There is new debate whether Google Inc. and other leading search engines should standardize the way computer programmers get at their storehouses of information. Also at issue is how often a developer"s application is entitled to dip into a search engine"s Internet catalogs. The discussion focuses on a common API, a way in which computer programs interact. Companies don"t have to release an API, yet many do because it"s an inexpensive way to expose products and services to a wider audience.
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft Corp."s MSN, the three leading search engines, each have different APIs. Each allows computer programmers to create services that use material that the search engine collected. In the search, Google limits computer programs to 1,000 inquiries a day. Microsoft"s cap is 10,000, while Yahoo Inc. allows 50,000 queries a day. Ideally, software writers say, queries should be unlimited. Web pioneer Dave Winer suggested last week in a widely read Weblog posting that Yahoo and Microsoft should copy Google"s API and adopt it as their own, and also lift the cap on inquiries.