API
Google Map Maker Maps Now Available in 27 Languages and Via Maps API
Google Map Maker allows people around the world to create maps in their own language. The tool is now available in 27 different languages.
Also, Google is making those maps available to their Maps API. As a result, web developers can add these maps to their sites. By switching a parameter in the API, developers can have their sites access the latest edition of the maps. Maps are available for 164 different countries.
Related Reading:
Google Maps Inks 5 Year Deal with Tele Atlas
Google Opens Location-Aware Application to 3rd Party Developers
Google Maps can now be integrated using HTML
Twitter Tests a Search Box on the Root Domain
Twitter is testing a search box on the root URL of its site, meaning on the home page and user pages. Currently, search resides on a subdomain, http://search.twitter.com. There is a “Find People” search on the root, but searching tweets is on the root.
The test will include a search box in the navigation in the top right of the page. Only a small subset of users will see the search box during the test.
Twitter has had a hesitant approach to search. While this may seem surprising on the surface, it has probably been necessary in the progress of the social network. As the popularity of Twitter grew, many of the users became accustomed to downtime, symbolized by the infamous picture of a whale being lifted by tiny birds.
As Twitter resolved the majority of their downtime issues, search became a possibility again. Twitter acquired Summize, which was a third-party search developed via the Twitter API. That’s when search was placed on the subdomain.
It’s good to see that Twitter is finding itself in the place to test search on the root domain. My gut tells me they’ll find the search box very popular and roll it out to all users soon enough.
Yahoo! to Charge Developers for BOSS; Releases Structured Data
Yahoo! has announced that they will begin charging developers for their use of BOSS. It won’t take effect until sometime in the second quarter at the earliers. They also won’t be charging for the first 10,000 API calls per day (depending on the call).
Yahoo! is also releasing SearchMonkey structured data to BOSS developers. Yahoo! gets this data by crawling microformats and RDF, which include embedded semantic markup. Now, API users can access this data.
BOSS was launched last year and it gives web developers the ability to build search engines for websites using Yahoo’s search technology.
SearchMonkey was also launched last year to let site owners develop custom listings for search results. So far, several of these listings (aka apps) have been set to default in Yahoo’s listings including Yelp, LinkedIn, and Wikipedia.
Yahoo! Unveils Social Inbox and Open Features for Key Products
Following quite closely in the footsteps of AOL’s Bebo, Yahoo! has unveiled a new version of their email inbox, which incorporates social media. Starting with a limited beta release, Yahoo is opening Mail up to third-party applications such as Flixter, Wordpress, and Xoopit.
Continuing on the theme of opening up products, Yahoo also announced advancements in the following products:
- My Yahoo! – Starting today, My Yahoo! can be enhanced by adding applications created by third-party developers. The aps will range from productivity tools to games, and will infuse My Yahoo! with new social relevance. A new My Yahoo! Theme API lets third-party designers create themes for My Yahoo! pages
- Yahoo! Toolbar – Next year’s new toolbar will be available for a sneak preview later this week at toolbar.yahoo.com and will provide constant access to online tasks and news. Features include:
- Apps for checking new email from Yahoo! and other popular Web-based email providers, monitoring or searching for items on eBay, and finding local movie showtimes
- Alerts that notify a user about Updates from their personal connections – including their friends’ recent activity across the Yahoo! network and eventually, elsewhere on the Web.
- Personal search suggestions that surface the sites a user has visited and provide vertical search results directly from the Toolbar.
- Yahoo! Updates – This new feature will allow users to quickly check their updates across the Yahoo! network, such as a recently Buzzed article, a hotel review in Yahoo! Travel, adding a new app to My Yahoo!, or a rating on Yahoo! TV. Earlier this fall, Yahoo! has already begun displaying activity updates in Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Buzz. Activity updates from other social sites across the Web will be included in the coming months. The Yahoo! Updates platform is also available as an open API.
What do you think of the Yahoo! announcements? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Related Reading:
Will Social Networks Become the New Inbox?
Yahoo is Planning Home Page Redesign
Yahoo Launches Location-Based Open Source Application, Fire Eagle
Zillow Launches Answers Feature
It’s been a popular year for answers sites as well as adding answers to existing sites and now real estate search engine Zillow is getting in on the action. Their new feature, Zillow Advice, provides a much needed answers niche for an industry going through much upheaval.
