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Building Links
Building Links Programatically
Quick Build Method (Amazon, iTunes, or Google Play)
Quick Build Method (Amazon, iTunes, or Google Play)

Use Spreadsheets or PHP to convert a database of product links into buy.geni.us links!

Matt Mustarde avatar
Written by Matt Mustarde
Updated over a week ago

What is "Quick Build"?

The Quick Build link generation approach is best if you want a programmatic way to build geni.us links from a catalog of raw Amazon, iTunes, or Google Play links. You can implement this approach with code, or in an Excel Spreadsheet.

Learn about the the differences between manual and programmatic links here.

This approach is best if any of the following are true:

  • You have a database of raw links

  • You want to build links programmatically

  • You are just getting started

The Quick Build style uses your TSID (found on the Groups page of our dashboard) with the base Geniuslink URL (e.g. http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?tsid=yourTSIDhere& - With "yourTSIDhere" replaced by your TSID), then adds "GR_URL=" with a URL Encoded raw product URL attached to the end.
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Amazon Example:

If your target product URL is:

http://www.amazon.com/21-Adele/dp/B004EBT5CU/

Once you URL encode that, it becomes:

http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2F21-Adele%2Fdp%2FB004EBT5CU%2F

Set that aside for a moment.
Now add your TSID to the Geniuslink base URL (replace yourTSIDhere):

http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?tsid=yourTSIDhere&

Add GR_URL=, followed by the encoded version of the raw product URL in the previous step. and you're done This is your Quick Build geni.us link. The final product looks like this:

http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=yourTSIDhere&GR_URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2F21-Adele%2Fdp%2FB004EBT5CU%2F


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iTunes Example:

If your target product URL is:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ten/id425465247

Once you URL encode that, it becomes:

https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Falbum%2Ften%2Fid425465247

Set that aside for a moment.
Now add your TSID to the Geniuslink base URL (replace yourTSIDhere):

http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?tsid=yourTSIDhere&

Add GR_URL=, followed by the encoded version of the raw product URL in the previous step and you're done. This is your Quick Build geni.us link. The final product looks just like the links built by our Javascript Snippet:

http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?tsid=yourTSIDhere&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Falbum%2Ften%2Fid425465247 

   
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Google Play Example:

If your target product URL is:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.turner.cnvideoapp

Once you URL encode that, it becomes:

https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.turner.cnvideoapp

Set that aside for a moment.
Now add your TSID to the Geniuslink base URL (replace yourTSIDhere):

http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?tsid=yourTSIDhere&

Add GR_URL=, followed by the encoded version of the raw product URL in the previous step. and you're done This is your Quick Build geni.us link. The final product looks like this:

http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?tsid=yourTSIDhere&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.turner.cnvideoapp

 
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How to Quick Build links with PHP

If you are using PHP to programatically add iTunes or Amazon links to your site or app, there's a simple way to automatically convert those links to use our service as well. Here's how:

If you have links that you are adding programatically in the format of "$link," you can simply do the following:

Replace

$link

with

"http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?tsid=yourTSIDhere&GR_URL=".urlencode($link));"

(Make sure to fill in your TSID instead of "yourTSIDhere.")

This format will include the Geniuslink URL before your encoded Amazon or iTunes link, which will send each link through our service to automatically globalize and affiliate each link with the parameters you've added to your Geniuslink account.

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