Ratings-only export feed

A ratings-only export feed is a daily XML file that provides only numerical summaries without review text. Bazaarvoice exports this feed, which contains product-specific, ratings-related content including the following:

  • Product IDs - Unique and not case-sensitive.
  • Number of reviews (total number of reviews and number of reviews that feature only ratings).
  • Number of reviewers who would recommend the product.
  • Average overall ratings.
  • Maximum rating values.

Data from a ratings-only export feed is useful for completing the following tasks:

  • Enabling star ratings on category pages of your website.
  • Improving site search and navigation.
  • Providing snapshots, averages, and other values that assist with sorting.
Important: Your critical processes and product detail pages (PDPs) should not rely on export feeds. While Bazaarvoice tries to consistently generate these feeds, server loads and other variables can delay the export. Only use export feeds for non-critical processes so that a delayed feed update does not critically impact any of your systems, processes, PDPs, or services. Do not use export feeds for display purposes. Instead, use inline ratings to produce small display elements, such as a rating summary. 

The following values represent the default configuration for a ratings-only feed:

  • Frequency – Daily
  • History – Full
  • Format – XML
  • Compression – GZIP
  • Delivery location – Bazaarvoice SFTP server
  • Content type - Reviews or Questions & Answers
  • Moderation status – Approved
  • Inactive or disabled – Does not include inactive products

Retrieve a ratings-only export feed

Retrieve your ratings-only export feeds on a recurring basis from the SFTP location where they are stored after Bazaarvoice generates them. Download and process this feed on a daily basis to update the areas of your website that use the information. Supply a public SSH key if you want to automate this process by using SSH entry without a password.

Download the feed file from the /feeds directory on the Bazaarvoice SFTP location:

  • If your data is hosted in the US, use the following URLs:
    • Staging server—sftp-stg.bazaarvoice.com
    • Production server—sftp.bazaarvoice.com
  • If your data is hosted in Europe, use the following URLs:
    • Staging server—sftp7-stg.bazaarvoice.com
    • Production server—sftp7.bazaarvoice.com

Be sure to connect to SFTP using port 22. Contact Bazaarvoice support if you do not know your SFTP credentials or where your data is hosted.

XML schema

The XML schema for your ratings-only export feed is based on the syndication feed schema, which resides at the following location:

http://www.bazaarvoice.com/xs/PRR/SyndicationFeed/version Opens in new tab 

where version is the appropriate Bazaarvoice release number. For example, the XML schema for the syndication feed that is associated with version 14.7 resides at the following location:

http://www.bazaarvoice.com/xs/PRR/SyndicationFeed/14.7 Opens in new tab 

Complete the following steps to select the XML schema version you want to use.

  1. Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal Opens in new tab.
  2. From the upper-right corner, select the settings icon settings icon.
  3. Select Configuration.
  4. Under Implementations, select Edit beside the implementation whose ratings-only export feed schema you want to change.
  5. Under Getting Started, select Technical Setup.
  6. Select the Export Feeds tab and scroll to the UGC Statistics (Ratings) Feed section.
  7. From the XML Schema Version list, select the version you want to use.
    Note: Select 14.9 (latest) to use the schema that includes statistics about incentivized reviews. Refer to Example schema version 14.9 for more information about incentivized review counts in ratings-only feeds.
  8. Deploy your changes.
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