Hi everyone!
There are two new handy features rolling out this evening. The first feature is a pet project of Jordan, one of our software developers here at Bonanza. Jordan was keen on making sure merchant items were making over to Google effectively. Jordan, like you I suspect, likes traffic to our item pages. So, he created a handy feature linked from your ‘My Bonanza’ page. Just click the ‘Google ‘ link as shown in the screenshot below.
Then from the 'Manage Your Items' page click the 'initiate a feed status review' link.
Please note that it might take up to 24 hours for Google to process.
After Google has processed your request they’ll let you know if there are any errors that need to be addressed. The error messages are generated by Google so we’re not entirely sure of all the scenarios they will send feedback on.
Please let us know if you have any questions on the Google feed checker. We'll do our best to answer even though the feedback is really Google's and not our own! And now to our other feature....
Ryan, one of our other beloved software developers, also cooked up a nifty feature this week. Now you can add a YouTube video to display in your booth. You can check out a sample video on my booth page by clicking the screenshot below.
The feature is totally optional of course. To add a video follow these simple steps.
If you have more than one video the thumbnail will show the first one. You can drag and drop the order in the settings area. Below are a few anticipated questions…..
Why does the video have to be posted to YouTube? YouTube hosts videos for free which saves Bonanza from having to host the files or pay for the bandwidth. We’re the frugal sort so free works out fine and dandy.
Why would I want to create a video? It’s another chance for prospective buyers to get to know you. As you all know establishing trust is a big part of converting prospective shoppers to buyers. So what better way to put them at ease then by getting to see what you have to say?
But that’s an invasion of privacy. I don’t want anyone to know what I look like or to be able to track me down! Fair enough. Videos are entirely optional. And you certainly don’t have to hold up a sign with your home address . ; )
What should I put in my video? Whatever you like so long as it doesn’t violate YouTube rules or Bonanza’s User Agreement. We recommend telling your story as a merchant. It’s your time to shine so why not tell the history behind your merchandise, where you source your items, why you’re a seller they can trust, how long you’ve been selling. That kind of thing! Don’t want to appear on camera yourself? Try a nice montage of your items as an alternate.
Will Bill be creating a video? He will, but it might be a while. He’s trying to get Francis Ford Coppola to direct and wants a John Williams score. We think he might be unrealistic, but he has always been the ambitious type.
Will you be adding any other video capabilities in the future? We just may! We’ll see how extensively this feature gets used first of course.
You mentioned being frugal. Does this feature mean Bonanza is planning on raising its fees? Of course not! ; )
- Alex
46 responses to Two new features: Google Product Feed Feedback and Videos
This is going to be great, I love it. Here are also a couple of more examples of videos.
http://www.bonanza.com/tomwayne1
http://www.bonanza.com/bluepennylady
http://www.bonanza.com/bonanzamark
Make sure to share a link to your booth when you get a video up!
Awesome guys, simply awesome! Time to get started on some videos!
Sounds interesting! I love new things to play with. Got my video done.
What a sweet addition!
Great Job Everyone!
I’ll have to get mine added soon~
And the Google Feed enhancements will be very much appreciated. It has been one of our biggest stumbling blocks, being able to look at the feed, but not seeing where the errors are. Bravo~
Yep! I am LOVING THIS!
Already got my video inserted~
Gotta get my video Girl to do a newer updated one. Much of that stuff already sold and it should reflect Bonanza.com instead of Bonanzle….
http://www.bonanza.com/booths/momspennies
WOW… Great stuff… Thanks all…
wooot…got videos up in both me booths now
yep..lovin this
wow great … just initiated a feed status review woohoo love this, and as far as video I dont have one but I will have to get one done!
I will have to go look at the google thing to see how it is different from before
I’m sure many will like the video thing as long as it does not slow down anything … many will be having a blast and some will find the opportunity to make videos for others and charge.. yippy, more revenue
but, what about the glitches that have not been fixed yet from the last updates last Monday… I was hoping they would be fixed before we got new stuff again… some do affect our listing and so on … how is that list coming along?
oh, I see where it says no errors found.. that is a good thing to know if there are or are not errors
@pugs Streaming from YouTube won’t impact our servers or other users, but if you are streaming a video while trying to use other sites at the same time your connection might be, briefly, a bit slower.
Which bugs are you still seeing pugs?
Interesting. I initiated my google feed status review. I’ll have to see what it looks like/tells me.
Love the idea of a video! I was thinking that it would be a great feature for my wind chimes so people could hear how pretty they sound!
HI all
Yes, yes, yes,, Feed status reports.. yes, yes yes.. I love them. I am so excited I am bouncing up and down. Which I do alot anyway cause I have lots of energy But thank you very much! Really, this makes life with Google feeds so much easier.!
And the videos.. totally cool.. my grandkids and I have a blast making it.. Grandkids laying on their tummies on the floor “Helping” me make the video.. The handy work of ages 7 to 55
Judy/blue
You guyz ROCK! Thanks so much for continuing to make Bonanza the BEST!!!
