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The Shopping.com API: What's in Store

  • Ryan
  • 7/30/07 12:10 pm

In my last post, I talked about the SDC API - where it came from, and what it provides today. The SDC API is the industry leader and is currently helping hundreds of our Partners to better monetize their site. But we think we can make it even better!

We've been gathering Partner feedback over the years, listening to what you like, what you don't like, and what could be made easier. We've taken this feedback, and designed an entirely new interface, with simplicity, consistency, configurability, and ease of use in mind. This interface will become the core of a new and improved API, which will bring with it web service standards compliance, increased stability (already at 99.9% uptime,) as well as tools for faster implementations, such as Software Development Kits, Schemas/WSDLs, and all the documentation you could want.

But, all these new features come at a cost. A new interface means our Partners will need to re-implement the parts of their code which communicate with the SDC API. While we think these changes can be made without too much difficulty, we are fully aware that implementation times can be vastly different between Partners, due to schedules, development team sizes, as well as site design. In response, we plan on maintaining availability of our current API for 1 full year beyond the launch of a functionally equivalent new API. Currently, we are planning on an initial release with partial functionality in Q3 '07, and a final release with complete functionality in the first half of '08. This means the current API will be available until at least Q1 '09.

I'd like to end this post with an encouragement for feedback. We really do want a discussion here, as the SDC API is, and will be, all about providing what our Partners need. In the future, I will be providing more detail, including the XML Schemas, but in the short term I'd like to hear your thoughts on the direction we're taking, as well as continued feedback on the current API.

Thanks!

The Shopping.com API: Past and Present

  • Ryan
  • 6/9/07 7:55 pm

Hello, and welcome to the Shopping.com Partner Network. My name is Ryan, and you will be hearing quite a bit from me in the future as I will be working with the Shopping.com community of Partners to provide information, answer questions, and generally act as a community lead, especially around technical subjects. As mentioned in the previous post, we'd like to use this site to create an open dialogue with you, our Partners, and I'd like to begin that dialogue with a discussion on the flagship of our Partner facing products, the Shopping.com API.

Many of you may not realize this, but the SDC API is actually an evolution of one of the first 'search listing' type CPC ad networks. Initially released in mid-2002, the precursor to today’s API was called the DealTime 'MagicBox'. Its main purpose was to serve snippets of Javascript code which rendered predesigned HTML containing SDC data, including store offers. Calls to this service were embedded in Partners websites, resulting in 'Magic Boxes' of SDC product and offer data appearing on their pages.

The service is quite useful, and is still in existence today, in the form of the Shop Widgets program (check them out in the Partner Account Center.) For simplicity and an extremely quick time to launch, the Shop Widget solution can't be beat. A Partner can have SDC content in the form of banner or tower ads up on their site within minutes.

However, some of our Partners wanted more, from different designs, to more data, to more engaging experiences. As a result, and through countless hours of cooperation with our Partners, we've pieced together the SDC API as you see it today - a REST type service which produces XML allowing for complete freedom of presentation, while allowing access to almost every piece of information available on our own site. If you think you could use the SDC API, or already are and just want more info, check out the API Documentation.

In my next post, I will be talking about the future of the SDC API. In the meantime, we'd love to use this venue to get your thoughts on the API, both in terms of what is working well, and what could be made easier.

Stay tuned!

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