The Chatterbox

Tools and the Google API

Just a quick note for those how may be using some of the tools available here. Namely those using the All In Title or Common Link tools and trying to query Google via the old SOAP API.

Yes I am aware those tools are not currently working as expected. Jill notified me yesterday that a custom built AIT tool I'd made for her internal use some time ago had stopped working and was producing an error message. I've tested it here with my versions too, and they're also not working as expected.

It appears, at first glance anyway, that Google may have disabled their SOAP servers that were delivering information via the old SOAP API. I'm not 100% positive this is what's happening yet and have a query out to try to confirm that they've intentionally disabled SOAP requests, but that's what it looks like is happening.

In all honesty I figured this day would come eventually. It only makes sense considering they stopped issuing SOAP keys many years ago now. In fact, they even stopped answering questions on the SOAP Google Group well over a year ago, so the writing was definitely on the wall. It is however going to have a detrimental effect on literally thousands of scripts out there, not just the couple where I've integrated the SOAP API calls to gather data.

I've seen no official or even semi-official announcements on the subject yet, so am unable to confirm if this is a temporary problem or the final nail in the coffin. But I'm trying to get the information. Update: It's confirmed, the SOAP API servers are gone and gone for good. More updates from yours truly at the end. Unfortunately if it's gone it's simply going to be gone and I'm either going to have to remove those tools that use a Google API or in the case of the Common Link finder simply remove the Google search results from the options.

Though I could certainly script a little scraper to get the information, I'm not going to. Not only is that against Google's TOS, but it's simply bad form IMHO. And to knowledge the other API Google started offering when they stopped sending out SOAP API's just won't work for these tools. Or at least won't work for free tools because there would be a cost involved to start using that method.

Sorry for the bad news, but it is what it is. If you have any problems with it, tell Google to turn their SOAP servers back on.

Additional Update: I will not be converting any of my tools over to Google's Ajax APIs. Not because I don't want to have support for Google, but because their Ajax/REST method has returned buggy information since day one, and even years after the fact they've chosen to allow the bugs to live on. Bad data is worse than useless as far as I'm concerned. It's dangerous! Why? Because it could cause some people who trust the data to be correct to make some very bad business decisions.

I simply will not be a party to spreading such misinformation when I know it's there. Only Google can fix it, and I think it's safe to say after 2 years of bug reports on most of the issues they're not going to magically get fixed now.

Looks like that's the end of Google's API. Well, cept for the one they pay lip service to but have mangled so badly it's useless to real developers who want to do anything even a millimeter outside the box Google has painted everybody into.

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