Bring back Amazon databases please!

[savovic]

Question about the associate ID.
Can you suggest a workaround for Illinois?
Amazon closed the program for my state, and I can no longer register for an ID.

[Nora]

Have you tried some of the other search sites? IMDb has a very good database as do Wikipedia and Freebase. The difference to Amazon is that they offer the actual movie or TV series data, not the DVD or Blu-Ray for sale. That's where Doghouse, the Pedias own new database, will come in since it allows for multiple editions of the same movie/book/game/album as long as the format is different. Of course right now the database is still growing since it is user-built and we have only just launched the programs. But in the future we hope it'll become a powerful search option for all Pedia users. For Gamepedia, MobyGames is an excellent source of information.

One thing to keep in mind with some of the new search sites is that they are better at keyword searches than UPC searches. Take a look at this blog post about the new search window and sites.

[savovic]

For the most part using the alternate search is great. Added several things without issue, but some dvds did not work.
A Shin Chan box set as an example would not yield results (At least not as in a box set result I wanted).
Doghouse will become a great source one day . Then we all won't have to worry about amazon being picky for things.

[Nora]

Thanks for the feedback!

[Lodovico]

No the Associate ID doesn't have to be from the US site. If you already have an Associate ID from another Amazon site you can use that instead. All Amazon sites will be turned on once you sign up, regardless of where your associate ID came from.

Thanks for the reply.

I don't have my own website (or a Twitter feed) but I have a domain name with a placeholder page, so I tried signing up with that - and my application got rejected! Here's the rejection email:

Dear Associate

Greetings from the Amazon Associates Programme.

I regret to inform you that your application has been rejected, as the URL included in your application is not complete.

When we accept new sites, each one is personally checked to ensure that it is suitable for the programme, as stated in the Operating Agreement.

As your URL is not complete and we are unable to view the content, we have had to reject it.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Please know that you are welcome to re-join our Associates Programme once your URL is available.

I'm not sure what they mean, as I sent them the URL of the main page. I guess I'll have to stick with DVDpedia 4 until I find time to build a website that meets Amazon's requirements.

EDIT: For people who can't get their own Associates ID, for one reason or another, could we simply use Bruji's ID? Bruji would get the commission, the pedia user would get to search Amazon, Amazon would get lots of nice referrals, everybody's happy.

[Splutterbug]

I just signed up for this this morning, fairly easy. When it asks for your website details I simply used my wordpress blog, if you have a blog use that if not it's easy to set one up on wordpress or Blogger and free.

It's a pain to have to do but if it means moving the app forward and getting the iphone app back I'm all for it. Well done all at Bruj, nice to know you are constantly developing the apps. I did miss the amazon thing in the release notes though so maybe a how to blog post of the affiliate programme would be useful and also a bit more info on what we can do for Doghouse and what it can do for us.

edit - found the post http://bruji.com/articles/2011/11/10/th ... on-search/ the website section is tad confusing though I thought I needed to put DVDpedia in this section at first, might be an idea in future versions to link to this page directly from the pedia app when you need to add your Amazon info

[Nora]

@Lodovico - In the next release of the programs (will be out soon), users will have the option to use a generic Bruji associate ID if they are not able to sign up for the associate program or aren't interested in receiving the commission. If you'd like to get on that early, download the DVDpedia beta and let us know how that works for you.

@Splutterbug - Thanks for the feedback.

[Lodovico]

@Lodovico - In the next release of the programs (will be out soon), users will have the option to use a generic Bruji associate ID if they are not able to sign up for the associate program or aren't interested in receiving the commission. If you'd like to get on that early, download the DVDpedia beta and let us know how that works for you.

Thanks, Nora. I've been trying out version 5 on my MacBook this weekend (before committing to it on my desktop) and the Amazon searches are working fine, using my web services access keys and the Bruji ID that was already filled in on the form.

[fredp51]

I live in Rhode Island... and apparently I am not eligible to sign up for the Amazon Associates program.

What are my options for using an Amazon search, like I was able to before upgrading to the latest version (5.0.1).

Must I downgrade to the old version to resume using Amazon?

[Nora]

You can continue searching Amazon, just don't sign up for the Amazon Associates ID. Use the default Bruji one that's applied automatically when you don't enter any information into the Associate ID field (bruji00-20).

[fredp51]

Thanks... worked perfectly. I don't know exactly where you're located - but I didn't expect such a quick reply. It's rare that you post a question at 4:30 am, and get a reply within the hour.

Again, thanks.

[Nora]

We're in Europe (Spain) so the time difference makes it possible. Glad to hear the Amazon search is working again for you now.