Groupon has announced the launch of the Groupon Partner Network (GPN), a local ecommerce affiliate marketing program for online publishers.

“GPN distributes the most relevant Groupon deals across partner websites and apps, helping to increase the visibility and distribution of merchants’ deals and drive purchases through Groupon,” a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews. “Some of these partners include: Ebates, Upromise by Sallie Mae, Dealnews, Fat Wallet, ShopAtHome.com and Slickdeals.net.”

GPN is available in 30 countries right out of the gate, and partners get access to real-time reports, a link creation wizard and open APIs.

“With affiliate presence in every U.S. state and dozens of countries around the world, affiliate marketing sends more and more customers to Groupon merchants every month,” said Sean Smyth, VP of Global Partner Marketing and Business Development, Groupon. “GPN is the latest example of Groupon’s dedication to provide a comprehensive, effective and large-scale marketing platform for local and national merchants to help grow their business.”

The company intends to migrate most content publishers in their current affiliate program to the Groupon Partner Network by the end of the year.