Google’s Updated Ajax Search API

Google has recently updated its search API to be more robust and non-JavaScript friendly. Since the early SOAP-based search API, developers have been trying to cope up with the technology of Google. Although these are really good innovations, there are a lot of things that you have to put up with SOAP. One of them is the limiting innovation of SOAP-based API. Personally, you will feel like you are rebuilding the entire Google webpage in your API but only with different codes and you just pushed yourself to do it.

Fortunately, Google has upgraded their search API. Instead of using SOAP-based functions, Google has opted to go with Ajax as the bases for the search API. The result: Ajax Search API. More robust and developer friendly – if you are familiar with JavaScript.

Although Google has been the champion for frameworks, the Ajax Search API does not have anything to offer for non-JavaScript developers. This web development technique even requires an advanced knowledge of JavaScript.

The asynchronous interaction between Google and the developers’ server might be too much for most JavaScript newbies. In the end, Ajax Search API is only for the few web developers. This was just compensated with the number of developers worldwide jumping to JavaScript because of Ajax’s popularity not to mention the rarity of talent.

Realizing their limited power of Ajax Search API, Google has just recently updated their search API into something better. It is still named Ajax Search API but only better. The main difference this time is translation API which means any language could actually adapt to the search API.

The updated search API of Google also uses JSON instead of XML as their response from the server so you can port the function and details faster as it understands JSON better. According to different blogs, this update was supposed to be solely to accommodate Flash developers. But through translation, everything could be used in the search API.

There are few limitations that developers have to put up with this update. For once, Google is now one the companies with API that requires referrer header. More and more, companies are doing this to developers to ensure they are referenced correctly. Another limitation that developers will encounter is the limited number of maximum search results.

Every API is only limited up to 32 search results and nothing more. You also cannot change the order of search results from Google and last but not the least, limit the results per page to eight only. That means if you have a maximum search result, you only get four pages of search results. Pagination may look good in one way or the other but four pages of reloading the content for information is enough for me.

But even with the limitations, Google Search API is a remarkable update from Google. Since JavaScript is no longer in the way of web development of an API, it is going to be smooth sailing from here on for non-JavaScript developers.