Next Generation Shopping

Affiliate networks are so far behind in technology it isn’t even funny.  Specifically I’d like to see some improvements to their reporting systems.

• Web Services access to reporting data.  Currently, CJ will export reports for you and upload them to FTP or allow you to download them.  Its a waste of bandwidth when you are getting more than you need.  Web services would allow getting the right reporting data at the right time.  End-users can then build their own customized reporting systems.
• Ability to filter (not just sort) reports by sub-id (SID in CJ, u1 in LinkShare)
• LinkShare - Ability to select date range of reports by Transaction Date or Process Date (like in CJ).  The data is present, there is no reason for this option not be implemented.
• LinkShare - A RSS feed or easier way (could easily be a Web Service call) to access which Merchants have paid for the month.  Or be more like CJ and just take payments ahead of time.

I don’t think I’m asking too much here.

Commission Junction recently announced a new version of their Web Services, which now supports Microsoft .NET.

New Web Services page
http://help.cj.com/en/web_services/web_services.htm

WSDL List (Current version 1.1)
http://api.cj.com/

They include some rough documentation on how to utilize the code for a Windows Application (C# or VB.NET) using Visual Studio 2005.

Here is a very quick overview of how to utilize it with a Web Application using Visual Studio 2003.  This demonstrates using their Product Search method used to grab product data from merchants.

1) Start a new VB.NET Application or Web Application
2) Add a new Web Reference
Enter http://api.cj.com/wsdl/rpc_encoded/productSearchService.wsdl
And Hit Go
3) Name it CJProductSearch (or whatever you want)
4) Copy the performProductSearch function included in the sample code package to your Webform1.aspx.vb.
5) Change the Console.WriteLine entries to Response.Write
6) Fill in any test data.
7) Make a call to the performProductSearch from the Page_Load

That’s it.

Technorati Tags: CJ, Commission Junction, web services, API, affiliate network

Commission Junction has launched a Web Service to allow Publishers’ real-time access to their Product Catalog database, as well as, to search for links. Prior to this, only LinkShare offered a Link Locator Direct web service that allows Link Searching functionality (no Product Catalog access). I think the CJ API is a huge step for an affiliate network, and have often wondered why it has taken this long. To get you started they provide some example code in Flash and PHP, but not .NET. Below is a list of the current features just released:

• Product Catalog Access – This API offers real-time access to the Product Catalog database. Using it, you can find a product or group of products to display on your site since the API enables keyword searches as well as item specific searches by UPC, manufacturer, model number, advertiser, SKU and more.

• Link Search Functionality – Publishers can use this API to search for links through a SOAP interface using a set of parameters to return link results that include information like their relationship status and link code that can be used to capture publisher referrals. In addition, you can find the perfect link for display on your site using search options that are very similar to those available via the CJ Account Manager™, including searching by link type and size, advertiser, language and other link attributes.

• Advertiser Search Functionality – This API allows publishers to search for advertisers through a SOAP interface using a set of parameters to return advertiser results that include information such as their relationship status and program terms with the advertiser.


Here is an example of what can be made using flash with the Product Catalog Access:

I just signed up for a developer key. I’ll post more once I toyed with the service.

Technorati Tags: CJ, Commission Junction, API, Web Service, Web Services, CJ Web Services, Affiliate Marketing

Many affilitate marketing guys have been effected by the recent Google Quality Score change. Most have suffered from it. I see the point Google is trying to make. It is logical. But the ones being hurt are the little guys.
Recently I Googled “Circuit City”. Only two sponsored links appeared. One was directly to the Circuit City website. The other was labeled “Circuit City - The Top 6 Websites on Circuit City”. The link lead here to a Circuit City landing page on Digg4It.com. What was it? A page filled with Google Adwords. See below:

So while the little guys with niche sites are being hurt, it is “just wonderful” (sarcasm) to see spammy, Adsense-filled arbitrage sites are still thriving. It appears in the case of Digg4It they have enough content to fool AdWords Quality Score. And by quality I mean scraping search engine results, and parsing out the links so just the content stays. The only way out of that page is “Back” button or through an Adsense Advertisment.

Next I tried advertising a page with actual relevant Circuit City content on Google Adwords for the term “Circuit City”. A page that I would find useful for Circuit City information. It came back as “Inactive For Search”, telling me to increase my bid to $10.00.

Google, wtf?

Technorati Tags: Google, Google Quality, Google AdWords, Google AdSense, Spam, Affiliate, Affiliates, Marketing

Can anyone explain to me why the affiliate networks are planning on switching to JavaScript links?

Here is part of a message I recieved directly from Commission Junction:

“The following information has been posted within the CJ Account Manager™ announcement section but we wanted to personally message these important details regarding the upcoming Link Management Initiative release scheduled for June 23, 2006.

Our Link Management Initiative is a program which will make it easier for you to get the most out of your advertiser relationships. This initiative will be released in multiple phases, with the first phase building the foundation for future releases through the following enhancements:

• JavaScript Link support”

Rumors are also flowing around ABestWeb about LinkShare considering the same path. This quote from Michael Coley (of Amazing-Bargains.com) about sums up my thoughts…

“During a followup phone call, they specifically told me that LinkShare had sent out two newsletters announcing that they were switching to JavaScript links. I know that LinkShare is planning on switching to encrypted links (and probably making them required), but this is the first I’ve heard about JavaScript links. Did CJ misunderstand something, or did all of the rest of us miss something? I find it incredibly amusing that CJ is apparently justifying their Lost Mind Initiative based on misinformation.”

