Brand API Starter - Location / Geo

by Kin Lane on 03/09/2011

I have been thinking aboutAdam Kleinbergs recent posts,Why Every Brand Needs an Open API for Developers andDigging deeper on Brand APIs.

He's right. The pace ofAPI development skyrocketed in 2010, and will continue in 2011.

Brands that don't have an API will be left behind.

I suggested companies get their feet wet in the API space by starting with a basic RESTful API that servers up data about their products. Then once a company is confident in supporting their API they can consider delivering more supporting product information.

Whats a good next move? Location and Geographic Data. Where can your products be found? Retail and Wholesale.

Provide quality, up to date information about who sells your products. Provide as much detail as you can, names, addresses, specific products and even geographic coordinates.

There are plenty of geo and mapping API resources to provide additional data that enriches your retail and wholesale store information.

Providing rich, real-time location data about products, retails, wholesalers, and partners through an API will enable web and mobile developers to build applications around your company and its products.