the mandatory risk disclosure paragraph with the broker-specific loss percentage. One article links a broker in a negative context ("XYZ scam") with an affiliate link to XYZ — creating a defamation and FTC misrepresentation exposure. Every article is a compliance landmine.

What You Get

• FTC-compliant disclosure placement with the exact HTML block that must appear before the first affiliate link — not in the footer, not behind a toggle, not only in the sidebar. Includes the canonical wording: "We earn a commission" (not "may earn"), in the same language as the article, above the fold on mobile
• Amazon Associates TOS enforcement requiring ASIN-based links (/dp/B0XXXXXX?tag=timoranjes-20), prohibiting search URLs, banning third-party link shorteners, and flagging Amazon links in email/PDF contexts where they're prohibited
• SaaS vendor routing rules — NEVER use Amazon links for SaaS/AI/cloud products (they 404); always route through ?via=timoranjes vendor URLs on Impact, PartnerStack, or direct partner portals
• CFD broker compliance overlays including the mandatory risk warning paragraph, broker-specific loss percentage (pulled from the broker's live site), prohibition on target prices and buy/sell recommendations, and the per-table → affiliate link marker convention
• Link density governance — max 3-5 links per 1,000 words, natural anchor text (never "click here"), rel="nofollow sponsored" on every affiliate link, and prohibition on linking competitors in negative contexts
• Verification sweep — seven automated checks before publish: disclosure position, rel attribute presence, density check, ASIN validation, placeholder detection (no href="#" at publish), CFD risk paragraph presence, and table disclaimer completeness

Why This Beats Prompting It Yourself

When you ask an agent to "add affiliate links to this article," it inserts links where the text is convenient rather than where FTC disclosure requirements apply. It doesn't know that Amazon Associates prohibits search URLs, that SaaS products need vendor-specific tracking parameters, or that CFD articles require broker-specific risk disclosures. It uses hedged disclosure language ("may earn") that fails FTC "clear and conspicuous" requirements. This skill encodes the complete compliance framework — every rule has a specific "do this, not that" with the exact HTML/URL format to use.

Example Session

You: "Add affiliate links to this 1,500-word Pepperstone broker review."

Agent output:

AFFILIATE INJECTION PLAN — Pepperstone Review (1,500 words)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

LINK COUNT: 4 links (within 3-5/1000 word limit)

1. DISCLOSURE (first body element after H1):
   <p class="ftc-disclosure"><em>Disclosure: This post contains affiliate
   links. We earn a commission if you click and purchase at no additional
   cost to you.</em></p>

2. CFD RISK DISCLOSURE (required for broker content):
   <p><em>Risk disclosure: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a
   high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail
   investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
   You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether
   you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.</em></p>
   [Loss %: fetched from pepperstone.com — verify before publish]

3. AFFILIATE LINKS:
   Line 42: "Pepperstone's demo account" →
     <a href="https://www.pepperstone.com?ref=123"
        rel="nofollow sponsored">Pepperstone's demo account</a>

   Line 87: "Pepperstone's mobile app" →
     <a href="https://www.pepperstone.com/app?ref=123"
        rel="nofollow sponsored">Pepperstone's mobile app</a>

   Line 124: "open a live account" →
     <a href="https://www.pepperstone.com/live?ref=123"
        rel="nofollow sponsored">open a live account</a>

   Line 156: "Pepperstone pricing" →
     <a href="https://www.pepperstone.com/pricing?ref=123"
        rel="nofollow sponsored">Pepperstone pricing</a>

VERIFICATION: All 7 checks PASS

Use Cases

• Auto-injecting affiliate links into finance, trading, and SaaS review articles
• Pre-publish compliance audit for any article containing affiliate links
• Onboarding new content writers to FTC disclosure and Amazon Associates TOS rules
• Monitoring a publishing pipeline for link compliance violations at scale
• Generating CFD/forex broker articles with mandatory risk disclosures

Known Limitations

The skill enforces rules for TradeStack-specific affiliate programs (AvaTrade, Pepperstone, Amazon Associates, SaaS vendor programs). Broker loss percentages must be fetched from the broker's live site on publish day — the skill provides the template but not the real-time data. CTA buttons should use href="#" during draft and be replaced with actual affiliate URLs only after editorial approval; the verification sweep blocks publish if placeholder CTAs remain.