I was going through the Expedia Affiliate Network again yesterday, as part of my Travel Stack Network work. Having individual research projects that pop up on my radar, and force to me take a fresh look at API providers is a huge part of what I do. As I was going through their portal, taking a fresh look at things, their approved developer catalog was something that stood out for me.
A list of approved developers for any API is something I get asked about fairly regularly, so I want to keep referencing examples when I come across in the wild. Each developer entry in the catalog has the following details:
- Logo - A company logo, or photo of individual developer.
- Name - Name of the company or devloper.
- Title - The title of the developer that is available.
- Website - A dedicated website for the developer.
- Address - The physical or mailing address.
- Email - An individual or company email address.
- Office Phone - The office / business line for developer.
- Mobile Phone - A mobile phone for developer.
- Company Description - Details about the company.
- Developer Overview - Any additional details about developers.
- Sample(s) Of Work - Samples of work with title, description, and a link.
In the big picture, I would bundle developer programs, and catalogs as just another layer of a partner program for any platform. Developer would just be an additional tier, sharing most of the same characteristics of other partner programs. I'll have to figure out how to clearly articulate the developer portion, and coherently weave into my existing partner research.
I'd like to see mature partner and developer programs operating within every API out there. I'm hoping we'll see this dimension of regular operations gain traction, alongside some of the tightening down of API programs I am seeing, and API providers work to get to know their ecosystems better. In my opinion, it will all work together to help ensure individual API community health, as well as the health of the wider API space.
