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EBay opens up its AI image recognition and translation features to developers
EBay Inc. today introduced two new application programming interfaces that will enable developers to add some of the online marketplace’s artificial intelligence features to their own services.
The most extensive of the pair is the Image Search API. As the name suggests, the interface gives developers access to the visual search tools that eBay has implemented in recent years to help users explore its marketplace.
One of the features available via the Image Search API lets shoppers take a photo of an item they’d like to purchase and have eBay surface similar products. Alternatively, a consumer can provide a link to an existing image online. The latter feature, dubbed Find it on eBay, supports both social networks such as Pinterest and regular websites.
EBay’s second new API provides automated translation capabilities. Developers can use the Machine Translation API to translate English-language item titles and descriptions into Mandarin automatically, as well as do the reverse for Mandarin search queries. EBay said it plans to add support for more languages and use cases over time.
The APIs are geared toward developers building e-commerce services that require the ability to access products from outside platforms. That’s also the target audience eBay has in mind with the improved version of its existing Buy API, which it unveiled as well. The interface now lets e-commerce providers display millions of eBay items for their users as well as keep them synced with the original listings.
Making it easier for third parties to use its capabilities could help eBay extend its market reach. That’s more important than ever given the rapid growth of Amazon.com Inc., as well as the efforts of traditional retailers such as Walmart Inc. to expand their online presence.
Alongside the new programming interfaces, eBay today released OpenAPI specifications to go along. OpenAPI is a standard for implementing programming interfaces that makes it easier to add them to applications and will reduce the initial setup process to about 90 seconds for developers, according to an eBay spokesperson.
Photo: eBay
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