As people have been reporting on this group since yesterday (24 January 2014), the Local Search API has stopped functioning. Requests to the service endpoint are now being met with a 403 message indicating suspected TOS violations and abuse. Although I have seen no official announcement from anyone at Google, the reality is that this is not at all unexpected.
The Local Search API and the (AJAX) Web Search API were both officially deprecated on November 1, 2010 (here is the official announcement: http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2010/11/introducing-google-apis-console-and-our.html), and the rest of the (AJAX) Search APIs (e.g., News, Image) were officially deprecated the following May at Google I/O 2011 (here is the official announcement: http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2011/05/spring-cleaning-for-some-of-our-apis.html). Per the TOS, these services were to be maintained - as long as it was commercially reasonable - for a period of three years. In other words, the Web and Local Search APIs were set to be discontinued in November 2013, with the other (AJAX) Search APIs following in May 2014. In short, I do not anticipate that the Local Search API will return. And I fully expect that the Web and other services formerly included in the AJAX Search API family will be shut down over the next few months as well. So what alternative services are available? The answer to that question, of course, depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, because the (AJAX) Search APIs were something of a one-stop shop for a very wide spectrum of functionality, there is no one great answer. Therefore, I have endeavored to compile a list of what are probably the best alternatives depending on a few of what I consider the most common use case scenarios. These are provided in no particular order, and I will leave it to the developer to read the documentation and conduct testing to determine which is the best solution for any particular application. Basic Web Search Google Custom Search API: https://developers.google.com/custom-search/json-api/v1/using_rest Yahoo! BOSS: http://developer.yahoo.com/boss/search/ Bing Search API: http://datamarket.azure.com/dataset/bing/search Blekko API (though it is presently unavailable): http://help.blekko.com/index.php/does-blekko-have-an-api/ Local business search Bing AJAX v7 API: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg427610.aspx Yelp Search API: http://www.yelp.com/developers/documentation/v2/search_api Geocoding (i.e., Local Search) Google Geocode API: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/ Mapquest Geocode API: http://developer.mapquest.com/web/products/dev-services/geocoding-ws Bing Spatial Data Services: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff701734.aspx News Search Bing Search API: http://datamarket.azure.com/dataset/bing/search Use the Google Feeds API to pull Google News RSS feeds for a given search term: https://developers.google.com/feed/ Use the Google Custom Search API with a Custom Search Engine set up for your favorite news sites: https://developers.google.com/custom-search/json-api/v1/using_rest Image Search Bing Search API: http://datamarket.azure.com/dataset/bing/search Google Custom Search API: https://developers.google.com/custom-search/json-api/v1/reference/cse/list#request(Note the searchType parameter) Video Search Bing Search API: http://datamarket.azure.com/dataset/bing/search YouTube Data API: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/ Blog Search I have not found anything truly comparable. I hope this helps those who are finding their applications suddenly dark! Blessings, and happy coding! -- Jeremy R. Geerdes Generally Cool Guy Des Moines, IA If you're in the Des Moines, IA, area, check out Debra Heights Wesleyan Church! http://www.debraheightswesleyan.org -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google AJAX APIs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] To view this message on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-ajax-search-api/CAF4cwg_HNPHL0OsRKfWa8xH-cvzXVRRRcbXjFzZ09X2hHOxk5A%40mail.gmail.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-ajax-search-api?hl=en?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google AJAX APIs" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
