eBay announced the launch of their new affiliate linking infrastructure, Project Rover.

Since 2001, Commission Junction has been powering eBay’s affiliate program. With this launch, eBay is going to host their own links on their own domain (rover.ebay.com).

But no, they are not leaving CJ. According to an email from eBay published by Scott Jangro, Project Rover has been designed to work seamlessly with the Commission Junction interface.

Here are some of the benefits of the new link structure:

• Reduced Ad / Cookie Blocking: Rover decreases the potential for Ad / Cookie Blocking by utilizing an eBay hosted domain.
• Limited Redirects: Rover will use fewer redirects reducing the risk of user drop off and improving speed and performance.
• Global Infrastructure Improvements: Rover will enable eBay and Commission Junction to develop increased global tracking capabilities, allowing for more seamless international affiliate promotions.

eBay anticipates a few things with Project Rover. First this technology assured affiliates that CJ’s Link Management Initiative would not affect them. The cookie washing and ad blocking problems have been solved too because cookie washers obviously can’t delete cookies from ebay.com.

Scott has more information and also explanation of the Rover link structure.

[Scott Jangro]