In spite of all the problems that are being reported with Google Checkout, Paypal must certainly consider Checkout to be serious competition. So is it coincidence that they just launched an affiliate program to boost market share? I think not. Especially since they are offering the highest incentive for NON Ebay merchants to use their ecommerce payment solution.

Paypal has had their own internal referral system for some time now. But just launched their
new Paypal affiliate program on CJ this month. Here’s the scoop.

Paypal Affiliate Program “Founded in 1998, PayPal is already used by thousands of businesses to collect online payments from their own websites quickly, easily, and securely. We want to pay you up to $23 per referral for your help in bringing new businesses to PayPal!

Focus on businesses selling off eBay to earn the full $23 per new account. Enjoy a referral period of 45 days and join today!”

Threadwatch scooped this story and I found it in my RSS reader. However I have not been able to access Threatwatch all morning to read the full story. They appear to be down. But when they come up, I’m sure there will be some good discussion in this thread. PayPal steps forward against checkout – new affiliate offer from CJ

Side note: Even though Commission Junction has had it’s challenges lately and took a big reputation hit due to LMI, I notice they still have quite a few new merchants this month. Some big names too, like WebEx: Online Meetings & Remote PC Control, CloseOut.com and BlueFly.