With the Media Updates capability on Auto Trader Connect, you can attach images, video and spins to a dealer’s stock on our site.
Here’s a full list of the functionality:
- Stock update Images
- Upload images
- Attach images
- Stock update video
- Stock update spin
Stock Update Images
With this capability, you can upload images to our site using the Images API to get image IDs. Then update stock records with those image IDs to display those images on our site.
Upload images
To upload an image to Auto Trader, you will need to make a POST request to our Images API. Make sure to add the Auto Trader advertiser ID for the advertiser the image will be associated to.
If successful, you will get an Image ID. This will be stored against the image in your own database.
Image IDs can be used across multiple stock items. For example, if the dealer has promotional images you can reuse the same image IDs rather than uploading each time.
Uploaded images, not assigned to a stock item, will be removed after 24 hours. You need to send them to the Images API again when they need to be added to a stock item.
Check out an examples of an Images API call
Attach images
Once you have image IDs for all of the images you want to add to a stock record, you need to make PATCH request to the Stock API. Use the Stock ID of the stock item you want to add the images to and the Auto Trader Advertiser ID.
The update request should contain a complete array of all image IDs for that stock record, not just the images that are being added. Make sure they are in the order that you want them to be shown on our site.
Check out examples of updating a stock record’s images
Stock Update Video
To update the video on a stock item, you need to make PATCH request to the Stock API with the Stock ID and the Auto Trader Advertiser ID, including the video URL in the body of the request.
This value can be set to any URL. But, it will only be shown on the Auto Trader website if it is a URL for:
- YouTube
- Vimeo
- One of our partner’s approved domains
Check out an example of updating a stock record's video
Stock Update Spin
To update the video on a stock item, you need to make PATCH request to the Stock API with the Stock ID and the Auto Trader Advertiser ID, including the spin URL in the body of the request.
This value can be set to any URL, but will only be displayed on our site if the URL is on one of our partner’s approved domains.
Check out an example of updating a stock record's spin
Content Protection
As a media partner, it is vital that you have a framework in place that protects the content you upload to each stock item.
Overwriting content is a common problem for media partners, especially when there may be more than one media management provider in place. To avoid this, you will need to build a system that can cope with multiple updates without overwriting everything with old or less content for the dealer.
Learn more about content protection for this capability
Error Handling
When using the APIs above, you may get error response codes that you need to handle. This makes sure you have a smooth service for both you, as a partner, and your end user.