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Friday, July 24, 2015
Google Search provides an autocomplete service that attempts to predict a query before a user
finishes typing. For years, a number of developers have integrated the results of autocomplete
within their own services using a non-official, non-published API that also had no restrictions on
it. Developers who discovered the autocomplete API were then able to incorporate autocomplete
services, independent of Google Search.
There have been multiple times in which the developer community's reverse-engineering of a Google
service via an unpublished API has led to great things. The Google Maps API, for example, became a
formal supported API months after seeing what creative engineers could do combining map data with
other data sources. We currently supportmore than 80 APIsthat
developers can use to integrate Google services and data into their applications.
However, there are some times when using an unsupported, unpublished API also carries the risk
that the API will stop being be available. This is one of those situations.
We built autocomplete as a complement to Search, and never intended that it would exist
disconnected from the purpose of anticipating user search queries. Over time we've realized that
while we can conceive of uses for an autocomplete data feed outside of search results that may be
valuable, overall the content of our automatic completions are optimized and intended to be used
in conjunction with web search results, and outside of the context of a web search don't provide a
meaningful user benefit.
In the interest of maintaining the integrity of autocomplete as part of Search, we will be
restricting unauthorized access to the unpublished autocomplete API as of August 10th, 2015. We
want to ensure that users experience autocomplete as it was designed to be used—as a service
closely tied to Search. We believe this provides the best user experience for both services.
For publishers and developers who still want to use the autocomplete service for their site, we
have an alternative. Google Custom Search Engine allows sites to maintain autocomplete
functionality in connection with Search functionality. Any partner already using Google CSE will
be unaffected by this change. For others, if you want autocomplete functionality after August
10th, 2015, please see our CSE sign-up page.
Posted by Peter Chiu on behalf of the Autocomplete team
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle will restrict unauthorized access to the unpublished autocomplete API starting August 10, 2015.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle's autocomplete service was designed as a complement to Search and not intended for use outside of this context.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle encourages the use of Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) as an alternative for sites needing autocomplete functionality.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhile reverse-engineering of Google services has sometimes led to valuable outcomes, the autocomplete API is being restricted to maintain its integrity and intended user experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google will restrict unauthorized access to its unpublished autocomplete API on August 10th, 2015, due to its intended use being solely within Google Search. Previously, developers used this API independently, but Google believes the feature is optimized for use with search results. They are stopping support due to a lack of user benefit. An alternative is provided through Google Custom Search Engine (CSE), allowing sites to maintain autocomplete when linked to search functionality.\n"],null,["# Update on the Autocomplete API\n\nFriday, July 24, 2015\n\n\nGoogle Search provides an autocomplete service that attempts to predict a query before a user\nfinishes typing. For years, a number of developers have integrated the results of autocomplete\nwithin their own services using a non-official, non-published API that also had no restrictions on\nit. Developers who discovered the autocomplete API were then able to incorporate autocomplete\nservices, independent of Google Search.\n\n\nThere have been multiple times in which the developer community's reverse-engineering of a Google\nservice via an unpublished API has led to great things. The Google Maps API, for example, became a\nformal supported API months after seeing what creative engineers could do combining map data with\nother data sources. We currently support\n[more than 80 APIs](/apis-explorer) that\ndevelopers can use to integrate Google services and data into their applications.\n\n\nHowever, there are some times when using an unsupported, unpublished API also carries the risk\nthat the API will stop being be available. This is one of those situations.\n\n\nWe built autocomplete as a complement to Search, and never intended that it would exist\ndisconnected from the purpose of anticipating user search queries. Over time we've realized that\nwhile we can conceive of uses for an autocomplete data feed outside of search results that may be\nvaluable, overall the content of our automatic completions are optimized and intended to be used\nin conjunction with web search results, and outside of the context of a web search don't provide a\nmeaningful user benefit.\n\n\nIn the interest of maintaining the integrity of autocomplete as part of Search, we will be\nrestricting unauthorized access to the unpublished autocomplete API as of August 10th, 2015. We\nwant to ensure that users experience autocomplete as it was designed to be used---as a service\nclosely tied to Search. We believe this provides the best user experience for both services.\n\n\nFor publishers and developers who still want to use the autocomplete service for their site, we\nhave an alternative. Google Custom Search Engine allows sites to maintain autocomplete\nfunctionality in connection with Search functionality. Any partner already using Google CSE will\nbe unaffected by this change. For others, if you want autocomplete functionality after August\n10th, 2015, please see our CSE sign-up page.\n\nPosted by Peter Chiu on behalf of the Autocomplete team"]]
