Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#1

Post by tomjcleveland » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 2:43 PM UTC

I often have ideas for fun projects that hit a brick wall when I discover that a popular service I _assumed_ had an API in fact does not.

Examples: Netflix, Kindle, ClassPass, OpenTable.

Often these services do have _some_ kind of API—but it's super limited and/or only available to huge enterprises.

I'm curious if other people on HN run into this problem—and if so, what's the #1 service you wish had a powerful, startup-friendly API?

Re: Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#2

Post by AznHisoka » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 3:21 PM UTC

This is an easy one for me: Google Search

Re: Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#3

Post by Raed667 » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 4:11 PM UTC

AznHisoka wrote: post #2

This is an easy one for me: Google Search

How would they display ads in an API form?

Re: Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#4

Post by unlinked_dll » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:55 PM UTC

If I ran a popular consumer facing service, I would definitely not be inclined to provide a developer API. That's a risky business proposition. And as a startup I wouldn't hitch my business to a developer API on such a service, which is an even riskier business proposition.

That said, I'd love it if Netflix or Pornhub provided their VOD infrastructure as a service. There's a lot of space for content platforms that don't compete with them directly, but are infeasible to get off the ground.

I think a better question then isn't, "which services should have APIs?" but "which companies should provide IaaS?"

Re: Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#5

Post by AznHisoka » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 6:06 PM UTC

Raed667 wrote: post #3

AznHisoka wrote: post #2

This is an easy one for me: Google Search

How would they display ads in an API form?

I'd be interested in just the organic search results returned in API format.

Re: Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#6

Post by yen223 » Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 2:04 AM UTC

Online banks.

I can understand why securely exposing an API for banking details would be challenging, but I would love a way to access my account statements and daily transactions programatically, without having to pass my credentials to shady 3rd-party apps.

Re: Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#7

Post by surds » Wed, Apr 01, 2020, 9:40 AM UTC

AznHisoka wrote: post #5

Raed667 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would they display ads in an API form?

I'd be interested in just the organic search results returned in API format.

That would be great, but they would never do that. It would make studying the organic search results much easier, allowing folks to better reverse-engineer the search algo; and game the system to a greater extent.

Re: Ask HN: What service should have an API, but doesn't?

#8

Post by AznHisoka » Wed, Apr 01, 2020, 2:48 PM UTC

surds wrote: post #7

AznHisoka wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be interested in just the organic search results returned in API format.

That would be great, but they would never do that. It would make studying the organic search results much easier, allowing folks to better reverse-engineer the search algo; and game the system to a greater extent.

Yep, that's true. The OP asked what I wanted. I know it's a pipe dream.