Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to Biocompare!

To get started with Biocompare, it is best to arrange a call to speak with a member of our Product Listings Team. Together, we can talk through the guidelines, timelines, and how to make sure that your file can be processed as quickly as possible. A good person to include on this call is the member(s) of your team who is hands on with your product data and product data extraction (depending on your organization, this is sometimes a technical marketer, and/or database administrator).

Click here to view the product listing process.

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There are numerous ways to obtain gene IDs for gene-based products. The most accurate methods require some sort of ID - whether it's from an Affymetrix chip or a protein PDB ID, but having only a species and gene symbol, or in some cases just the gene name itself, can be enough to obtain a gene ID.

The BioCompare product database uses Entrez GeneIDs to pull in various curated data, including species, full NCBI gene names and synonyms, so it is best to obtain the Entrez GeneID when possible. However, we are able to convert gene IDs from various sources to Entrez GeneIDs, so just about any ID-format is acceptable.

Click here for more information on gene ID databases.

Lead Generation Actions

• Get Quote
• Request Info
• Request Demo
• Request Sample

Clickthrough Actions

• Supplier Page
• View Protocol

• Actions must be the same for all products in a specific category
• A maximum of three actions per product are allowed. The primary action is always a button and any additional actions are text links

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Each time a file is submitted, we conduct a thorough review of your product data including: File structure, specifications, data quality and formatting. If we come across significant issues, we will be in touch with you to dialogue towards the best solution.

File Structure:
1. Establish the file type and what is being updated: Is this an update of all the products or just the prices or URL's? Is this a list of products to add, or the entier listing?
2. Check for file consistency: Have the column headers changed? Are the products uniquely identified in the same way as they were in the last file?
3. Check to make sure columns are not duplicated.
4. Check a few catalog numbers to make sure they have not changed.

Specification Check:
1. Check for required specifications:

• Product Name
• Catalog Number
• Quantity
• URL

2. Check for key recommended specifications and completion factors for Antibodies, Assay Kits, and Biomolecules:

• Target (for antibodies and assay kits) or Molecule Name (for biomolecules)
• U.S. Price
• Species Reactivity
• Applications
• Gene ID

3. Check for key specifications for blood and tissue products (Blood Products, Tissues, Cell Lysates):

• Type
• Species
• Tissue
• Disease
• Format
• Application
• Cell Type
• Cell Line
• Sterility

4. Make sure categorization or product type is present.

Data Quality Check:
1. Check to make sure antibody product names meet our guidelines (i.e. target is not repeated and the item name is not the target).
2. Check to make sure that the file contains concise, data-only entries as much as possible. Example fields to check: Applications, Species Reactivity, Species, Target, Molecule.
3. Check References to make sure they are comma separated PubMed or PubMedCentral ID's.

Formatting Check:
1. Check for non-english characters (note: Files with non-english characters will be returned for corrections).
2. Check HTML tags for anything beyond basic formatting tags – bold, italics, underline, lists, superscript, etc. are OK.
Allowed tags: <b>,<i>,<em>,<strong>,<u>,<br >,<sub>,<sup>,<ul>,<li>
Disallowed tags: <table>,<tr>,<td>,<hr>,<block>,<ol>,<p>,<div>,<a href="…">,<img>,<span>
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The Biocompare product listings process includes the following steps:

1. Submit your product data file in accordance with our data guidelines.
2. We’ll review the file and provide feedback, if necessary.
3. Once approved, we programmatically map the data to our specifications.
4. The data is uploaded to the database.
5. The product listings are live on Biocompare for your review.

Click here to view the product listing process.

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In separate spreadsheets of an Excel workbook (or if that is not feasible, in a separate column) separate your products by broad category, or indicate which broad category your product belongs to. Having this data will help to speed up your file processing.

Click here for a list of the broad categories to choose from, and, where needed, some additional information and examples.

Click to view or download a copy of our current product listing guidelines for antibodies, assay kits, blood and tissue products, as well as general guidelines for all product listings. Alternately, they will always be available at biocompare.com/guidelines.

We will be updating and adding to this document, but you will always find the latest version here.
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As you put together your data for our directory, it may be useful for you to understand how search terms are handled by our system. This way, you will know when to expect to see your products show up for searches, and why.

Below are some of key ways that search terms are matched to search results:

1. We do not support partial string match:
   e.g.: Nav ≠ Nav1.1
2. Dashes, slashes and spaces are treated equally:
   e.g.: NAV 1.1 = NAV-1.1 = NAV/1.1
3. Searches are not case dependent:
   e.g.: Nav 1.1 = nav 1.1 = NAV 1.1
4. Spaces and no spaces are handled differently:
   e.g.: NAV1.1 (no space) ≠ NAV 1.1 (with space)

These are the ways that submitting a Gene ID can help your products surface in more searches:

1. Gene ID’s are used to populate the NCBI Full Gene Name, and NCBI Gene Alias fields with additional standard target values that are searchable and visible in the product directory (product details page).
2. Gene ID’s are also used to augment searchable - but not visible - standardized database entries for Gene Symbol, Species Reactivity, and Target.

