Google SOAP Search API (No Longer Available)
| General Questions |
1. What is the Google SOAP Search API?
The SOAP Search API was created for developers and researchers interested in using Google Search as a resource in their applications. Depending on your application, the AJAX Search API may be a better choice for you instead. It tends to be better suited for search-based web applications and supports additional features like Video, News, Maps, and Blog search results.
2. How does the Google SOAP Search API service work?
Developers write software programs that connect remotely to the Google SOAP Search API service. Communication is performed via SOAP, an XML-based mechanism for exchanging typed information.
3. What functionality comes with the Google SOAP Search API?
Developers can issue search requests to Google's index of billions of web pages and receive results as structured data, access information in the Google cache, and check the spelling of words.
4. What applications can I create using the Google SOAP Search API?
The SOAP Search API is limited to applications not for commercial use.
5. How many queries can I issue from my computer programs?
Google provides each developer who registers to use the Google SOAP Search API service a limit of 1,000 queries per day.
6. How do I get access to the Google SOAP Search API service?
We are no longer issuing new API keys for the SOAP Search API. Depending on your application, the AJAX Search API may be a better choice for you instead. It tends to be better suited for search-based web applications and supports additional features like Video, News, Maps, and Blog search results.
7. Can I create more than one Google Account to get multiple license keys?
No. The API's Terms and Conditions restrict you one account for your personal use. Users who attempt to create more than one account are subject to being banned from the Google SOAP Search API service.
8. Why is the daily limit only 1,000 queries?
The Google SOAP Search API service was an experimental free program, so the resources available to support the program are limited. We encourage you to check out the AJAX Search API, which does not have a limit on the number of queries per day.
9. Can I develop commercial applications using the Google SOAP Search API?
No, the API's Terms and Conditions specifically state that you cannot create a commercial service using the Google SOAP Search API service.
10. Where do I go if I have questions about using the Google SOAP Search API?
We are no longer actively supporting the SOAP Search API, but you may be able to get your questions answered by other developers in the Google SOAP Search API discussion group.
11. What if I want to pay Google for the ability to issue more than 1,000 queries per day?
Google is no longer actively supporting the SOAP Search API, so we encourage you to use the AJAX Search API, which does not have a limit on the number of queries per day.
12. Does Google provide technical support for the Google SOAP Search API?
We are no longer actively supporting the SOAP Search API, but we've kept the documentation live on this site for developers who are already using it.
13. Can I use the source code distributed in the Google SOAP Search API developer's kit?
The developer's kit includes some example Google client Java code, a .NET programming example, and a WSDL file you can use to generate code if your environment supports it.
The developer's kit contains some third-party libraries; your use of these libraries is subject to their terms and conditions. Google has included the licenses for these libraries in the developer's kit download package.
| Google SOAP Search API and Other Google Initiatives |
1. Is the Google SOAP Search API related to the Google Programming Contest?
The Google SOAP Search API and the Google Programming Contest are separate efforts, although both happen to be oriented towards developers.
2. Can Google APIs be used to access other Google services?
Yes, Google has a number of APIs and developer tools. For more information, check out Google Code.
3. Does the Google SOAP Search API work with the Google Search Appliance or Google SiteSearch?
No. However, there is a Google OneBox for Enterprise API that might suit your needs.
| Pricing Questions |
1. Does it cost anything to use the Google SOAP Search API?
No. Developers who are already using the SOAP Search API can continue to do so for free. However, please note that use of the API is limited to 1,000 queries per day to Google, and cannot be used for commercial applications. We are no longer issuing new API keys for the SOAP Search API.
2. Does Google have any plans to sell the Google SOAP Search API as a service?
Not at this time. However, you may also be interested in our AdSense for Search service.
| Technical Questions |
1. How is the Google SOAP Search API implemented?
Google SOAP Search API is implemented as a web service. The service supports several SOAP methods; these are described in an accompanying WSDL file that can be imported into your favorite web services programming environment. Alternately, you can use our custom Java library to call the service.
2. What is a web service?
A web service is something you can call over the web from a program. For more background on web services, see http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/webservices/2002/02/12/webservicefaqs.html.
