Product Feed System Release

[TD Nick]

Product Feed System Release


TradeDoubler have released an update to the Product Feed System , this is in response to the general feedback we have received from all our publishers, on this forum, telephone conversations and emails, over the last few months.

The Product Feed System has nearly 150,000 products, with new advertisers being included on a weekly basis. You need to be accepted by an advertiser to access their feed, the current list of advertisers included in the Product Feed System is here:

Advertiser List


Product Search System

All publishers have access to the Product Search System. Publishers can use this functionality to generate real time search results, or, create real time pages based on products and categories in the system.

The development team have added new style sheets to this section, take a look at some example URLs I have setup:

Center Style New

Image Square Style New

Pillar Style New

Shelf Style New

Short List Style New

CSV 2 New Pipe and carriage return delimited, example Excel import further down.

Text Link Style

Box Style

CSV Pipe delimited Old format.

XML



Unlimited Access

The Unlimited Access System delivers an interface for publishers to pick up entire product feeds, in real time, for advertisers. This functionality allows publishers with database driven sites to generate individual product pages (100,00 products = 100,000 pages) on the fly, product/price comparison engines and caters for SEO fine tweaking.

In response to the unlimited product feed access times, performance and integration issues that were raised, TradeDoubler have made significant changes to this section:

Straightforward Excel import. Publishers can now pick up the CSV of an advertiser and import directly into Excel with no parsing or special formatting required:

Unlimited Access System

>> Go to "product search"
>> "unlimited access"
>> Select an advertiser, click "show code"
>> In the pop up window, choose "CSV", "no zip"
>> "Download"
>> Save the resulting query as a text file.

Example output for Apple Store UK


Excel import

>> Open a new workbook
>> Go to "Data"
>> "Import External Data"
>> Browse and select the advertiser text file
>> Leave the data type as "delimited", click "next"
>> Select the "tab" delimiter and "other"
>> In "other" enter a single pipe "|"
>> Click "next"

Each product will be on a separate row with each field in a separate column.

Example import for Apple Store UK Save file to desktop first, then open in excel.

Query Time

Product feeds are now cached, being refreshed every 24 hours. This has significantly reduced database load and query duration.



Getting Enabled for Unlimited Product Feed Access

TradeDoubler do not charge a fee for our publishers to use the feed system nor are there any performance requirements.

If you would like access to the full advertiser product feeds please email nick.roveta@tradedoubler.com?subject=Unlimited Access with your TradeDoubler username.

Full instuctions will be sent as soon as your account has been enabled.



Feedback

Please post your feedback and comments on this thread, or, you can always send an email if you prefer - new functionality suggestions are welcomed and encouraged.

TradeDoubler evolve and develop the system as an ongoing iteration - this is always based on your feedback.

Kind regards,

Nick

nick.roveta@tradedoubler.com

[999gi]

Havent looked at this yet but sounds great - thanks

[kirsty]

....in which kirsty asks a stupid question and then rtfm's and finds the answer...

[TD Nick]

Hi Kirsty,

indeed this is possible, and, you have raised a good point that deserves further clarification, plus, it highlights an excellent benefit of the system:

The product feed URLs resolve to the advertisers product feed which is automatically updated in the system on a frequent basis - really you only need to pick up the feed URL once per advertiser.

To get the product feed URL:

When picking up XML/CSV feeds in the unlimited section please press "shift" when clicking on the "download" link. This will open the executed query in a new browser window where the full URL is displayed.

Why this can help you:

The implication is, if you copy the product feed URL and store it locally in conjunction with a script, you could set your system/database to synchronise with the latest instance of an advertiser product feed automatically. Your sites will then, effectively, be updating their product catologue on their own.

Kind regards,

Nick

[kirsty]

thanks, nick, though i've rather screwed up your reply by deleting my post once i'd figured it out sorry

(i'm not used to finding that there is up to date documentation you see - so top marks for having a manual that's not three months behind the software!)

[TD Nick]

Hi Kirsty,

no apologies needed - you have given me a reason to explain the benefit, and possibilities open to TradeDoubler publishers, of storing the product feed URLs within their systems.

Kind regards,

Nick

[Jack]

Can you get an unlimited product feed for one category but with multiple merchants? There is a maxResults option in the URL for a single category, but it seems to be capped at 100 products.

[CrazyGuy]

Originally posted by TradeDoubler

The implication is, if you copy the product feed URL and store it locally in conjunction with a script, you could set your system/database to synchronise with the latest instance of an advertiser product feed automatically. Your sites will then, effectively, be updating their product catologue on their own.

... though it's probably worth mentioning that if you were already doing this, you need to grab new URLs for your scripts as the syntax has changed.

In fact, you might want to publicise that fact ... if there's one thing us self-taught programmers tend to be poor at, it's all the checks and warnings within our scripts that tell us when this kind of thing goes wrong. With automated transfers, it could be some time before it gets noticed on some sites.

[Jack]

Oh and some wonky pricing data from Avon - example:

Arctic Scarf & Hat Set: one size
Price: £1400

No that is some scarf..

[giveasyouget]

what are the fields of the csv files - to be fair i haven't spent any time guessing them and they may be quite easy but it owuld be nice to know what the headers of each are.

and also - do you have a nice little csv of your categories (and category ids if they're a seperate field too) like Affiliate Window prepared? would be nice to have an idea of which ones'll pop up without having to look at all the different feeds.

Many thanks,
jonny

[TD Nick]

Hello everyone,

thank you for all the feedback and comments so far.


Jack

Can you get an unlimited product feed for one category but with multiple merchants? There is a maxResults option in the URL for a single category, but it seems to be capped at 100 products.

It is not possible to pick up a query string for more than 100 products. To pick up more than 100 products you will need to be enabled for unlimited product feed access. With the advertisers full product feed you will be able to manipulate the data on your website with the desired format and results.


Jonny

and also - do you have a nice little csv of your categories (and category ids if they're a seperate field too) like Affiliate Window prepared? would be nice to have an idea of which ones'll pop up without having to look at all the different feeds.

I have sent an email to our development team regarding a csv/file of the category titles, IDs and structures. I will post back this back on the product feed thread.


CrazyGuy

In fact, you might want to publicise that fact ... if there's one thing us self-taught programmers tend to be poor at, it's all the checks and warnings within our scripts that tell us when this kind of thing goes wrong. With automated transfers, it could be some time before it gets noticed on some sites.

Thanks for bringing that to our attention CrazyGuy - I will see this is included in the next newsletter to our publishers.


Kind regards,

Nick

[CrazyGuy]

I waited to see if this was changed in the "new" format, but no ...

Any chance of getting Jessops to join the rest of the world in the concept of one line per record in their feed?

[TD Nick]

Hi CrazyGuy,

thanks - someone from the technical team will be updating the Jessops feed.

Kind regards,

Nick

[KieronD]

I have to give credit where credit is due and say well done to TD for creating this product feed system and for actively responding to affiliates queries on this forum. Perhaps the biggest praise I can give is that even a non-technical numpty like me can use it! Well done guys.

Kieron

[watcher]

How do you get your account upgraded to access the new unlimited feeds.

When I try and get the Apple feed I am given the URL:

http://pf.tradedoubler.com/pf/pf?a=<my-aff-id>&unlimited=true&&programs=2554&format=csv&zip=f alse

The one given in the post above is:

http://img.tradedoubler.com/images/u.../apple-csv.txt

Do I need special permission ?