Syndication

Syndication is when user generated content (UGC) on one site is shared to other sites. Syndication helps brands and retailers share UGC. Products with more user generated content (UGC), like reviews, sell better.

The site where content originates is a Source, and a site that reuses the content is a Recipient. Both the source owners and recipient sites benefit from syndication.

• Source owners make content about their products available on multiple sites.

  • Often the source owner is a brand who supplies content to retailers.

  • Sources send a full set of published/publishable content; sources do not send any personal data. (See https://emplifi.io/legal/pixlee-turnto/terms-syndication.)

  • Sources can become part of the Emplifi syndication network or give permission to syndicate to a specific recipient.

  • Sources get access to a dashboard that shows where their content is being shared.

• Recipients get to show more content to shoppers on their sites.

  • Often recipients are retailers who display reviews from brands.

  • Recipients can apply their moderation policies to syndicated content.

  • Recipients that use Emplifi can view analytics on their reviews and syndication sources.

Internal syndication

If both the source and recipient sites are on Emplifi, automatically sharing and managing UGC is easy.

• Both the recipient and the source must have live Emplifi production accounts.

• Sources and recipients must have common data points available for product matching. (To learn more, see Product matching in Syndication.)

• If you brought syndicated reviews with you when you implemented, talk to Emplifi support before beginning syndication.

• Recipients can apply their moderation policies to a source’s syndicated content.

• Syndication can be one-way or bi-directional.

Inbound syndication

A source outside of Emplifi can use Open Review Syndication to share content with you.

1. To participate, sources visit the https://emplifi.io/ors page, sign-up, and agree to https://emplifi.io/legal/pixlee-turnto/terms-syndication.

2. To add and update syndicated reviews, sources can set up a data feed to send user generated content (UGC) to Emplifi. A data feed must meet minimum data requirements.

   (To learn more, see Inbound Syndication Feeds for steps).

   If a data feed isn't feasible, contact Emplifi support to see what other options are available.

Product matching

Syndication requires product matching. Emplifi has a variety of matching strategies, based on exact matching of data elements: Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and/or Brand in combination with Manufacturer Part Number (MPN).

Emplifi recommends internal sources include the following product data points in their catalogs. Inbound sources should provide them through the syndication process:

• Brand

• MPN

• GTIN
  Common GTINs include Universal Product Code (UPC), which is a 12-digit barcode, and European Article Number (EAN), which is a 13-digit barcode.

Matching strategies

1. GTIN Association: Product matching is based on matching GTINs between the source and recipient catalogs.

2. Brand + MPN Association: Product matching is based on matching MPN and Brand data between both parties. Emplifi clients' Brand and MPN data come from their Product Catalog.

3. Combination: When GTINs and/or MPN are sparsely populated from either party, we use a combination of both UPC Association and Brand + MPN Association strategies for product matching.

4. Other Strategies: Contact Emplifi support to see what other strategies may work for you.

Product families

A recipient who wants variations of the same parent product to share syndicated content must structure product families in the Emplifi catalog feed.

Significance: If a source structures their catalog at the parent-product-level, reviews from all variations of the product are tied to the parent-product; for example, the reviews for the small, medium, and large variants of the same product are located on one product page.

Structure product families in Emplifi catalog feed

To group variant products, you can use Virtual Parent Codes (VPC) in an Emplifi catalog feed to create a product family that shares content.

To learn more about how our VPC creates product families, see Virtual parent code (VPC) and members in Virtual Parent Code (VPC) and Members.

Product matching is complicated, especially when product families have not been structured in a source catalog. Due to the complexities involved in matching, a variant from a source may syndicate to a different variant on a recipient site. Contact syndication@emplifi.io if product matching is not providing expected results.

Content export

Emplifi clients who want to provide content for syndication to brands or retailers outside the Emplifi syndication network can contact Emplifi support about the options available.