Putting it all together - recommendations for your listings:

1. Supply a Gene ID, Accession Number, or SwissProt ID for all applicable products.
2. Pick the most common, targeted version of your desired antibody target and use that iteration to name your product and as the target in your data set. For example, use Nav1.1 in the antibody name and as the target; Nav1.1 is more commonly used than Nav 1.1 (with a space) and more targeted than just Nav.
3. If you are not sure which is the most common or most targeted, use the version of target that does not include a space. Below is a sampling of actual search entries for some of our most commonly entered searches; most of the time, the scientist does not include a space when searching for an antigen target:

• cd133
• cd4
• cd31
• CD3
• CD68
• cd34
• cd163
• cd45
• CD11b
• CD14
• cd44
• cd206
• cd8
• CCR2
• Cd63

Also, be sure to see these related questions:
How can I get my products to rank higher in the search results?
Where can I find Gene IDs for my products?
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We screen out bots and other undesirable activity using methods well beyond the current industry standards. These methods include a javascript-based tracking system that most spiders and bots can’t execute, real-time monitoring and exclusion of bot activity, and de-duplication of click activity based on a “maximum of one click per day, per product, per user” algorithm.

Lead Generation Actions

• Get Quote: This is our standard lead generation action. To use this action, you do not need to specify the action in your submission file. Your equipment products will be assigned this action by default.

• Request Info, Request Demo, and Request Sample: To use any of these three lead generation actions, please include a column in your submission file that specifies the desired action per product.

Clickthrough Actions

• Supplier Page:This is our standard clickthrough action. To use this action, please include a URL column that specifies the product page URL on your website that users will be directed to when clicking on Supplier Page from Biocompare.
  • Supplier Page URLs should be product-specific pages where an end user can learn more about the product.
  • Company home page URLs are not advised and should only be used as a last resort.

• View Protocol: This is an alternative clickthrough action that can be used in addition to Supplier Page. To use this action, please include the protocol URL in a separate column. View Protocol URLs should be a web page where the end-user can directly read or access the product-specific protocol. PDF links are discouraged.

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Our new, automated category creation system, alongside our content team, determines product categorization. Additionally, we do consider all specific categorization requests.
Please email the Product Listing Team ([email protected]) the links to the specific categories in which your products should be listed. Our content team will review your request and notify you accordingly.
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Product data updates can take up to four weeks depending on the number of products, the scope of the update, and if the update file meets Biocompare’s Product Listing Guidelines.

Click here to view the product listing process.
Click here to access the current Product Listing Guidelines.
Click here to for tips on how to speed up your file processing time.
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How can I update just the URLs for our product listings?
If you use unique catalog numbers, URLs can be updated by submitting a spreadsheet with the catalog number in one column and the corresponding URL in another column. If you do not use unique catalog numbers (e.g. products with multiple pack sizes that use the same catalog number), please inquire with the product listing team on the best way to update product price. We will need to look up what the tiebreaker is for your products, which is the combination of specifications we use to uniquely identify your products in our database.
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Submit the same file format for each update:
Our content engineering team writes a unique program that is customized to your data. Part of what this program does is map your columns to our existing specifications. When you change your file significantly, the team has to go back and update or re-write your program. This can cause delays.

Let us know what changes to expect:
Write a quick note with your file submission to let us know what changes to expect. Did you change your column headers? Add a column with Gene ID's? Delete 2,000 products? Add 4,000 products? Are you writing over old catalog numbers with new data? Knowing what to expect with your file will tell us exactly what to look for during upload and QA. This will both speed up our QA process and insure that the changes you intended are reflected on the site.

Field specifications in separate columns:
For example, if you are still providing the antibody target as part of the product name (and not as a separate column), then delays can be expected. Not only is there extra programming involved, but often times we need to resort to manual efforts to extract each target.

Categorize your products:
In separate spreadsheets of an Excel workbook (or if that is not feasible, in a separate column) separate your products by broad category, or indicate which broad category your product belongs to. A significant amount of our time is spent training our programs to recognize and categorize your product types. Having this data will help to speed up your file processing. Here are the broad categories to choose from:

• Animals
• Antibodies
• Assay Kit
• Biomolecule
• Cells & Strains
• Chemicals & Reagents
• Chromatography & Separation
• DNA
• Equipment
• Equipment Accessories
• RNA
• Services
• Software
• Supplies & Consumables
• Tissues
• Lysates & Extracts

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We've created the checklist so that checking your data for key specifications and quality issues is easy to do. Covering the key specifications and quality components in your listings will assure that you are maximizing the contribution of your product data to your overall results on Biocompare.
Click here to view the checklist.

As you explore your product listings within the Biocompare website, it may be useful for you to understand how search terms are handled by our system. This way, you will know when to expect to see your products show up for searches, and why. Also, below we have included some tips for maximizing your listings exposure on Biocompare.

