Review of Amazon Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools

Submitted by Patrick on Sun, 10/29/2006 - 8:53pm.

Reviewed By: Patrick Grote
Date: February 4, 2004
Section: Book Reviews
Publisher: O'Reilly Books
Authors: Paul Bausch
Pages: 302
Retail Price: $24.95
Dot Journal Buy It Now Price: $17.47

Ever bought anything from Amazon? It's like a mall online. It reminds me of the early days of the Internet when people tried to cobble together merchandise offerings and call it emall or ishopping or some other nonsense. Amazon has actually pulled off the mall experience online, but without the food court.

While no longer a simple shopping site, Amazon has grown to become the predominate shopping site on the Internet. Harnessing this power is as simple as a search, but there is more to it. Much more.

Amazon Hacks brings you a comprehensive look at how to get even more out of the Amazon experience. Starting with Browsing and Searching and ending with Web Services, the author touches on Your Information, Amazon Community, Selling on Amazon and the Associates program between.

The book is clever in that the hacks are presented in a wave that moves from simple to complex. Almost everyone will gain an education from the Browsing and Searching section, but very few will gain from the Amazon Web Services. That's ok, since the book does a great job explaining each hack even those who don't have the means to implement them will learn.

One of the confusing things you come across in books like this is their inability to tie the parts together. Presented as islands of information, it's hard to associate the topics in one cohesive manner. The author doesn't allow that to happen here. Sections refer to one another and tie back in the most unusual ways. Sometimes this works without you knowing it as the community and searching hacks demonstrate. How nice is it the book executes this without you even being aware of it?

If you sell on Amazon or through Amazon via their associates program, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The sections presented are competent and walk you through many aspects you may not know about. These include linking to items, creating banners ads, adding associate information to blog tools such as Moveable Type.

The final section focuses on the most advanced topic of using web services to interact with Amazon. Web services presented through Amazon's API are easy to understand with this book. So simple in fact that if you want to dabble, using XML and the steps in this book, make it a breeze.

Anyone who likes Amazon and wants to enrich their experience should purchase and read this book. Not only will you learn more about the super seller Amazon, but you'll enjoy your experience.

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