eBay published a press release, portions of which are reprinted below:
SAN JOSE, Calif.,– March 17, 2008 – Today eBay unveiled the eBay Partner Network, a new global affiliate program for publishers driving traffic to eBay. Officially launching on April 1st, 2008, the eBay Partner Network will be eBay’s new in-house affiliate network, designed to more fully align the programs across eBay’s global properties and give affiliates expanded access to revenue opportunities across its platforms.
and…
As part of the move to an in-house affiliate network, eBay and Half.com will no longer run their affiliate programs through ValueClick’s Commission Junction platform. eBay’s Tradera AB, ProStores, Inc, Reseller Marketplace, Media Marketplace, eBay Stores and StubHub will not be affected and will continue their relationship with Commission Junction. eBay affiliates working with other platforms including, Affilinet and TradeDoubler will not be affected.
Affected eBay and Half.com affiliates will be required to move their affiliate links over to the eBay Partner Network by May 1st, 2008. eBay will continue its valued partnership with ValueClick’s technology division, Mediaplex, for ad serving, tracking and other custom projects. More information on the transition process for eBay affiliates, as well as the eBay programs affected, can be found at http://affiliates.ebay.com.
While this is great news for the scores of affiliates who hate Commission Junction and particularly its tracking system, a number of affiliates who are using BANS (Build a Niche Store) are expressing concern on ShoeMoney's blog over the change.
Although I have yet to hear anything from Kelvin, the BANS developer, I trust he'll get a new version out in time. Just to be sure, I'll pop him a note and report back on what he says… will need to make some changes to my own BANS installation over at Roamsters.com.
In the meantime, to learn more about BANS, check out this blog post – How to Easily Add eBay Listings to Your Site.
[tags]ebay, Commission Junction, BANS, affiliate[/tags]