Commission Junction has announced the release of its Web Services for both publishers and advertisers. Basically they are Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow programmers to utilize core features or sets of functionalities from a piece of software or in this case, CJ itself.

For advertisers, it is a tremendous branding opportunity while for publishers, we have accesses to product catalog and link search. Here are the full features currently available to both:

Available advertiser APIs

• Branded sign-up and confirmation email.
• Branded login.
• Publisher look up.

Available publisher APIs

• Product catalog access in real-time. The APIs enable keyword searches as well as item-specific searches by UPC, manufacturer, model number, advertiser and SKU.
• Link search functionality. Include information like their relationship status and link code that can be used to capture publisher referrals.
• Advertiser search functionality. Return advertiser results that include information such as their relationship status and program terms with the advertiser.

In order to access the services, a publisher will need a developer key. The service is available for free as of now.

[webservices.cj.com]