Linda Buquet of 5 Star Affiliate Programs reports that CJ has begun offering advertisers the ability to offer product catalog datafeeds to their affiliates. The new Web Services Division also allows publishers to search the services "based on keywork, UPC, manufacturer, model number, advertiser, SKU and more." Buquet mentions that the new division also has demo videos, one of which demonstrates turn CJ datafeeds into contextual ads. View Buquet's full commentary here.

Linda Buquet reports that Commission Junction has completely backed down from its Link Management Initiative. This initiative would have mandated JavaScript-style affiliate links. Thanks to Scott Jangro for his petition to change CJ's mind and to all the bloggers who helped spread the word.

Linda Buquet reports that in a ValueClick earnings call yesterday (the parent of CJ), the company stated that they will not be mandating JavaScript links, dubbed its "Link Management Initiative", on wholesale basis. The company still believes LMI is the wave of the future, and that over time the market will voluntarily choose to adopt with the new format.

According to an informal poll at the WikedFire forum, the answer is a resounding "Yes". Linda Buquet of 5 Star Affiliate Programs reports that 75% of those responded preferred AzoogleAds over Commission Junction.

Scott Jangro, a former product manager at Be Free (now owned by CJ), has been running a petition to voice opposition to CJ's upcoming mandatory JavaScript links, dubbed "LMI". Jangro hand-delivered the petition on Friday and will post its cover letter once he is sure ValueClick's GM has received the petition.

Brad Waller of ReveNews is reporting that CJ will not be turning off plain HTML affiliate links. CJ had previously announced that they were converting all of their affiliate links to mandatory JavaScript-style links, and phasing out their regular links in six months.