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Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

googlecode.blogspot.com

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Re: Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

#91

Post by GoodIntentions »

frisco wrote: post #12
drndown2008 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 think you underestimate the computational resources required here.

They have something like 37 Billion dollars in retained earning and don't pay a dividend. They didn't get that mountain of cash by losing money on things.

Assure yourself, if you are using a free google-anything, somehow or other, it adds to their income.

Re: Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

#92

Post by kevinpet »

chc wrote: post #56
jmathai wrote: post #2

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?

You mean like .NET? Or Cocoa Touch? Or DOM? Or Node? Or POSIX? At some point, we're all relying on APIs provided by somebody else. I think that's why it's so easy for people to ignore the pitfalls of just a little bit more.

In this case, people are using "API" to refer to the service. The google translate service is being shut down for non-human users.

Re: Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

#94

Post by fjabre »

wccrawford wrote: post #7

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…

Relying on someone else's good will for the lifeblood of your company is insane

Tweetdeck anyone? And Zynga (FB is its lifeblood)

Google shutting down an API that thousands of developers are relying on without much warning is insane.

The web is an increasingly competitive space and there are lots of walled gardens to worry about. Google openly encourages developers to build on top of and use its APIs and it prides itself on its "Don't be evil" policy.

Like it or not, companies like Google, FB, and Apple are platforms that developers are building on top of simply because these companies and their services are the "web" these days.

Re: Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

#96

Post by code_duck »

BlazingFrog wrote: post #72
code_duck wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, maybe not just that type of abuse, overusage without benefit to Google. Of course there could still be abuse of some sort, like somehow using a service to spread spam or malware.

Somehow I doubt that's the abuse they are concerned about.

Not in this case, but I don't think they consider spam and malware to be welcome. What I mean to say is that even profitable services can be abused, though if we want to choose a more specific word than 'abuse', the point may be moot.

Re: Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

#97

Post by nikcub »

digitallogic wrote: post #87
nikcub wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Microsoft did this with the Windows API ten years ago people would be going absolutely batshit crazy in here and the government probably would have intervened

They did a little shy of ten years ago with VB6. People did indeed go batshit, but the government did not get involved.

you are right, I should have rephrased when Microsoft did this. I remember those Slashdot threads well.

Re: Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

#99

Post by orillian »

alanh wrote: post #58
SriniK wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is doing the right thing that would be typical for an internet company. For any product they would need to have maintainers/owners who are continuously updating and monitoring. It is completely waste of time to maintain unused stuff.

You are making a false assumption. I personally use the FeedBurner API to keep track of feed subscribers, for example, and it was deprecated yesterday.

....and you still have 3 years to use it! (granted no more development will be done on the API.) So over the next three years which is like an eon in web years you can look for an alternative. Frankly Goolge might even bring out an alternative.

Re: Why should anyone ever use a Google API again?

#100

Post by eli »

nikcub wrote: post #81
wccrawford wrote: post #7

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…

If Microsoft did this with the Windows API ten years ago people would be going absolutely batshit crazy in here and the government probably would have intervened

Not sure I follow. Microsoft discontinues products too. I would imagine that anyone who based a company off supporting and integrating with Frontpage got screwed.
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