11–20 of 185 posts
If there's any startup working in this area, here's your chance.
I would be very interested in seeing how many developers would pay for the Translate API if Google had decided to monetize it instead of deprecating it then shutting it down as some of the commentors on the blog had suggested. At the same time if the Google Translate API is such a popular service then maybe there is enough demand to support a startup providing a Translate API ;)
I would pay for what I use which isn't a whole lot, but it will be hard to find a programmable replacement like the Translate API. It's also a little hard to believe that it was a "financial burden" for one of the richest corporations in the world.
It's also a little hard to believe that it was
a "financial burden" for one of the richest
corporations in the world.
I can't state this enough. Building your company which heavily relies on an API provided by someone else is risky business. Why are we still in this infatuation stage of ignoring the pitfalls of this?
When you pay per request for access to an API, at a level that can make the provider as well as you profitable, you can have some comfort in the fact that if your provider goes down there will likely be a competitor to spring up in its place.
I'll let Google in on a little secret: If you charge more for a service than it costs you to provide, then there is no such thing as abuse.
You mean, why should you build a for-profit product while relying on someone else's not-for-profit API? I'm guessing you shouldn't! I've seen a lot of neat projects come from Google APIs, but that's as far as I'd taking it. Relying on someone else's good will for the lifeblood of your company is insane. 1 exception, though: Getting started. I could see using Google to get off the ground and then switching to a more r…
I would be very interested in seeing how many developers would pay for the Translate API if Google had decided to monetize it instead of deprecating it then shutting it down as some of the commentors on the blog had suggested. At the same time if the Google Translate API is such a popular service then maybe there is enough demand to support a startup providing a Translate API ;)
I (or more specifically, the client) would certainly pay for something like this. If anyone does have a replacement that is roughly as simple to use and isn't £1000/mo then you have a customer right now.
I would be very interested in seeing how many developers would pay for the Translate API if Google had decided to monetize it instead of deprecating it then shutting it down as some of the commentors on the blog had suggested. At the same time if the Google Translate API is such a popular service then maybe there is enough demand to support a startup providing a Translate API ;)
Starting a startup to replace Google Translate wouldn't be a simple proposition. Google's translation algorithms are considered best-of-breed and involve highly sophisticated statistical machine learning trained over a significant portion of their web crawl corpus data. Their staff scientists and engineers working on Translate are some of the best in the field, and the complexity here should not be underestimated. Th…
Google has made some unpopular developer-facing moves lately (App Engine pricing changes come to mind), and it seems entirely out-of-character. From now on, any API announcement from Google should be accompanied with a GIANT expiration date stamped all over it by default. Then, if it keeps going... happy surprise!
I can't state this enough. Building your company which heavily relies on an API provided by someone else is risky business. Why are we still in this infatuation stage of ignoring the pitfalls of this?
This would 'self correct' folks who weren't doing the extra work.
However for things where there isn't really a credible way to come up with an alternative you are kind of screwed. But then it would become a Google problem if they didn't get API adoption without offering some sort of indemnification in the event they need to take it back.
I presume the 'translation abuse' is people using it to send spam in 141 different languages.