Thanks for asking Alex,
I know people are experiencing more than these.. but these are the two I have that have me on a listing postponement …. they still exist.. I just checked…. they have been reported, days ago and I was told they are on the list to fix
we can not put our insurance options to items in batch edit
when listing, most of us sort by newest.. that sort will not hold so duplicating becomes a time consuming and not a time saving feature
as I said there are other issues.. I believe a couple of threads on them are now stealth.. but they are still in their prospective forums
thanks again
Really neat features; great job, Everyone! Thank You
Alex, I know of one glitch still not working yet…The Forums pages are intermittently still coming up blank. And folks are reporting O Booth Views again.
Oh videos will be so much fun! Love it!
and bugs…oh yeah there are still bugs. What Pugs said about changing from highest to newest while on the “SELL” page is still occurring and now when you do that he update button disappears. Also the “current events” on the people page has been stagnant since last Monday. It’s been the same three booths for a week. I want that kind of advertising..LOL
I’ll look into the outstanding bug reports and circle back. I’m out of town on business today so my turn around might take a little longer than usual in getting back to you. Thanks all!
people are receiving forum notices that are weeks old
someone sold an item, no notice and no change in the FB number
a couple of people have said they had various checkout issues
Neat new features! Thank you!
Now, when you favorite a booth you see the word sucess… it should be success
@Pugs, in case Alex does not get back here soon, I wanted to pop in and address your earlier reports.
“we can not put our insurance options to items in batch edit”
This has been reported and will be addressed just as soon as time permits. There is currently a work around. You can add the shipping insurance option to your shipping profile and apply it via the batch editor.
“that sort will not hold”
This has also been reported and will be addressed as soon as time permits.
I know it must be unsettling to see a new feature pop up when you are experiencing an issue with an existing feature. The impression that that gives is that we are not addressing open issues in favor of adding new ones. I can officially tell you that that is not the case. Back in the old days, it was just Bill programming, and that would be a true assumption. These days, we have multiple programmers working on multiple areas. So while one programmer is working on bugs, the other may be programming a new feature.
The best way to report any abnormalities on the site is via support. That way we can go in and compile a report and use the tools that we have to ensure the issue is reported properly. While we sincerely appreciate receiving any reports of any issues on the site, the blog and the forums may not be the most effective place for reporting them. We may not spot them in time to address them and then they turn into the “Epic bugs of 2011.”
So if you can please report any abnormalities that you see that have not been confirmed as being addressed, that would be so appreciated. You can reach us at
[email protected]
thank you mark…
with my wide variety of items and shipping I don’t use the shipping profiles… just find it easier not to…at this time I will just wait for the fix rather than do a work around.. but thanks for the info, I’m sure it will help some others
yep, tis a bit frustrating, especially when you are trying to list.. and especially since most of these have been going on for a week now
I do report issues to support before I ever mention them anywhere else.. and when I see others on the forum with issues I always tell them to make sure they report it to support
I have not sent the misspelling one to support yet.. my bad, will do that now
your comment about it not being just bill now is a good one.. but, on the other side of that.. that could be why we expect things to be fixed faster… we know it isn’t just him anymore
thanks again for your response
SURPRISE! wow, this IS quite a new feature!!
Just flying in and boooom, there is a new feature over night.
Most interesting.
Just got the news and still have to check it out!
Awesome new features! Can’t wait to see how creative everyone gets with the videos
Phaedra
Great new tools, I am anxious to see both in use! Kudos!
Most excellent! Bonanza is on the cutting edge once again!
Well, just how cool is that!
I was looking at dresses at a site the other day and they had videos of the models in the dresses. I thought that it would be neat to be able to show an item in the round, & now I can.
I think that’s totally awesome!! Now if I could just figure out how to do a video. LOL I think I’ll start with the Google thing, first. Maybe I’ll get someone to do a cool video for me, but I’d really like to learn how to do it myself. It sounds fun!!
This feature is incredibly important as a selling tool.
If you feature your most interesting, or unique, or beautiful items, you will be holding the buyers interest and make them want to see more, thus looking deeper into your booth. Not only that, Your views on Youtube will increase each time someone clicks on it in your booth. Its a win/win thing. More views will definitely increase the opportunities for sales, and will lower the bounce rate as well for those booth visits.
Yeehaw! Bill, I AM YOUR Video gal!!
Don’t forget that! Francis Ford Coppola is my uncle!
FYI for those who may not know..if I do a video and upload it will go thru you tube under MY name in google. If I hire someone else it WILL go under THEIR name in google and they get the credit not me. Some people may not know this.
thanks for the info sofy.. I would not have thought of that
gosh darn it…i’s been playin with videos and not gettin anything else done
Woohoo!! I love this! I already have an idea in mind! Thanks Bonanza!
After a long day at the day job, this is a much welcomed surprise! Will be exciting to get something going. Thanks!
Thank you VERY VERY VERY MUCH. I appreciate it
This is a nice feature added to the site on the U-Tube. Great job programming that feature !
I’ll have to wait to see what google says about my feed, it told me it would be available in 24 hrs.
If I get on a video I may scare everyone away!!!
How often do you do the Google thing? Or is it a one time and is set? Not quite understanding that.
@KarensKorner, you can check the feed anytime you like. It will take up to 24 hours for Google to process and return the information.
Thanks, Mark!!
omg, i found out i had windows movie maker on me pc…am in trouble now, just did another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mldeTMP4-qU
I am watching my google feed status as I list. Only thing I would wish for is that it also said how many items were included in that. Cuz ya know sometimes they don’t match up.
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