“In today’s changing and unprecedented housing market, homeowners, buyers and sellers are hungry for advice and information,” said Rich Barton, CEO and co-founder of Zillow.com. “This is apparent in the traffic and activity we are seeing on Zillow, with unique visitors up 44 percent over this time last year – it’s clear more people than ever are searching for answers. Zillow Advice is a place where people can ask questions, find information on a very specific and local level, and connect with the real estate professionals in their area who can help. This, in addition to Zillow’s updated home value and for-sale data on 80 million U.S. homes, creates an invaluable resource for consumers trying to navigate today’s market.”
Here’s what to expect:
- Localization – Users can tag questions by locality, at the state, city, or neighborhood level. Professionals and other Zillow users can then answer with information pertaining to that specific location. For example, if a user had a question about pricing their home in a specific Seattle neighborhood, a local Seattle real estate agent, or a recent seller from that neighborhood could answer with relevant information or advice.
- “Local Expert” Badge – Users who ask questions can notate the “best answer” to their questions. Those whose answers are frequently voted “best answers” earn points towards a “Local Expert” Badge – a way for the Zillow community to know which experts are active and frequently commended for their helpful contributions.
- Subscription – Professionals can subscribe to specific locations or topics in their area of expertise. When a question is tagged with a city, neighborhood or topic they have subscribed to, they are notified immediately via an email or RSS feed and can quickly respond with relevant information. This feature helps consumers connect quickly and easily with the local experts who can best answer their question.
- Key Word Search – Users typing in a specific word or phrase, like “refinancing” are directed to all the questions that have been asked, or discussions taking place on Zillow Advice around that word or phrase.
- Profile Pages – All Zillow community contributions link to a user’s free Zillow Profile Page, where real estate professionals can choose to include contact information, photos and a narrative about their areas of service. Profile pages show all of an individual’s contributions to Zillow.com – from active listings, to questions answered or discussion participation.
Related Reading:
Zillow Unveils Automated Quote API
Zillow Launches Free Professional Directory
Zillow Launches New Ad Network with Consortium of Newspapers
Google Webmaster Tools Launches Message Center API
Google Webmaster Tools has launched a new Message Center API that is part of the Webmaster Tools GData API. Google uses the Message Center to relay important messages about a site to its webmaster.
Here’s what Google says you can expect from the Message Center API:
- Retrieve messages: The messages feed contains all the messages sent to your account. These messages have important information about your verified sites. Examples of messages include infinite spaces warnings and crawl rate change notifications.
- Mark messages as read or unread: In order to keep track of new communications from Google, you can mark your messages as read or unread, the same way that you would manage your inbox. If you retrieve a single message, this message will be automatically marked as read.
- Delete mesages: It’s possible to delete messages using the GData API. However, be careful because if you delete a message through the API it will also be deleted in your Webmaster Tools account, as both interfaces share the same data.
You can download code samples in Java to assist you in your API development.
Related Reading:
Google Creates One Page for Webmaster Tools Settings
Google Webmaster Tools Adds Hack Alert For CMS Programs
Google Webmaster Central Updates Include API Settings and Crawl Error Sources
Google Creates One Page for Webmaster Tools Settings
Google has placed the Webmaster Tools settings on one page for your convenience. The settings that can be adjusted are:
1. Geographic Target
2. Preferred domain control
3. Opting in to enhanced image search
4. Crawl rate control
Some settings are time-bound, such as the crawl rate, which automatically sets back to default after 90 days. So, be sure to make note of those settings and revisit as warranted.
You’ll also be prompted every time you make a change to Save or Cancel.
Have you checked out the new settings page? What are your thoughts?
Related Reading:
Google Webmaster Tools Adds Hack Alert For CMS Programs
Google Webmaster Central Updates Include API Settings and Crawl Error Sources
Google Extends Webmaster Tools Access Program to Qualifying Hosting Providers
Google to Change Calculations for Quality Score and Ad Rank
Changes are coming to the way AdWords calculates its Quality Score and Ad Rank. The changes will be implemented in the coming weeks.
First up, Quality Score will no longer take ad position into account. The idea is that simply dishing out the dough for a higher position has nothing to do with the quality of the ad.
