</Message>
</Error>
An empty result is even more likely when the
SimilarityType
value is "Intersection."
Filtering Similar Items
The
SimilarityLookup
operation enables you to restrict the items returned by MerchantId. You can
specify that you want to find similar items sold by only Amazon by setting the optional MerchantId parameter
to "Amazon". This parameter is optional in
SimilarityLookup
requests.
Similar Versions of the Same Item
Some items come in a variety of media formats. For example, a book might come in hardback, paperback,
audio cassette, audio CD, and DVD. A person buying an item in one format might be interested in the
same item presented in a different format. To return all of the media formats of a single item, Product
Advertising API provides the AlternateVersions response group. The catch is, the response group only
works with items in the Books or ForeignBooks product categories. That means, for
ItemSearch
and
ItemLookup
, the search index must be Books or, in non-US locales, ForeignBooks, and, for
ItemLookup
,
the specified item must be a book or foreign book.
http://webservices.amazon.com/onca/xml?
Service=AWSECommerceService&
Operation=ItemSearch&
AWSAccessKeyId=
[AWS Access Key ID]
&
AssociateTag=ws&
SearchIndex=Books&
Keywords=potter&
ResponseGroup=AlternateVersions&
Version=2011-08-01
&Timestamp=[YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ]
&Signature=[Request Signature]
This request returns books and media in other formats that contain "potter" in their title or product
description, as shown in the following snippet of the response.
<AlternateVersions>
<AlternateVersion>
<ASIN>030728364X</ASIN>
<Title>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
</Title>
<Binding>Audio Cassette</Binding>
</AlternateVersion>
<AlternateVersion>
<ASIN>0307283658</ASIN>
<Title>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
</Title>
<Binding>Audio CD</Binding>
</AlternateVersion>
</AlternateVersions>
This response shows that the book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is available on audio cassette
and CD.
API Version 2011-08-01
116
Product Advertising API Developer Guide
Suggesting Similar Items to Buy