XML and Data Feeds
Standardisation and Implementation for Success
28 April 2009
Jason Hall
Senior Director – Search Intelligence
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Overview
• How does Shopzilla use product data feeds?
• Basics of good feed building
• Common errors and best practices
• 8 top tips for building good product feeds
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Shopzilla as a content publisher
What is Shopzilla?
How does Shopzilla use product feeds?
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

Shopzilla History
Company launches
Shopzilla site in United
States, United
Kingdom, and France
and changes corporate
Shopzilla solidifies
name
First Shopping dominant position
Marketplace
as #1 CSE in US
Launches
Company founded
2005 2006 2007 2008
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Shopzilla acquired
BizRate Smiley by The E.W. Scripps
Shopzilla establishes
Scale launched
Consumer site and Company and
position as leading
retail customer German site
CSE in Europe
satisfaction survey launched
business launched
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Connecting merchants and shoppers
Efficiently connecting shoppers and merchants
6.3 million unique ~30 million products More Than 20,000
shoppers merchants
Find any product sold online
Product specifications – larger images
and video tours
Product ratings and reviews
Compare prices including
shipping & handling and taxes
Merchant ratings and reviews
Source: ComScore Media Metrix, Mar 2009
Deep links to product page on merchant site
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Shopzilla as a content publisher
• The challenge:
– Align retail products into an intuitive category structure
– No single standard for category structure
– No single standard for product titles
Example:
• Skechers “Strand Skechers shoes shoes – Shopzilla
Example: North Beach” lace-up
• Skechers Mens Sport Strand Illustrate - Amazon
• Skecher’s Strand North Beach - Schuh
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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How do we integrate product feeds?
Index updated several
times per day
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Basics of good feed building
Examples of what can go wrong
Basic product feed structure
Tip: follow the guidelines from your publishers!
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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What happens when you get it wrong?
• Example: good product offer:
• What is this product?
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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And my personal favourite
• Can you guess what it is?
A pharaoh’s gold-plated sarcophagus
A.
B. A light therapy device
C. A 3D home design software
D. A waterproof lamp for divers
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Answer:
• C: light therapy device
– Of course!
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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How does the data flow?
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Follow the publisher guidelines!
• For best results, go through the technical feed specifications!
• Shopping engines tend to be quite flexible
– Accept a variety of formats
– Can manipulate a lot of the data (but not everything)
• Very important:
– Once you set up a feed, keep the format consistent
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Common errors and best practices
Perspective
Product feed file format
Content
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Consider how your content is used
• Two main perspectives to consider
1. How will the Consumer reach & react to the content?
2. How will the Publisher use the content?
• Consumers use your content to research and decide what to buy
• Publishers use your content to organise and retrieve your
products
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Search – how consumers navigate
• 80%+ activity on a comparison engine starts with a keyword
search
– Upstream via a general search engine
– Product refinement on the comparison engine itself
• Product retrieval - matching products with user’s keywords
• Use popular keywords in your product titles and descriptions!
• Stay away from industry jargon
• You probably know this from your SEO and PPC already
• Example: “pen drive” vs. “flash drive” vs. “compact flash”
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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File format details
• Header row – very important to include it
– Many publishers can manipulate some of the data (re-map it)
• File types:
– XML format is great
– Also accept delimited files
• <tab> or | delimited work the best
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Common errors in feed file format
• Proper formatting ensures that your feed can be handled by the
publisher’s systems
• Do:
– Make sure that each line contains the exact same number of delimiters.
• If leaving data for a field blank, be sure to include the delimiter as a placeholder.
– Make sure that there is exactly one product on every line.
– Contact your publishers before making any changes!!
• Don’t:
– Do not submit a file in .xls (Excel) format.
– Do not choose a filename that will change over time.
– Do not include any date or version related information in the filename.
– Do not change the number of columns
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Content: best practices
• Detailed product attributes (title, brand, description, price, etc)
– Descriptive titles are extremely important
• Images – generally the bigger, the better
– Don’t oversell your images either
• Product URL – deep link to the product
– Or suffer poor conversions if you link to categories
• EAN & SKU – common retail industry standard
– Invaluable in properly organising your product data
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Tips for good product titles
• Title should explicitly include the product name and basic
identifiers
• Example – product name:
– Bad: “Newark Solid Oak”
– Good: “Newark Solid Oak Nest of Tables”
• Example – basic identifiers:
– Bad: “Swimsuit”
– Good: “Girl’s Blue or Pink Swimsuit”
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Other tips for good content
• Make sure your description is descriptive 
– No superlatives! (just like AdSense copy…)
• Don’t use a promotional code in the product description section
– Promo codes have their own column in the product feed
• While stock on hand is not mandatory, it can make or break your
performance
– Shopzilla assumes that <empty> stock information means NOT IN
STOCK
– Your products may be relevant but get pushed to the bottom
• Include shipping information
– Less browsers, more buyers
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Top tips for building product feeds
The 8 most important tips for building product feeds
= MORE VISIBILITY + BETTER EFFICIENCY
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Top tips for successful feeds
1. Ensure that all your offer titles contain all the relevant
information.
– By providing the type of product, brand, manufacturer, model
number (if applicable) etc. you increase the number of possible
matches between your offers and a user’s search query.
2. Consider to whom the product is marketed.
– If it is for a child include “child’s” in the title. If it is a “watch for a
man” include “men’s” in the title.
3. Do not include advertising/marketing text or extraneous
information in offer titles.
– Terms such as “Free Shipping” or “10% Discount” will just decrease
the relevancy of your offers. Use the columns provided for special
offers etc.
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Top tips for successful feeds
4. Include stock level information in the stock column.
5. Provide shipping information.
6. Enter European Article Numbers (EANs) into the EAN column.
7. Provide a picture for each of your offers.
8. Descriptions should be descriptive and not just advertising copy.
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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Bottom line: good feeds worth the effort
• Taking the time to optimise your product feeds is worth the effort
• There IS a business to spend time on it
– Generally you can apply changes to all your product feeds
• Small changes can have a big impact!
• Shopzilla can help:
– drop me a business card and we’ll audit your product feed
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009

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The Shopzilla Publisher affiliate program
• Launching FR & DE this quarter
• XML Product feed available
• £10 sign-up bonus for A4UExpo attendees
Jason Hall
Email: jhall@shopzilla.com
Twitter: hall_jason
XML and Data Feeds Standardisation and Implementation for Success | 28 April 2009