Skimlinks, a content monetization platform for web publishers, has released a comprehensive API suite. Part of this allows publishers to learn more about their users’ shopping habits. The startup made the news recently when it was briefly used by hot startup Pinterest to monetize its outgoing links – although that arrangement foundered after it attracted controversy.
The four APIs include: Link, Merchant, Reporting, and Product. Link API enables automatic link “affiliatization” using a developer’s custom redirect scripts, or on apps where they cannot run the standard Skimlinks javascript. Merchant API lets publishers search and filter the Skimlinks’ merchant list by category and name. Reporting API can filter and segment data on a highly granular level to help understand users’ purchase behavior and tweak settings accordingly. Product API creates a real-time product search based on product reference, category, merchant or price. Product results are returned in XML, allowing website developers to choose how to display and design their site.
Founded in 2008, Skimlinks now processes 110 million clicks a month on over 700,000 sites, including AVForums, WordPress, Ning, Technorati and Hearst Digital, driving almost $30 million in consumer sales from over 18,000 merchants across 27 affiliate networks.
The company has offices in London, San Francisco, and New York and has backing from Sussex Place Ventures, NESTA Investments, The Accelerator Group and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.