Skimlinks has released a comprehensive API suite to make it easy for up-and-coming companies to earn an immediate and seamless revenue stream, and gain valuable insights into their users’ shopping habits.

Skimlinks APIs will allow developers to build on top of Skimlinks’ technology and network of 18,000+ merchant relationships, to grow their business.

“We want to make our technology and insights available to all types of publishers, so we are opening up our platform to make it fully accessible and flexible. This is particularly exciting for startups who need a monetization partner who can help them achieve their revenue goals, without compromising on the user experience.” said Alicia Navarro, CEO and co-founder of Skimlinks.

The API program allows companies to harness and customize Skimlinks technology in several different ways. The Link API allows companies to use the core Skimlinks technology (turning links and product references into affiliate links) in any site or application. The Link API can be used in conjunction with the Merchant API, which allows companies to search and filter Skimlinks’ list of 18,000+ merchants by category and name to decide which links to push through Skimlinks.

Publishers will be able to get an up-to-the-minute (and historical) snapshot of every commission they receive through Skimlinks integration with 31 international affiliate networks, via the Reporting API. In addition, the Reporting API allows companies to filter and segment data on a highly granular level, so they can better understand their users’ purchase behaviors, and tailor their experience accordingly.

For start-ups such as social discovery and social commerce sites, the Product API offers a real-time product search based on a given product reference, category, merchant or price. The products results are returned in XML or JSON, giving website developers freedom to choose how to display the products they want to promote, and design their site accordingly.