bobangus.com » API

MySpace Opens the Door to Developers

Bob Angus — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:16:18 +0000

MySpace is set to formally announce their open application interface, MySpace Platform, sometime next week. This programming platform enables developers to create applications using a set of APIs that tie directly into MySpace’s social networking infrastructure. For more info, check out Techcrunch’s comments.

One key element that MySpace got right in their developer program is allowing developers to monetize their apps by controlling their own advertising. Until now, the online marketing community has primarily focused on social media optimization and driving traffic to their websites. Now with the ability to create direct revenue streams that tap into the massive social networking population, I can see entrepreneurial developers creating applications that are similar to what has come out of affiliate marketing web services.

MySpace is not the first to venture into opening their platform. Facebook has had huge success in adding new and retaining members and attracting commercial dollars as direct result of their developer platform efforts. Of course, other social networks are joining the application bandwagon, namely Google. Google’s Orkut social network and iGoogle personal homepage service are announcing their APIs in early November. It will be very interesting to see how the big social networks continue to square off on this front.

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Web Services Review – eBay’s New Shopping APIs

Bob Angus — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:32:56 +0000

eBay launched their developer program many, many years ago with APIs that allow developers to create applications for the two key parties of their auction platform – buyers and sellers. Frankly, most of the emphasis has been on the seller side because sellers were the businesses and buzz around “how to make money on eBay.” Until recently, the buyer side applications were primarily in the shadow of seller applications – with the exception of sniping tools (which violates the developer terms and conditions).

At eBay Devcon 2007, there was a separate affiliate and buyer tools track. Several of the sessions focused on eBay’s newly released Shopping APIs. These are different from the more extensive Trading APIs that provided access to the entire auction lifecycle. The new Shopping APIs focus only on querying and presenting data relevant to potential buyers – find an auction item they want, provide information about that auction, and provide information about the seller.

The benefits of these web services are that they are lightweight, have faster response times (up to 4x faster than the Trading APIs), and allow for token-less authentication (no private data is being shared). The Shopping APIs support SOAP, JSON, Name Value pairs, and HTTP/GET via Javascript and ActionScript toolkits.

The idea is to create and propagate applications that promote specific eBay auctions where the buyers are – namely browsing websites. The best part is that developers and/or users of these applications can make money when someone uses these applications. As a developer, you simply apply tracking code through eBay’s affiliate program, which is a part of the Commission Junction network.

Here is a really cool, visually compelling example widget. In the first example, the widget displays a current auction based on my desired keywords – Don Drysdale.

In a second example, a skyscraper widget displays several auctions based on Sandy Koufax as my keywords. Notice that they present a BidNow button which really entices a potential buyer to check out the auction.

You can also configure the widget to display auctions based on a specific seller ID or an individual auction ID – HINT HINT – your auctions. Configure your own version of the widget and get the code by visiting the Javascript example site.

Here is a link to the eBay Devcon presentation on their Shopping APIs and all of the presentations from this year’s developer conference. For more information, on the Shopping APIs, check out the eBay Shopping Web Services developer site.

Web Services Reviews – Week 1 Introduction

Bob Angus — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:36:18 +0000

I am currently working on Commission Junction’s Web Services. CJ has delivered APIs and resources for both publishers and advertisers to tap directly into the affiliate platform and wealth of data. Working on the various web services projects has been amazing as it puts me in contact of the true innovators in internet marketing and gives me experience with leading edge technology for the affiliate marketing space. Please check out the Commission Junction Web Services developer site for more information.

Another fantastic part of working with web services is that I get to check out and benchmark the technologies, applications, developer resources, and business policies that other internet platforms and marketers have delivered. For the next several weeks, I am going to be reviewing some of the web services leaders and innovators. I will also show off some of the cool applications that are being designed using these APIs.

I am not going to start off with the Commission Junction APIs. That would cut too close to home right now. Besides, there are plenty of other blogs currently covering our web services. So to kick the series off, I will discuss the eBay Developer Program in my upcoming posts. I went to eBay Devcon 2007 about a month ago and learned a ton about the how, what and why eBay uses web services to propel their ecommerce platform. Here we go!