eBay has announced two changes that will affect the eBay US affiliate program beginning June 1, 2007. There will be an increase in commission rates and changes to the terms regarding paid search.

According to the message sent to ebay affiliates…

The main objectives of the price change are to:

• Encourage partners to increase promotional efforts with higher tiers
• Reward the launch and growth of new, innovative business models

The new commission structure will compensate affiliates from $25 to $35 per ACRU, and 50% to 75% revenue share.

Details on the commission changes are at http://affiliates.ebay.com/payout.

The other change for ebay affiliates relates to paid search campaigns. eBay’s US Affiliate Compensation Section 1.0 will be updated on June 1st as follows:

a. Search Engines. You will not be compensated for paid search traffic purchased from Google.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com, nor from any of their content networks, such as Google AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network, and MSN ContentAds, if it is linked directly to the eBay.com, eBay Express, or eBay Store domains (not “Commission Earning Activity”). The change in policy is limited to the eBay.com US program, and to the three search engines stated above. Linking to a non eBay domain is allowed.

The new Terms & Conditions will automatically take effect on June 1 for eBay affiliates.