MediaWhiz had previously purchased another sensibly named advertising startup, TextLinkAds, last November (TextLinkAds is a long time TechCrunch sponsor). Since the acquisition TextLinkAds expanded into RSS ads on top of direct website linking.

AuctionAds has been paying out 100% of eBay affiliate fees to publishers. Since eBay pays fees based on the total business a partner drives, AuctionAds can generate their own additional revenue from a combined network while still paying out the same rates affiliates would receive on their own. Since launch, they have registered over 20,000 publishers on their network.

Similar services to AuctionAds include BooBox and FavoriteThingz.

AuctionAds was launched as a partnership between Shoemoney Media and MediaWhiz. MediaWhiz has purchased Jeremy Schoemaker’s majority ownership to fully acquire the company.

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AuctionAds says they’ll pass 100% of eBay affiliate fees (paid on new eBay user registrations and a percentage of sales) on to publishers for an interim period. Since eBay pays sliding fees based on the total business generated by the affiliate (which in this case is AuctionAds), eventually AuctionAds will be able to skim some fees off the top while still promising to pay sites at least as much as they’d earn as a direct affiliate. See this page for current eBay affiliate fees.

It’s a good idea, although it isn’t clear if site owners would be better off with AuctionAds v. using the screen real estate for Google ads or other advertisements. I’m sure some sites will be testing this and will publicize their results (we’re considering it for CrunchGear and MobileCrunch).

The service is majority owned by ShoeMoney Media, which recently waged a PR battle against MyBlogLog. MediaWhiz is also a partial owner (disclosure: TextLinkAds, which is owned by MediaWhiz, is a TechCrunch Sponsor).

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