It seems to be catching many people off-guard, and not many know what to think. Don Lieser (runs DFLSports.com) recently brought it to my attention, as I had not really paid a great deal of attention to it… So it seems I am with the rest of you who are not in the loop on this one. Those of you interested can follow this thread at ABestWeb. And I urge anyone with more knowledge to leave comments on this post, as well as on ABestWeb.

Technorati Tags: Affiliate networks, javascript links, affiliate marketing, ABestWeb, Commission Junction, CJ, LinkShare, Link Management

Brian Smith over at ComparisonEngines.com is attending Google Press Day. He mentioned a resource, amonst others, on his blog that Google is releasing called Google Trends. I did a few e-commerce related searches on it to give it a try… Then a quick search for “Mobile Shopping” immediately caught my attention. Here is what the City-based breakdown looks like:

Look at that… The majority of search is coming from India. Other cities have much less search volume, and no US city is even in the top 10. I then recalled reading somewhere recently about the importance of mobile commerce in India… Oh yes, eBay just launched eBay.in Affiliate Program, now I remember. Directly from their May 2006 newsletter:

“As internet entrepreneurs, India and the eBay.in Affiliate Program represents an attractive global opportunity to website publishers. India, with a population of approximately 1.1 billion, and with just over 39% internet penetration, represents a large opportunity for affiliates. eCommerce is exploding in this English-speaking, technologically sophisticated market. One thing to consider: mobile applications and SMS are vital components of internet usage in India.”

My first time reading it I was thinking yeah, yeah. Now I’m thinking up how to get in the game!

Final Note: While the trend data from Google appears to be very useful, although my experience with it has been short to this point, it is also important to note the discrepancies between similiar keywords such as “price comparison” and “comparison shopping”. It can give you a good idea of what different regions and cultures refer to similiar terms as, which may be important in your SEO or SEM campaign. Using it in conjunction with the Overture keyword tool, and WordTracker could become a very powerful combination.

Technorati Tags: mobile shopping, mobile commerce, eBay India, google trends, SEO

I check the blog traffic stats here every so often to see where people are coming from, and what they are searching for. One group of keywords imparticular caught my eye today. A user searching for Buy.com web services api. It makes me think: Why hasn’t Buy.com made any moves in this area yet? Its not like the technology just came out yesterday. Amazon has been offering web services for years, specifically their E-Commerce one. Web services are obviously working for Amazon… How many *illions of revenue are Amazon affiliates bringing in…?

Buy.com competes with Amazon in many areas, why not that one?  I mean I’m not saying there should be a duplicate of Amazon’s ECS, but be innovative! And personally I think I speak for all Buy.com affiliates in saying that downloading their enormous datafeed file from CJ is painful… No? Perhaps I will contact them and inquire about this.

Technorati Tags: Buy.com, web services, Amazon, e-commerce

Mix ‘06 hosted by Microsoft just recently took place at the end of March… But here are some more upcoming events related to e-commerce, web services, and affiliate marketing:

eComXpo 
April 4th to 6th
The show is hosted virtually on the Internet.
Affliliates on ABestWeb discuss it here
More Info

eBay Developers Conference
June 10th to 12th
Las Vegas, NV
More Info

Affiliate Summit 2006 East
July 9th to 11th
Orlando, FL
More Info

Mashup Camp 2
Where and When have not yet been determined.

I’m planning on attending as many as I can make time for.Anyone attending these or other events?

Technorati Tags: ebay, affiliate summit, affiliate marketing, mashup, developers, EcomXpo

Well I am not really sure if I would classify this as a web service…

Jeff Barr over at Amazon had a blog post about a price comparison web service that I had never heard of.  It is called Price-Compare.net.  It seems very geared toward PHP / Amazon AWS developers.  Here is an example  of Mr. and Mrs. Smith comparison information from their custom PHP section. 

Anyway it offers a revenue share option that is Pay-Per-Sale % based rather than Pay-Per-Click (PPC).  Works with LinkShare, Commission Junction (CJ), eBay and Amazon. Interesting idea… I’ll be sure to look into it.

Revenue Sharing Fine Print

“Price-Compare.Net is allowed to withhold a percentage of any commissions earned or randomly substitute your network/affiliate id with one of its own.  The withholding amount and method of substitution can be changed after providing you with a 30 day notice via email or by posting a notice of change here.  The current rates are:
Date: Oct 1, 2005.  Withholding Rate: 20%.  Click Substitution Method: Each of your user clicks will generate a random number between 1 and 5.  If the number generated is 1 then a substitution will occur.”

The Price-Compare.net website itself didn’t look to appealing to me, and the number of stores returning information was not that many, but it is good to see some price comparison options for current affiliate marketers. 

It actually reminds me a lot of GoldenCan which is a service that allows affiliate websites to easily implement Merchant datafeeds and coupon data via a small JavaScript code.  GoldenCan is run by Asif Malik, who I met at Affiliate Summit 2006 (West).

Technorati Tags: Price Comparison, Affiliate,  Amazon, Amazon Web Service, LinkShare, Commission Junction, GoldenCan

I talked to a Y! Affiliate Program Representative and she informed me that Yahoo would be integrating the Y! Shopping into their affiliate program sometime during 2006.  This would work in conjunction with their Shopping API.  I assume it essentially will be a revenue share of the revenue generated from merchant sites, probably on a per-click basis based on their CPC rate card.  This could be a great opportunity for niche webmasters to monetize their web site.  Specifically for mashup sites, like BaeBo (and others), that utilize the Y! Shopping API.  Also, deal and coupon sites could point to Y! to earn revenue from merchant sites they may not be affiliated with directly.  Great potential.  I’ll post updates when I have them.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo! Shopping, API, Price Comparison, Online Shopping, Revenue Share, CPC, Affiliate