Some of the biggest names in web APIs released new web services this month including Google, Amazon and Intuit. In looking at 4 of the new additions to our API directory last week there’s the new Amazon RDS: a Relational Database in the Cloud, Google’s Website Optimizer now has an API, and Intuit has rolled-out new APIs and tools that let QuickBooks Services Bridge the Desktop and the Cloud, and last but not least is an interesting new API from the folks at Factual that lets you create and embed tables of data anywhere. Outlined below is more detail on each of these new APIs:
The ol’ mid-date excuse to cut things short has an upgrade from a new mashup. Escape My Date reacts to a Twitter message for help and dispatches pre-selected friends to call you. The excuse, it seems, is still up to you to figure out.
In addition to the 4 new APIs we profiled a few days ago, there were 4 more new APIs add to our API directory last week. These include a new API to get access to government data regarding the US Congress, an API that gets you access to a visual search engine for fashion products, a read-write API for geo-related services (which we wrote about last week in TownMe Launches Read/Write Location Data API), and a new semantic search API. Below are more details on each of these:
MapQuest continues to add services to its developer network. Have they caught up with the geo-tools available from Google and Yahoo?
Jigsaw, has announced additions to their RESTful JSON and XML API as well as a developer program designed to enable developers to query, share, and resell Jigsaw’s community-contributed database of company data and contact information. They came onto the API scene in June 2008 with their declaration of “Data Independence Day“, which focused on providing free access to their database of company information (more details at our Jigsaw API Profile).
There’s a new Amazon acronym to learn. RDS stands for Relational Database Service and it is the newest addition to Amazon’s suite of web services. Unlike previous data services from Amazon such as SimpleDB, RDS is relational (our profiles for the SimpleDB API and new RDS API). In fact, it’s a MySQL 5.1 instance but the main difference is that it is hosted on a virtual server instance in Amazon’s data center. And it can expand and contract as needed, programmatically. Like the Amazon APIs before it, RDS was built to provide developers access to Amazon’s infrastructure, with pay-as-you-go pricing based on your usage.
Intuit has announced the release of several new resources for developers to integrate desktop applications with web-based applications. The new Intuit App Center allows QuickBooks users to access third party web applications developed with the Intuit Partner Platform. This move effectively bridges Intuit’s suite of desktop accounting software with applications that run in the cloud.
How far back do your newspaper’s online archives go? The U.S. Library of Congress has a database of thousands of newspapers dating back to the 1800s. In the case of over 150 of the papers, there are also digitized, searchable pages. And it’s all available via its new Chronicling America API (technical details at our Chronicling America API profile).
Lately we’re seeing a lot more talk about API monetization. Last week we covered TweetPhoto’s efforts at encouraging developers to use the TweetPhoto API through a transactional payment model (one penny or so for each photo uploaded via the API). Last month we covered Bandsintown, which provides affiliate earnings via use of its Bandsintown API. And more recently Touchnote announced an affiliate payment model (with a whopping 30% royalty) for developers working with its image API.
This past week 16 new mashups were add to our mashup directory and 32 different APIs were used to build them. Some of the newer or less frequently seen APIs include Cloudspeakers, Friendster, Hyves, and Printfection. The most often used APIs this week are Amazon eCommerce, Google Maps, and Twitter. And the most frequently used types of APIs were Shopping (7 APIs, 8 mashups), Social (7 APIs, 9 mashups), and Search (4 APIs, 4 mashups). The list below shows which APIs were used by which mashups.
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