CORRECTION: Here’s what Google really said: “To calculate the most accurate Quality Scores, it’s important that the influence of ad position on CTR be taken into account and removed from the Quality Score.” Bloggers have been pointing out that Google has been doing this. When I get further clarification from Google, I’ll let you know! Stay tuned.
Next, Ad Rank is going to focus on quality for ads that appear on top of the search results. Ads must meet a “quality threshold” in order to appear in that prime real estate. It will be possible for a lower positioned ad to jump above a higher position ad in the sidebar ads to hang out in the box above the organic results if it meets the threshold but the higher positioned ads don’t.
Clearly, Google is making quality a key focus in AdWords. This may be an attempt to improve the program in the midst of a slowdown in growth for paid search. Or it could be an attempt to show that Google is more concerned about quality than price – and therefore advertisers need not be worried about a little thing like a search advertising deal with Yahoo.
What do you think about the focus on quality? Let us know in the comments.
Related Reading:
Google Makes AdWords Site Stats Logo Optional
AdWords Editor Version 6.5 Released
AdWords Conversion Optimizer Releases New Eligibility Requirements
AdWords API Gets an Update and Extra Quota
AdWords API Gets an Update and Extra Quota
Google’s AdWords API team has released version 13 of the open source tool. The update includes the following:
- New geotargeting options
- Active campaign and ad group retrieval
- Campaign budget suggestions
- Quality-based bid and quality score support
- Mobile Image Ad support
- Easier MCC account hierarchy retrieval
- MCC Alerts support
- Search volume data returned in KeywordToolService
- Minimum bids no longer supported
For more on the updates, read the release notes:
AdWords API advertisers will also receive 20% more API units from now through January 15, 2009. Here’s how it works:
- All developers can purchase API units at the rate of 1200/$0.25, up from 1000/$0.25, from now through January 15th, 2009.
- Advertisers who are eligible for free API units will receive credit at the rate 300/$ of AdWords spend, up from 250/$ of AdWords spend. They will be credited the holiday bonus based on their spend in previous months.
Related Reading:
AdWords API Gets Local Database Sync Update
Conversion Optimizer Now Supported by Adwords Editor and API
Google Adds Pricing Model To Google AdWords API: Opens Commercial Use
Google Analytics Unveils 7 Major Updates
Just in time for a weakening economy and the holiday retail season, Google will begin rolling out 7 new features to Analytics over the coming weeks.
The new updates are enterprise level features that Google will now be offering for free.
First up is an integration with AdSense. This one will be rolled out over several months, so if you don’t see it for a while, you’ll know why. You’ll be able to view AdSense performance based on page and referring site. Plus, you’ll be able to tell where you’re traffic is coming from geographically.
The rest of the updates will begin rolling out over the next few weeks. Don’t expect to see them all at once. You’ll more likely see them added one at a time. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Updated user interface. You may have seen this already today on your account. This is a cosmetic update with a cleaner look.
- Updated management interface. Soon, you’ll be given a summarized glimpse at your stats upon logging into analytics. Also included are added administrative abiliies to rename and delete accounts and profiles.
- Custom reporting. You can create reports based on the data that’s important to you and organized how you want to see it. Choose which stats you want on the x and y axis and what data you want to drill into.
- Advanced segmentation. Check out data on subsets of traffic. You can use this feature to compare traffic from paid search versus organic search, for example. You can integrate this with custom reporting, as well.
- Motion Charts This takes your data and visualizes it using colors and bubbles. Sound funky? Check out this video to learn more:
- New API – People have done some pretty creative things with Google Analytics from mobile and desktop applications to Grease Monkey scripts. Now, developers have it easier with the new Google Analytics API. Google is hoping that third party developers will dream up applications that aren’t currently floating around the offices in Mountain View.
Google has a YouTube channel dedicated to these updates. It’s a great way to learn more about how the new features work. Check it out and then let us know your impressions of these coming changes by leaving a comment.
Related Reading:
Google Analytics Now Available in Google Code
Google Analytics Now Shows When a Visitor Uses Chrome
Does Google Analytics Share Data with Google Trends and Ad Planner?
Google Analytics Adds Adwords TV Campaign Reporting
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