Below are some of key ways that search terms are matched to search results:

1. We do not support partial string match:
   e.g.: Nav ≠ Nav1.1
2. Dashes, slashes and spaces are treated equally:
   e.g.: NAV 1.1 = NAV-1.1 = NAV/1.1
3. Searches are not case dependent:
   e.g.: Nav 1.1 = nav 1.1 = NAV 1.1
4. Spaces and no spaces are handled differently:
   e.g.: NAV1.1 (no space) ≠ NAV 1.1 (with space)

These are the ways that submitting a Gene ID can help your products surface in more searches:

1. Gene ID’s are used to populate the NCBI Full Gene Name, and NCBI Gene Alias fields with additional standard target values that are searchable and visible in the product directory (product details page).
2. Gene ID’s are also used to augment searchable - but not visible - standardized database entries for Gene Symbol, Species Reactivity, and Target.

Putting it all together - recommendations for your listings:

1. Supply a Gene ID, Accession Number, or SwissProt ID for all applicable products.
2. Pick the most common, targeted version of your desired antibody target and use that iteration to name your product and as the target in your data set. For example, use Nav1.1 in the antibody name and as the target; Nav1.1 is more commonly used than Nav 1.1 (with a space) and more targeted than just Nav.
3. If you are not sure which is the most common or most targeted, use the version of target that does not include a space. Below is a sampling of actual search entries for some of our most commonly entered searches; most of the time, the scientist does not include a space when searching for an antigen target:

• cd133
• cd4
• cd31
• CD3
• CD68
• cd34
• cd163
• cd45
• CD11b
• CD14
• cd44
• cd206
• cd8
• CCR2
• Cd63

Also, be sure to see these related questions:
How can I get my products to rank higher in the search results?
Where can I find Gene IDs for my products?
Click here for the permanent link to this question.

The Biocompare search engine considers two factors in surfacing results:

1. Relevancy and
2. Completeness of the data based on select specifications.

1. To provide the most relevant data, submit succinct, product-specific, data-only entries (no general scientific information, nor explanatory entries)

• Example of a data-only entry for Application (good):
  WB, Immunohistochemsitry
  
• Example of an explanatory entry (not good):
  This product has been used successfully in Western Blots (1:100-1:10000) and Immunohistochemistry, but fails in ELISAs

2. To influence your data completeness score, submit these specifications:

• U.S. Price
• Species Reactivity
• Applications
• Target (for antibodies and assay kits) or Molecule Name (for biomolecules)
• Quantity
• Entrez Gene ID

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Our sponsored product program is designed to provide the products you select maximum visibility within our product directory. This program is available for the following types of products: Antibodies, ELISA Kits, Proteins, Cells & Strains, Assay Kits, and Reagents. Participation in the program offers the possibility of your selected products to appear in one of four positions in the sponsored section at the top of category pages. Only the most relevant products are eligible to be sponsored. Of the eligible product pool, the products with the four highest bids will fill the four slots. The higher the bid, the higher the probability a product will appear in the top spot once it’s determined to be relevant. If your product does not appear in the sponsored section in a search result it will appear with the non-sponsored listings.

Please see the FAQ for more information on the search algorithm.

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Yes, differential sponsored bids on a per product basis are allowed. The program is designed to be flexible based on your business needs. We will establish minimum bid(s) for your sponsored product program, based on the product ‘class’. The following products classes will have different minimums—Antibodies, ELISA & Assay Kits, Proteins, and all other products. You can then bid above the minimum to help ensure top position placement.

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Products already listed in our directory can be designated as sponsored within 72 business hours of receiving the file with catalog number and bid. New products will be set as sponsored once they are uploaded to our database via our standard product listing process. A member of our Product Listing Team will notify you when the sponsored products are live.

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Your bid will be updated within 72 business hours of receipt of the update file.

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We provide comprehensive reporting on sponsored product clicks, which details clicks generated on a per product basis. We can also include the institution, if the visitor’s IP address can be translated into an account name. We can also provide an analysis of what % of the clicks generated by our product directory are sponsored vs non sponsored. At this time we do not have a client portal; this is something we are exploring down the road.

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Please submit a file containing your products' catalog numbers and publicly-accessible image URLs. If you are planning on also updating your product data, the image URLs can be in-line with rest of the data in your main update file. You can provide up to 6 image URLs for a single product.

If you want to update a handful of images (up to 10), you can send the direct image files along with details to identify the products to [email protected].

If submitting more than 10 images, image URLs are preferred.

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We can display up to 6 images per product. Videos cannot be added for standard listings.

Each image can be be provided with :

• Captions - Please provide clean and concise text. 1500 character limit per image.
• Applications - Please refer to our standardized applications here
• Sort Order - If images should be displayed in a specific order for a product, please provide a number between 1 to 6 to to indicate the position

Captions, Applications, and Sort order should be included in their own separate columns in the file.

All images are resized to be 400w x 300h in a 4:3 aspect ratio and displayed as JPEGs.

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For bulk image updates submitted via a file, we use an image bot that will retrieve and resize each image from your provided image URL. Our Content team will also process the Captions and associate any provided Applications with your images. Once all of this information has been consolidated, we will upload it to our database and perform final checks on the site.

If only a handful of product images are being updated (up to 10), they are manually resized and uploaded.

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There is no action needed on your part. Figures from open-access journal articles that reference the product and company will automatically be associated with the product listing.

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No, there is no additional cost for figures to be included with your product listings.

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