CJ releases web services out of beta
Considering that it is the leading affiliate network, it was a bit strange that Commission Junction had not rolled out web services to the public until a couple of days ago. The network finally announced the release of web services from beta during a CJU event.
According to the CJ release:
Commission Junction is enabling its clients and third parties to develop their own applications to create unique products or consumer experiences in the CJ Marketplace.
Advertisers can now offer publishers enhanced access to their product catalog data feeds, enabling publishers to present the most up-to-date product information to their visitors in the most desirable manner. In addition, advertisers benefit from the ability to customize affiliate program sign-up and login areas, allowing for the creation of a truly branded experience for the publishers in their affiliate marketing programs.Publisher functionality includes direct access to advertisers’ Product Catalog data in real-time and the ability to perform searches based on keyword, UPC, manufacturer, model number, advertiser, SKU and more.
Carsten Cumbrowski has a detailed post on Revenews (along with posts by others) on this announcement and its implications.
Obviously, web services is a welcome addition for professional, ingenious affiliate marketers who know how to leverage technology for maximum benefit. Small time affiliate publishers will hardly find this very exciting.
There is another possibility that I am intrigued by: will the availability of web services (there have been some developments from LinkShare too in this regard) herald the entry of traditional media houses into affiliate marketing, where they integrate new affiliate-revenue driven marketplaces with their existing media. While the argument that it is an issue with the business model rather than technology that has prevented traditional media houses from leveraging affiliate marketing to a greater extent has merit, I have a strong feeling that the ’seamlessness’ of web services will have a bearing on media houses revisiting the affiliate marketing business model.
The other positive with this announcement, which Carsten points out as well, is that CJ is becoming much more open and proactive with its communication with the affiliate marketing community, particularly after the LMI fiasco. Not only have they recently formed an Advisory Board comprising a few select publishers to work with them, but also created a website, http://webservices.cj.com, to allow members of the community to interact with one another.
These are certainly welcome initiatives from CJ and we welcome them wholeheartedly.
