eBay announced today that it will purchase Skype for $4.1 Billion. Skype is a rapidly growing free internet phone service. With this announcement and Google latest push into voice over IP with their Google Talk program we are starting to see a trend that could have significant impact on how people conduct business on the Internet.

With Google and eBay firmly behind these technologies, it won't be long before single click options appear on pages to allow customers to "call" companies for free over the Internet. Virtual call centers for accepting Skype and Google Talk calls will start popping up and orders that might need some extra hand-holding will begin to move from traditional phones to internet phones, saving customers and companies significant money.

I am sure eBay will be quick to add features that allow bidders to contact sellers in this fashion.

For the affiliate industry, it becomes even more imperative for merchants to come up with ways to track affiliate commissions from the click to the phone order no matter if it ends up on traditional land lines or VOIP.

It will be interesting to watch and see how fast these technologies become mainstream for internet merchants and customers...