According to Reuters, EBay is considering buying StumbleUpon for $75 million. Naturally, neither side wants to comment on the deal... however neither party is denying it either.

The recent AdWords Quality Score update, or "Google Slap" as it's been called, is a recent algorithm change by Google to increase the relevancy and user experience of advertisements published on its search engine. The algorithm change has negatively impacted many internet marketers who are now scrambling to find information on how to make their ads acceptable to the Google gods again. Dio at Threadwatch noticed that eBay can provide some excellent examples for marketers to model in creating quality, relevant ads acceptable to the new algorithm <snicker>.

The auction giant is offering a 50% discount on insertion fees for auction-style listings for one day only on August 1st. Insertion fees are capped at a maximum of 50 cents for the promotional period. The offer is valid at ebay.com, ebay.ca and ebaymotors.com. Only parts and accessories listings on eBay Motors are eligible for the discount.

David Meerman Scott of Web Ink Now is reporting that press release distribution company is auctioning off 400-word SEO'd press releases on eBay. The winning bidder will get to publish one press release on PRNewswire's US1 Newsline. See David's full commentary here.

Riding on the heels of locking out Google Checkout, eBay unexpectedly announced that Nochex would no longer be accepted by the auction giant. Due to the uproar by many British sellers, eBay released a statement about the policy saying they would not terminate any auctions in progress now using Nochex, and that Nochex could continue to be used through August 21.

ReveNews is reporting that Google Checkout now appears in eBay's list of 'Payment Services not permitted on eBay'. The article offers analysis of why eBay may be making such a move and explores whether this is a good or bad thing for the auction company.

Lynn Terry of ClickNewz! explores eBay's upcoming contextual ads offering, called AdContext, and compares how it will be simliar and different from other contextual advertising such as Google's AdSense.

On Thursday, June 29th, at 9 p.m. EST, Tech Tamers Jeanette Cates is hosting a seminar for Internet marketers interested in eBay drop shipping. Register here.

Google is rumored to offer customers a rebate if they make purchases through GBuy, their new online payment service. The service could debut as early as next week.

EBay will be conducting a series of workshops this week on a variety of topics, including

• Using the New Turbo Lister
• Setting Your Starting Price
• Using the new SYI form
• Making it Easier to List for Charity

Yahoo has updated its instant messaging client to includes plugins for collaborative calendaring and event planning, eBay listing monitoring, viewing friends' Amazon wish lists, and others. The full artcle is available from CNet here.

EBay has created a section to present a consolidated view for sellers to access its seller resources, including item promotions, logos, and stores marketing resources. More details about the new section is available here.

This article on Reuters discusses the eBay-as-a-business-model along with its pros and cons from the perspective of a laid off worker turned eBay auctioneer.

eBay has implemented much functionality in the past to assist sellers, but not much in the way of enhancing the buyer experience. This article explores what new features eBay is considering for buyers.