Amazon is currently beta testing contextual advertising with select associates. They would like to enter this market *and* use it to retain affiliates.

"We believe that by working with a third-party to provide Associates with links to relevant Web sites, in addition to products on Amazon, that we can help them make more money from their sites," Andrew Herdener, an Amazon spokesperson, told ClickZ in an e-mail exchange. "This will help us maintain long-term relationships with our Associates community that provides an important source of traffic to Amazon sites."


What does this mean for affiliate websites?

Adsense or Amazon.... a choice? A commission on clickthrus for ads in lieu of a commission for an acquisition?

I see the floodgates opening for spammers, bots and revenue share for click happy reprobates.

I would really like some more information on this.

So, would resellers that have an Amazon storefront be advertisers? If so, would the traffic be directed to the Amazon storefront instead of their own website?