So, again, eBay has decided to put HUGE roadblocks in the way for multi-channel marketers. One of the only ways eBay sellers had to promote their own websites was to place a link on the About Me page provided by eBay to each user. The purpose of the About Me page as I understand it was to provide sort of a biography type page allowing users to kind of describe themselves and in the case of sellers, they could explain and elaborate on their businesses.

So, in his announcemnt today on the eBay Announcement Board John McDonald Sr. Director of US Trust & Safety explained the change to the Links Policy:

Updated Links Policy
Starting in July, an updated Links Policy will take the place of links guidelines that were previously covered in several policy areas. Under the updated policy, only specific types of links are allowed in a seller's listings or other content on eBay, including eBay Store pages, About Me pages, eBay Blogs, Reviews and Guides, and forums. Allowed under the new policy are links to:

• Any page on eBay or an eBay property including PayPal, Half.com and StubHub.
• Photos of the item for sale, as long as the page displaying the photos does not offer, or link to, a site that offers a product or service for sale off eBay.
• Embedded videos within a listing, as long as the content and format comply with all eBay policies for videos.
• Third-party solutions and services directly related to the particular listing.

So, While eBay acknowledges that sellers are making the move to multi-channel marketing, they clearly do not want to enable this migration. So this is change means sellers can no longer put a link to another marketing venue or channel including their own websites. So eBay can still dilute the sellers listings by placing off eBay links to paying advertisers.

So, again, eBay changes the rules to their benefit, and certainly not to any benefit of the users.