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This is kind of a general question about barcodes. I've figured out how to get barcode content from a scanned barcode using the Zxing API. But I want to know how I can use that data to search for a product's name and maybe other information online like what most other barcode scanning apps on the Market are able to do. Is there an API for this already or do these apps use website barcode databases (like www.upcdatabase.com) in the background?

Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩
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Brian
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2 Answers2

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You can use the Google Search API for Shopping.

The Search API for Shopping is intended for developers who want to programmatically query data that has been uploaded to Google via the Google Merchant Center. On Google, this data also surfaces on applications like Product Search, Web Search, Book Search, as well as Product Ads.

The Search API for Shopping targets the following use cases:

  • Developers can build applications that query product offers across merchants.
  • Merchants can use the API to query their own data by becoming a Commerce Search user.
  • Publishers in the Google Affiliate Network can use the API to access product offers from their advertisers of choice.
Matt Ball
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If you are asking if there is a way to "decode" the barcode into a product name or such, the answer is no. All these applications make use of accessing a DB

GBa
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    No I completely understand that a barcode doesn't contain anything but a number when decoded. What I want to know is how are the popular apps using these numbers to find out a product's name. Is there an API? A universal website database? – Brian Jul 15 '11 at 03:43
  • Most likely they all use the DB you linked. It is NOT the record of authority though, see GS1 for more info about this. Just because it is not the record of authority doesn't mean it won't give you the correct info. I would feel comfortable using it for looking up the product if I were developing an application. – GBa Jul 15 '11 at 03:48