i don't think there is a concept of a "bona fide" aggregator; but google does use the term for a multi-client account as a way to handle multiple domains and display-names from under one account; that's google's working-definition.
i wouldn't assume customers require google-base accounts; again, if i look at the ecrator model none of their customers require google-base accounts nor does ecrator require for themselves a multi-client account -- because all their data, from all their customers, is under one domain and name -- yet all client data is "aggregated" onto google-base. having separate client domains is yet another model -- customers may or may not require google-base accounts. one point of authentication is to allow your application to work on behalf of a client without you knowing much about the details of that client such as their gb-email. i suppose there are many reasons to become an aggregator -- i tend to classify them based on use-case or feature-set. e.g. (a') client data on my site offering google-base as an advertising mechanism but without clients knowing anything about google-base or needing a google-base account: your domain; your name; their data on your domain. (b') clients own a website and data but don't want to understand google-base; same scenario as above except: their domain; their name; you can create accounts on their behalf; this is the classic "aggregator" as defined within google-base. (c') clients own a website and data and have a google-base account but cannot or choose not to understand google-base but want to have some control over their items or feeds -- so, their domain; their name; their google-base account; your application; they use your application to create better faster data with richer content or more easily create feeds. (d') same as above but your application simply creates a feed; this requires no google-base interaction whatsoever -- you can simply create feed-files from websites and the client does the rest, including posting the file; no google-base api is required; mainly database work and understanding of attributes and formats. the primary reason for becoming an aggregator is probably to make some job easier for clients or to create rich data that allows clients to rank better within google-base. many "aggregators" of the first type feed their data into other comparison-shopping-engines besides google-base; some have value-added features such as seo analysis or integrating generic seo with comparison-shopping. others stray away from the product item-type altogether and offer aggregation for housing or vehicles for example. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Base Data API" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Base-data-API?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