3. What is SOAP?
SOAP is the Simple Object Access Protocol. It is used for information exchange and RPC, usually (but not necessarily) over HTTP. More information can be found at:
Developmentor SOAP FAQ: http://www.soaprpc.com/faqs/SoapFAQ.html
W3C specifications: http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP/
4. What is WSDL?
WSDL is the Web Service Description Language. It provides a formal description of a web service, much like CORBA's IDL. The WSDL file is all you need to know how to call the web service; toolkits can generate proxy code from a WSDL file directly. The official WSDL definition is at http://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl.
5. Why do I need a license key?
The license key uniquely identifies you to Google. We use it to provide your daily limit of 1,000 free queries.
6. How do I get a license key?
We are no longer issuing new API keys for the SOAP Search API. Depending on your application, the AJAX Search API may be a better choice for you instead. It tends to be better suited for search-based web applications and supports additional features like Video, News, Maps, and Blog search results.
7. What happens if I go over my limit of 1,000 queries?
If you make more than 1,000 queries in a day, our server will respond with a SOAP Fault stating that you exceeded your daily query total. You might want to get some sleep and start querying again tomorrow.
8. Is there a limit on the number of results I can receive per query?
Yes. You can retrieve a maximum of 10 results per query, and you cannot access information beyond the 1000th result for any given query.
9. Does this service work through HTTP proxies?
Sometimes. The service should work through HTTP proxies, but in practice many HTTP proxies have trouble correctly forwarding SOAP.
10. How can I track the number of queries I have submitted each day?
Developers need to perform their own tracking of their daily usage.
11. Can I submit source code to Google so it can be included in the kit?
If you have written code you wish to share with the developer community, let people know by sending a message to the Google SOAP Search API discussion group.
12. What's in the developer's kit?
The kit contains a WSDL file describing the Google SOAP Search API service, a custom Java client library, documentation on how to use the service with Microsoft .NET or Perl, and example SOAP messages. Please take a look at README included in the kit for the most detailed description of the kit and the list of instructions.
13. What programming languages do you support?
The service has been tested with Java (Apache SOAP and Apache Axis), Perl (SOAP::Lite version 0.52), Ruby (SOAP4R), and C# in MS Visual Studio .NET. The service has not been tested with clients in other languages but it should work with any language with web services support.
14. What can I do with the WSDL file?
Many web services toolkits can take a WSDL file and automatically generate a client-side proxy to call the Google SOAP Search API.
15. Is the WSDL file publicly available online?
Yes. You can find it at http://api.google.com/GoogleSearch.wsdl.
16. Can I see some example SOAP messages?
Check out the examples in the soap-samples directory in the developer kit.
17. How can I look at my own SOAP packets and debug my communication?
There are many tools that let you "sniff" your SOAP packets on the wire, usually implemented as an HTTP proxy. We like the Apache Axis tool org.apache.axis.utils.tcpmon.
18. Why do you provide Java client code if it can be generated from WSDL?
We wanted to provide the simplest possible start for developers; shipping a complete Java implementation was the easiest way to do that. The custom Java client also has some convenience features such as default values for seldom-used parameters.
19. What Java packages do I need to use to write a client?
Everything you need to get started is in googleapi.jar. Advanced users may prefer to use their own Java SOAP implementations and use the WSDL file to generate client code.
20. What Perl packages do I need to use to write a client?
SOAP::Lite version 0.52 or newer works well.
21. Why do I get the error "Wrong Boolean value 'false'"?
There is a bug in SOAP::Lite versions prior to 0.52 that causes this error. Upgrade to a newer SOAP::Lite to eliminate this problem.
22. What languages in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET are supported?
The service has been tested with a C# client auto-generated from WSDL by the wsdl.exe tool. It should work fine from any .NET language.
23. What C# packages do I need to use to write a client?
You need the standard .NET framework; either from Visual Studio .NET or the Framework alone.
24. What is the exact sequence of steps needed to make a simple search client in Microsoft Visual Studio.NET?
25. Can I invoke the Google SOAP Search API from Office XP applications (e.g., Excel)?
Currently, Office XP's SOAP implementation only supports simple SOAP types. The Google SOAP Search API service uses complex return types and therefore does not work with Office XP.
26. How do I make queries in languages other than English?
The Google SOAP Search API support requests and responses in UTF-8, allowing you to make requests in all of the world's languages. The original release included parameters <ie> and <oe> for inputEncoding and outputEncoding. These parameters are no longer used and will be removed in a future release. The APIs still do not always return complete results for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean; we are working to remedy this issue.