The big G is freeloading off me
 

Around a couple of months ago my free geo API webservice took a massive daily hammering and required some serious intervention on my part to tweak a load of shit to keep 15 million + daily API hits from burning out my server.
I got it under control, and server load is a steady 2-4.

All the increase in hits was for the javascript geo API, which kind of sidesteps the freeloading "blocker" script, preventing servers from automating geo lookups to hound my service. Anyway, as they were JS lookups, they were end-user based, and as I had load under control, I let it be (not wanting to restrict the service to an API key).

In any case, I get lots of emails complementing me on the service and random as well as regular donations to let it go on as a free webservice.

So today I get an email from an astounded client saying he can't believe Google is plugging into the service with their wave offering.

On closer inspection, I found at least one plugin, map gadget that the GWave developer API team added that uses directly my service (raw code here.

I don't know whether I should be honoured or pissed off. Kinda angry I never even got an email telling me they were adding it, so expect big hits....

Anyway, not too hassled as the service is coping, but would have thought that the big G could afford to implement their own geo service into their own wave add ons!!

Skimmed milk anyone?!

Congrats on an awesome service :thumsbup

Not sure whether you should be honoured or pissed off - Try emailing them :P

they use your bandw?!?

Cool anyway, now try to find a way to monetize it.

congrats on the success :thumbsup

but you should know how google operates by now... they think they own the internets, so they take whatever they want. if you want give it to them, then they will develop it and offer it for free

i would write to them and tell them you dont have the bandwidth to handle that many requests and ask if they can hook you up with a box there... im sure they have a few million laying dormant :1orglaugh

You got the "GFY Weather" thing in your signature. I like that. Looks nice. Looks like the "GFY Weather" thing is geo-targeted to my city - nice.

Zomg!!!!!!

why?

There's actually a really easy way to monetise it, especially the javascript calls, which is to skim the traffic. However, why would I do that as IMO that is trying to commercialise a venture I put up purely to help people with.

However, there is a clause in the ToS that allows me to monetise JS traffic if it is deemed to be greater than the permitted 100k/day from a single site.

But that's just a "if I ever needed to" idea that I've never felt the urge to implement.

Considering their Google Maps API has a geoip / long / lat / city / state / country thing built into it, it's a little odd.

yeah, but what I don't get is why? I mean, I'm flattered and all that they find the system robust enough to add to their extensions, but they have their own geo API in gears, so why rely on 3rd party?

The only thing I can think is that gears requires an API developer's key, whereas mine (for now anyways) does not.

Not requiring an developer key allows for seemless integration into apps etc (which is why I didn't force an developer key onto the webservice). It's interesting, cos a "nearby tweets" twitter thing uses my webservice, and is hugely popular, and Twitter recently purchased a geo outfit based in Boston and relocated the developers to their HQ which is a shame, cos the nearby tweets developer gets no recognition for the geo app that a lot of people use. Well, that is assuming they develop their own app that is better than his ;)

For making DOSBox work on OSX with full speed on PPC, I got about 20,000G of bandwidth burned in the first week.

There's a reason why the only free shit I pass out has a very limited scope these days. Congrats on a viable, free service.

yup, exactly - doesn't add up for me.

:2 cents:

damn, here's another bit of code, with yet another API call

http://google-wave-resources.googlec.../longitude.xml

they could at least try and cache the results so as to not make multiple hits per single person visit grrrr!

http://www.google.com/support/forum/...abb6653c&hl=en

guess this has been added for a while pretty much since the inception of wave, which explains the massive traffic bump a few months ago.

A courtesy email to let me know they were implementing the JS part would have been nice. Pffftt, developers are all take, take, take!

just email [email protected] ;)

maybe they will buy you out :p

You never know... Try to get something out of em at least :winkwink:

I really doubt it, unless it's the traffic they want, which I think is a drop in the ocean compared to what their gear traffic must generate.

Still, who knows why they did that.

Lots of Javascript reliance.... Brazilian govt is the recent hot dog to join the folly

brasil.gov.br
(copy paste to view the site's source)

their entire site strangely requires the javascript addition.

I don't get these people - now, I'm not going to do anything untoward, but these are high profile websites, calling a third party (largely unknown) javascript, where the end-user's browser can be hijacked at any moment. And they never even send an email to try and even get to know who is behind the third party app, or anything.

Strange the values people put on things!

Needless to say, the brazilian govt official website does some nice traffic :thumbsup

And no, I don't have any scruples divulging these users of my service cos:
1. They are bypassing the 100k/day limit through use of the javascript API (client IP based, rather than server)
2. They haven't even bothered to ask if their usage with such huge bandwidth is OK
3. They haven't even registered their site so impossible for me to contact them.

Pffft.