Finding Browse Nodes for an Item

The BrowseNodeInfo Resource in any item operation returns BrowseNodes the item falls under and the ancestry of that browse node. The browse nodes returned contain several browse node properties like Id, DisplayName, ContextFreeName, Ancestor and IsRoot. For more information, refer Browse Node Properties.

The browse node information returned as part of BrowseNodeInfo resource can further be utilized to:

• Make a browse node targeted search request using SearchItems Operation by supplying the desired BrowseNodeId.
• Navigate browse node tree to find more generic or specific browse nodes.

For the tutorial, we're using GetItems Operation for looking up item information of the ItemId: 059035342X

Request:

{
  "ItemIds": ["059035342X"],
  "ItemIdType": "ASIN",
  "Marketplace": "www.amazon.com",
  "PartnerTag": "associate-tag-20",
  "PartnerType": "Associates",
  "Resources": ["BrowseNodeInfo.BrowseNodes", "BrowseNodeInfo.BrowseNodes.Ancestor", "BrowseNodeInfo.BrowseNodes.SalesRank", "BrowseNodeInfo.WebsiteSalesRank"]
}

Response

{
  "ItemsResult": {
    "Items": [
      {
        "ASIN": "059035342X",
        "BrowseNodeInfo": {
          "BrowseNodes": [
            {
              "Id": "3060",
              "DisplayName": "Orphans & Foster Homes",
              "ContextFreeName": "Children's Orphans & Foster Homes Books",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "SalesRank": 2,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "3045",
                "DisplayName": "Family Life",
                "ContextFreeName": "Children's Family Life Books",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "1084192",
                  "DisplayName": "Growing Up & Facts of Life",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Children's Growing Up & Facts of Life Books",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "4",
                    "DisplayName": "Children's Books",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Children's Books",
                    "Ancestor": {
                      "Id": "1000",
                      "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                      "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                      "Ancestor": {
                        "Id": "283155",
                        "DisplayName": "Books",
                        "ContextFreeName": "Books"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "Id": "3153",
              "DisplayName": "Friendship",
              "ContextFreeName": "Children's Friendship Books",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "SalesRank": 5,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "7009087011",
                "DisplayName": "Friendship, Social Skills & School Life",
                "ContextFreeName": "Children's Friendship & Social Skills Books",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "1084192",
                  "DisplayName": "Growing Up & Facts of Life",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Children's Growing Up & Facts of Life Books",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "4",
                    "DisplayName": "Children's Books",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Children's Books",
                    "Ancestor": {
                      "Id": "1000",
                      "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                      "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                      "Ancestor": {
                        "Id": "283155",
                        "DisplayName": "Books",
                        "ContextFreeName": "Books"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "Id": "15356791",
              "DisplayName": "School",
              "ContextFreeName": "Children's School Issues",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "SalesRank": 4,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "7009087011",
                "DisplayName": "Friendship, Social Skills & School Life",
                "ContextFreeName": "Children's Friendship & Social Skills Books",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "1084192",
                  "DisplayName": "Growing Up & Facts of Life",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Children's Growing Up & Facts of Life Books",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "4",
                    "DisplayName": "Children's Books",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Children's Books",
                    "Ancestor": {
                      "Id": "1000",
                      "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                      "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                      "Ancestor": {
                        "Id": "283155",
                        "DisplayName": "Books",
                        "ContextFreeName": "Books"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "Id": "3003",
              "DisplayName": "Humor",
              "ContextFreeName": "Children's Humor",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "4",
                "DisplayName": "Children's Books",
                "ContextFreeName": "Children's Books",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "1000",
                  "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "283155",
                    "DisplayName": "Books",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Books"
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "Id": "3017",
              "DisplayName": "Fantasy & Magic",
              "ContextFreeName": "Children's Fantasy & Magic Books",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "3013",
                "DisplayName": "Science Fiction & Fantasy",
                "ContextFreeName": "Children's Science Fiction & Fantasy",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "4",
                  "DisplayName": "Children's Books",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Children's Books",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "1000",
                    "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                    "Ancestor": {
                      "Id": "283155",
                      "DisplayName": "Books",
                      "ContextFreeName": "Books"
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "Id": "10368523011",
              "DisplayName": "Humorous",
              "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Humorous Fiction",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "17443",
                "DisplayName": "Literature & Fiction",
                "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "28",
                  "DisplayName": "Teen & Young Adult",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Books",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "1000",
                    "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                    "Ancestor": {
                      "Id": "283155",
                      "DisplayName": "Books",
                      "ContextFreeName": "Books"
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "Id": "10368555011",
              "DisplayName": "Family",
              "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Family Fiction",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "10368546011",
                "DisplayName": "Social & Family Issues",
                "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Social & Family Issue Fiction",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "17443",
                  "DisplayName": "Literature & Fiction",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "28",
                    "DisplayName": "Teen & Young Adult",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Books",
                    "Ancestor": {
                      "Id": "1000",
                      "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                      "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                      "Ancestor": {
                        "ContextFreeName": "Books",
                        "DisplayName": "Books",
                        "Id": "283155"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "Id": "17468",
              "DisplayName": "Fantasy",
              "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Fantasy",
              "IsRoot": false,
              "Ancestor": {
                "Id": "17466",
                "DisplayName": "Science Fiction & Fantasy",
                "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy",
                "Ancestor": {
                  "Id": "28",
                  "DisplayName": "Teen & Young Adult",
                  "ContextFreeName": "Teen & Young Adult Books",
                  "Ancestor": {
                    "Id": "1000",
                    "DisplayName": "Subjects",
                    "ContextFreeName": "Subjects",
                    "Ancestor": {
                      "Id": "283155",
                      "DisplayName": "Books",
                      "ContextFreeName": "Books"
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          ],
          "WebsiteSalesRank": {
            "DisplayName": "Books",
            "ContextFreeName": "Books",
            "SalesRank": 197
          }
        },
        "DetailPageURL": "https://www.amazon.com/dp/059035342X?tag=associate-tag-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Response Analysis

• For the ItemId:059035342X, there were seven browse nodes returned.
  • For each of these browse nodes, the browse node Id, name, ContextFreeName and ancestor were returned.
• The ancestor of a browse node is returned in form of a ladder which goes up-to root node. That is, the last node in the ancestry ladder is the root node of the browse node. For e.g. Books is a root node of Orphans & Foster Homes.
• For some of these browse nodes, SalesRank information is also returned. The Sales Rank depicts how well an item is selling in a particular browse node. Note that, sales ranks are not returned for each of the browse nodes an ASIN falls under. This is because Amazon only display highly relevant sales ranks (i.e. top most sales ranks for an item). The sales rank information can be used to find the browse node in which the requested item is being sold the most.