Webmaster Tools: Today In APIs: Twitter Shutdown, OAuth Showdown and 10 New APIs

Today In APIs: Twitter Shutdown, OAuth Showdown and 10 New APIs:

In the latest move in the API wars, Twitter disables Find Friends API off Instagram. Elsewhere, developers ask, Will OAuth 2 be the specification it was meant to be? Plus: eCommerce Hack Day comes to New York, Apply for a Knight-Mozilla Fellow and 10 New APIs.

Twitter moves to shut off Find Friends feature in Instagram

After pulling its tweets off LinkedIn, comes the news that Twitter no longer allows the Find Friends Twitter API in Instagram. In the absence of access to Twitter Friend Graph, Instagram now politely displays a message that it is unable to find your friends on Twitter. As t he heavyweights slug it out in the API wars, only time can tell what effect will this have on the API ecosystem?

Trouble in OAuth 2 Land?

API Authentication is an extremely important requirement of any API. It is widely expected that OAuth is gaining widespread acceptance among API providers. But still if you ask developers, the whole OAuth process is not easy and often it is a stumbling block to get through and start evaluating the API immediately. OAuth 2.0, which is widely expected to supersede the current version 1.0 is getting more complex by the day and this thread at YCombinator gives an insight into the current mess.

Now calling eCommerce API hackers to New York

The first-ever New York City eCommerce hackathon is happening on August 4-5 at The Alley. Use APIs from Etsy, Dwolla, Zappos and more to create some great sustainable applications and win big. If you are looking for ideas, check out the APIs and Hack Ideas page.

API News You Shouldn’t Miss

10 New APIs

Today we had 10 new APIs added to our API directory including a corporate climate change monitoring service, address validation service, customer relationship management service, car rental booking service, social security number validation service and blog search service. Below is more detail on each of these new APIs.

AIMS Address API: The Automated Information Mapping System (AIMS) is provided by Johnson County, Kansas. It can be used by individuals, government organizations or businesses looking for a GIS solution. AIMS offers services including map production, custom enterprise-level application development, and data development. The Address Web Service allows developers to search, validate and geocode against the Johnson County master address database. If a user finds an address, they can also lookup the tax property ID and its tax unit. Methods are including to give users all the valid cities, zip codes, street types, street directions, unit designators, and street names used in the county. The API uses SOAP protocol and responses are formatted in XML.

Climate Counts API: Climate Counts is a nonprofit organization that scores corporations on their efforts towards mitigating climate change. Corporations are scored on whether they have reviewed their own emissions, set goals towards reducing their global warming impact, their policy stance on climate legislations and public reporting of their actions. The API gives users access to the corporation scoring database. Data available includes years, business sectors, companies, brands, yearly scores and aggregated scores. The API uses RESTful calls and responses are formatted in XML and JSON.

Intech IQ Hosted API: Intech is a provider of information quality software for businesses of all sizes. Their IQ Office suite is a solution to help with information transformation, validation, standardisation, matching and integration of a wide array of data sources, both in batch mode as well as in real-time at the point of data capture.
As part of the IQ Office suite, the IQ Hosted Web Service is a web based address validation and geographic coding solution used for cleaning addresses and adding geographic information. The API uses SOAP protocol and responses are formatted in XML. Full documentation is available to customers.

LessAnnoyingCRM API: LessannoyingCRM is designed to be a simpler way for small business to manage their customer relationships. The LessAnnoyingCRM API supports data creation to LessAnnoyingCRM.com through third-part applications. The REST API returns JSON and requires API tokens for access. An account is required to use the API and the underlying service cost $10 per month.

ProjectPlace API: The ProjectPlace API allows access to some of the functionality of the ProjectPlace project management service through a REST API. The service uses the OAuth 1.0a authorization and application identification, and requires users to have an account with the underlying website, and be a registered Projectplace third-party developer. ProjectPlace offers a suite of project management tools including: project planning, document management, resource management, online meeting capabilities, meeting management, as well as other services.

Rental Car Manager API: The service provides a search, reservation, and booking platform for car rentals. It allows travelers to shop for rental cars and complete reservations. Agencies can track car availability and rental activity at their locations, while also reporting on sales and analyzing trends.
API methods support retrieval of vehicle categories, types, and availability for specified pick-up and drop-off locations and times. Methods support selection of an option presented and completion of the reservation booking process. The API also supports management of location operating information, such as staff members, open hours, and available inventory.

SSA CBSV API: The US Social Security Administration (SSA) delivers social security services through a nationwide network of over 1,400 offices. The SSA offers the Consent Based Social Security Number Verification Service (CBSV) as a way of verifying whether a SSN holder's name and Social Security Number (SSN) combination match SSA's records. The CBSV can be used by companies offering banking and mortgage services, credit check processing, background checks and more.
The CBSV API can be used as an alternative to the online application. Users can access the functionality of the CBSV processing and can retreive results in real time. The API uses SOAP protocol and responses are formatted in XML.

TweetReach API: The TweetReach API allows users to access the trackers associated with an account, the tracker metrics, and get a list of contributors involved with a tracker. The TweetReach service itself enables users to analyze the level of exposure their tweets get on twitter. This API uses HTTP GET calls and returns either JSON or XML. An API key is required for use, and the service is available to TweetReach Pro subscribers at the Plus of higher plan level.

Twingly API: The Twingly API allows users query Twingly's blog search index for commercial purposes. The API is accessible using an API key and returns XML for queries over HTTP. The Twingly service allows users to search for content relevant to them across the "blogosphere" and, if desired, display it directly on a webpage.

Urbanesia API: Urbanesia is an online Indonesian city lifestyle directory. Users can find information on businesses and places of any kind as well as stay up to date on various events taking place. The API allows developers to access the site's data including location data across many categories including restaurants, tourism places and more. The API uses RESTful calls and responses are in JSON.