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My modified version of the 45n5 mashup script

As I mentioned in the last post I have modified the mashup script from 45n5.com so that it now works with the new eBay Partner Network. I also tweaked a few other things to how I wanted it, others may not like those changes so feel free to remove any of that.

From what I could find you can no longer use the GetSearchResults eBay API call (or maybe I just didn’t look hard enough…), so I had a look through eBay’s developer site and found the FindItems call which I think does pretty much the same thing, and it certainly is enough for what I wanted. I also couldn’t find a way of using the new eBay API calls without having an eBay Developer account and App ID (please let me know if anyone knows of a way that you don’t need an App ID), so to use the script you’ll have to sign up with the eBay Developers Program and generate a production app ID.

The script is still very much based on the original from 45n5, and as in the original you still need to modify some variables in the stufftochange.php file, and add your keywords to the products.txt file.

As well as getting the eBay stuff working with the new affiliate network the other tweaks I have made are:

• Added time remaining, current price and current bids to the eBay listings
• Aligned the eBay images and text a bit more neatly
• Removed the bottom AdSense text banner
• Added an AdSense box underneath the “Auctions for…” section
• Put a bit of vertical space between the different sections (ie. between “Video for…” and “Shop for…”) just so they’re not so bunched up

There’s probably alot more that can be done with this script and I will work some more on it in the near future, although I have alot on for the next week or so, so i’ll have to wait a little while before I can have another play ;).

If anyone notices any problems with this version the please contact me and i’ll try my best to fix it. Also, if anyone digs through the code, please don’t laugh at my amateur coding skills… but i’d be happy to hear of any tips or improvements I could make.

I’ve put a up a quick demo here for you to take a look at.

** UPDATE on 6th July 2008 **
I’ve made a couple of minor changes to the script:

• Changed the way the eBay call is done (now uses cURL instead of simplexml_load_file. This is mainly due to support of the simplexml call being turned off on some web hosts.
• Fixed an issue where ebay/Amazon could return a valid XML result but with no items, then the script would still display the heading “auctions for..” etc. but no listings. Now if there are no items then that section is completely left out.
• Amazon now displays items from amazon.co.uk if the SiteID variable (set under the ebay section in ebaysearch.php) is set to 3 for UK, otherwise shows items from amazon.com.
• Tweaked the way the Amazon items are displayed

Download the script here.

Also check out my mashup script sitemap generator.

Update on my first mashup site

I worked today on modifying the mashup script I mentioned in my last post to work with the new eBay Partner Network and I’ve got it into a working state and tweaked a few other things to how I want it to look. I threw together some keywords and have put up an initial site using the script, and I think it works very well! I am on the road all day tomorrow so won’t be able to touch it anymore until Friday, but i’m hoping to get some time to tweak it a little more and maybe work on a few design elements and think through my keywords a bit more.

I’m really excited about the potential for this script, once i’ve modified it to my needs it will make it extremely easy to throw up similar sites in future.

I’ll tidy up my changes to the script before the end of the weekend and post it here so anyone who is interested can use it themselves.

My First Experiment

I’ve decided that for my first real try at making money online i’m going to experiment with an affiliate site, or to be more precise, an Amazon/Adsense/eBay mashup site!

I’ve only just heard of mashup sites in the last few days or so when I came across this post at 45n5.com where Mark explains what they are and how to use them to make money.

As a quick overview, a mashup is a site/page that is made up of content pulled from different places. So, for example, you could pull in videos from Youtube, eBay listings, Amazon affiliate links and Adsense ads all into the one page. Because the content is all relevant, and essentially new, Google sees it as a new page and you have some pre-made keyword rich content.

I think that this week i’ll be working on modifying Mark’s script to work with the new eBay affiliate program and also tweak it to fit in with what I want to achieve. I already have a domain name I bought (rather impulsively) about 6 weeks ago which I think this could work well on and I already have hosting, so I should be set to get a site up in the next week or so. Then I get onto learning how to get traffic in!

I also found that a fan site I started a couple of months ago but didn’t get very far into has made some Adsense money! Well, when I say some I actually mean it got one click and made $0.40, but still, it’s more than nothing! Anyway that got me to thinking that maybe I should put a little bit more effort into that one as well seeing as it’s started to get some traffic (not alot) and that I only had a couple of pages up so far with hardly any content.

I’ll follow up with some posts on how I am getting on with these sites and anything I learn along the way.