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Filed under: Business, Social Software

Amazon affiliate links now post to Twitter in two clicks

In an email to members of its Amazon Associates program, Amazon.com started promoting Twitter integration for affiliate links. People have been posting Amazon links to Twitter for just about as long as Twitter's been around, but now it's an insanely easy two-click process, using the toolbar on any product page. This is good news for Associates, making Twitter a viable place to pick up some extra clicks and sales.

It's bad news if you hate product spam, though. Get prepared for a whole mess of folks starting up spammy Twitter accounts to take advantage of the new feature. Also get ready for well-intentioned friends who don't grasp Twitter etiquette to post some product links here and there. I'm not predicting a big storm, just a new minor nuisance.

The messages don't auto-post to your account, they just redirect you to Twitter.com with a pre-filled tweet. The text before the product names seem to rotate, and it includea stuff like "Great deal on," "Check out," and "Just saw on Amazon." I guess that'll make people who post frequent product links look a little bit less like spammers.

Filed under: Business, Internet

Overstock.com to NY: No tax dollars for you!

Overstock NY affiliate letter

The state of New York recently adopted a law that requires online retailers to collect taxes for items sold in New York if they have affiliates based in the state. That might sound like a reasonable request if New York shopping malls were littered with Amazon and Overstock.com kiosks. But the affiliates the law refers to are web publishers and bloggers in NY who happen to post links to stores like Amazon and Overstock in exchange for a small commission.

Needless to say, some folks aren't too happy with the ruling, and Amazon has already sued NY. Overstock.com is apparently taking a different approach. The company has begun sending out letters to affiliates in New York, letting them know that the company will, at least temporarily, be ending its relationships with NY affiliates.

In other words, New York doesn't get to collect any taxes from Overstock.com, and the state has probably just ticked off a whole lot of New Yorkers who had affiliate relationships with the company.

Thanks Scott!

Filed under: Business, Internet, News

Tax-free online purchases could be a thing of the past

Amazon Affiliate linkSo you know how you don't have to pay sales tax on stuff you buy online unless you're buying it from a company that has a physical presence in your home state? Yeah, that could all be over soon.

New York Governor Elliot Spitzer has pledged not to raise taxes. But he's got a budget deficit to deal with, so he's trying to find new ways to collect taxes. And his administration believes they've found a loophole in that whole bricks and mortar thing.

Here's how it works. Sure, Amazon doesn't have a warehouse in New York. But lots of New York-based web sites have Amazon affiliate links. And Spitzer argues that effectively makes the New Yorkers who run those websites into Amazon salespeople, thus allowing the state to collect taxes from Amazon.

If Spitzer's plan holds up in court, it could open the floodgates and other states would likely be quick to follow. Either that or Amazon and other online retailers would stop offering affiliate programs. The plan is set to take effect in New York in December. So get your shopping done now.

Update: It looks like Spitzer has dropped this plan. For now.

Filed under: Business, Developer, Internet, Video, Web services

Everyone is getting into digital video distribution, including NBC

nbbc digital video distributionNBC Universal, and NBC affiliates have teamed up to fund >nbbc, a company that will distribute and profit from video footage online. Noticing a rapid growth in the digital video segment, NBC thinks it has the perfect opportunity to get its toes wet. NBC will be tapping all affiliate channels, and other media sources for materials for the new online venture. Through the use of a user friendly video player created by >nbbc, website publishers can easily drop content into their websites, enabling them to profit from new sources of revenue, and a growth in website visitors from the new offerings.

>nbbc will be profiting by digital video syndication, revenue sharing, and different fee-based models. Through the revenue model, advertising dollars will be split between >nbbc, the content licensor, and the web publisher. This is a unique approach by a large broadcaster, leveraging the content they are already producing to provide for more streams of revenue, and aiding in the growth of revenue for other web publishers by harnessing the power of Internet content.

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