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10.05.05
Developers:
eBay's API Presents Financial Opportunities
 By
David Utter
Sean Crotty from eBay discusses their Affiliate Program, discloses the one API call that affiliates demanded the most, and lets us in on a big secret: a product category just waiting for someone to turn it into some serious cash.
Editor's Note: Do you use eBay's Affiliate Program?
Tell us about your experience on WebProWorld.
In a nutshell, the affiliate program pays participants for each
referral that comes through their link. The big money comes
from active registrations, where a new referral either bids
on an item, or conducts a Buy It Now purchase, within 30 days
of registering with eBay.
Affiliates
Platform Program Manager Sean Crotty chatted with
WebProNews recently about eBay's affiliate program. As the program
manager, Sean has worked hard in getting the word out about
what eBay can offer. He's frequently referenced on eBay's developer
forums as a resource, and will be taking a more active role
there soon.
Developers who were fortunate enough to attend JavaOne got to
see Sean and Greg Isaacs discuss the affiliate program, including
an overview of the API calls. Around 950 developers jammed the
room, interested in joining the 18,000 developers Sean cites
as already being part of the program.
Having a link as a conduit to eBay, a method used by hundreds
of affiliate marketers who utilize paid search, presents one of the
simplest ways to get potential registrants and bidders to eBay. That
requires keyword research, something which eBay enables through the
GetPopularKeywords API call.
Earn money from your website
with
affiliates.ebay.co.uk -
Join Now!
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Seeing that supply of keywords proved beneficial, but now as
Sean points out, they've made it more effective. By building an
application using that API, GetPopularKeywords lets users see demand as
well as supply.
That's a huge advantage to those who want to target their
keyword buys for paid-search as effectively as possible. Affiliate
marketers who have been awaiting the debut of MSN Advertising should
see that paid-search market open in October.
Sean noted how API usage has had a big impact on affiliate business.
Those using the API
calls to build applications tend to see returns increase
by a third over those who do not. Recently, Sean's team delivered
a new API, the XMLToHTMLTransform call.
Developers have been clamoring for a way to get XML data
returned in HTML format via API calls. As eBay has been very actively
courting the developer community to help it maintain its dominance in
online auctions, the company was quite willing to respond to demand and
get this call developed.
That courting of developers, via the eBay Affiliates program,
could be worth a considerable payoff to those who participate. eBay
sees affiliates make thousands of dollars each month.
It's not just the small shops, which comprise a majority of
eBay's affiliates, who want a piece of the action. Sean mentioned how
Verizon SuperPages has developed what he considers one of the top apps
out there that use the APIs.
One of the most interesting uses of the eBay APIs comes in conjunction with a Google Maps API. Sean had written on Google Blogoscoped how he'd like to find out who might be good at writing such an application.
The answer comes from the eBay Motors and Google Maps site,
where Adam Trachtenberg has written an application that combines the
two effectively. Searches for makes and models of vehicles show up on
the map, with links to the vehicle description on eBay available via
the handy Google pushpins.
But will anyone take advantage of the one category that hasn't
seen significant affiliate support? We asked Sean what product category
he'd like to see get some API developer attention. He said the
industrial and large equipment category hasn't even been touched.
Developers, there's your early holiday present from WebProNews.
Join eBay's Affliate
API program and start writing. Somewhere there's a market
for big equipment just waiting to be tapped.
About the Author:
David is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and
business. |
