A year ago ECommerce Guide held its first Affiliate Week, profiling the most popular programs that enable Web site publishers to generate revenue via sponsored links. This week, we highlight the changes that have happened in those programs since then that have added features, functionality and additional means of generating revenue on your site.

Amazon Associates
The Amazon Associates program allows affiliates to build links to Amazon content and merchandise with an embedded affiliate tracking code. It offers its affiliates the ability to create text-based, individual product and multiple banner links. When a user actually buys something from Amazon, the affiliate gets a percentage ranging from four percent all the way up to ten percent.

Affiliate links can be built via Amazon Associates' Web site or via Amazon's E-Commerce Service (formerly known as Amazon Web Services), which provides a more direct data, feed for Amazon content for Web site integration.

In late 2005, Amazon introduced its newest method of link generation in quite some time: the Product Preview link. The program remains in active beta testing, but is available for most Associates.

The concept is interesting. By inserting a piece of code on a particular Web page and then placing an Amazon product text link on the page, random visitors who hover over the link will see a virtual pop-up containing the product image, price, product description, availability and click-to-buy link.

It also gives site visitors the ability to add that item directly to their Amazon.com shopping cart.

One downside to the program while it's still in beta is that only 50 percent of those who see the text links will see the Product Preview window.

"To evaluate product preview-enhanced link performance, 50 percent of the visitors to Web sites in the beta program will always see preview-enhanced Basic Display Product Links (static links to individual products on Amazon.com). The other 50 percent will always see standard links. To make this happen, we 'flip a coin' the first time someone visits an Associate's page containing product previews. If the coin comes up heads, the visitor will see preview-enhanced links. If it comes up tails, the visitor will see standard links," says Amazon on its site.

"We store this information in a cookie on the visitor's browser. If visitors to your site do not allow the cookie to be added to their browser, they'll simply see standard links; the display of your Web site will not be affected," it continues.

Amazon Associates' new Product Preview beta generates detailed product windows when your site visitors hover over an Amazon product link.

Clicks on product preview links also qualify for the program's Direct Link Bonus, which is 2.5 percent more than the item's standard fee.

The Product Preview links work on Netscape 6 and higher on Windows XP, Macintosh OS X and Linux, Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher on Windows XP only, and Firefox 1.0.7 and higher on Windows XP, Macintosh OS X and Linux.

Is It Working?
We contacted Amazon to ask how long the beta program would continue, how many Associates have signed up for the program and if there has been a marked increase in conversion for Associates using the Product Preview links.

Unfortunately, Amazon refused to discuss anything about the Product Preview beta program, instead issuing a canned response to our inquiry:

"We appreciate your interest in our Product Previews beta program, but please know that the information you are requesting is proprietary information. Due to the competitive nature of our business, our policy is not to give out information on the inner workings of our company and programs."

Next, we'll look at Google's AdSense.

Devin Comiskey is the Managing Editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.

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