E-commerce giant Amazon.com is testing an AdSense-like online advertising program to distribute third-party contextual ads to its network of affiliates, reports ClickZ. Though Amazon has confirmed the program, in beta testing since January 27, a spokesperson wouldn't say who is providing the ads; he did say that Amazon and its affiliates would receive a share of revenues from click-throughs. Various providers distribute contextually targeted ads to small publishers, including Kanoodle, which recently inked a deal to provide ads to MSN Spaces blogs.

As with Google's AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, the ads are targeted based on webpage content, with the links appearing on affiliates' pages that link to Amazon. News of the test was first reported in a blog post by Chris Beasley, who was approached by Amazon to participate in the test.