Ask Maps API
I am working on a new application and I will make use of a mapping API from one of the search engines. In researching the different maps and their respective API’s, I was disappointed to find out that ask.com doesn’t have an API for their maps. Ask seems to have the best satellite data for my application, which is focused on rural areas, but alas, I can’t make use of it. I understand that it takes significant amount of work and resources to produce an API that can withstand the demands of thousands of external applications. Seeing how much money ask.com has spent on advertising recently, I think they would get a better bang for their buck on a map API than on commercials. Matt Cutts posted a graph from Alexa that indicates they didn’t receive a traffic spike from the commercials.
Think about the boost they would get if thousands of mashups are created using Ask’s maps. First, people would become accustomed to using the interface and familiarity begets use. Secondly, a portion of those applications would send traffic directly to Ask maps (driving directions, etc..), making them more likely to use the Ask search engine in the future. So how about Ask, where is the API?
August 18th, 2006 at 4:49 am
Indeed, I agree. I was trying different methods to get reverse geocoding information. So far I’ve found a very (approximate) reverse geocoding at http://ws.geonames.org, thru an URL that returns an XML.
Seems like ask.com has more accurate information… I wish there was a way to access them.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
No kidding. I like their maps more than Google’s, especially since I’m getting performance problems w/ Google recently - blocks not loading or indicating they don’t have the info at the appropriate zoom level. Ask’s are much faster and crisper right now, but they don’t seem to get the value of winning the API war. Joel Spolsky had a good article on this some years back, pointing to Microsoft’s flagging share of “hearts-and-minds” as programming moves from the desktop to the web.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:48 am
I agree with you.But why not try google maps api or windows live local’s virtual earth api?They are free