All things must change and this includes the Wordtracker keywords API. After more than 5 years of service we have decided to move away from the old API in favor of a new service. If you access your API via wordtracker.3scale.net then don’t worry, you’re already on it!
If you’re using the old API or just interested in why we have chosen to move away from it then this post will help answer questions you might have and give you a rundown of what’s possible with the new API.
What does this mean and why have you done it?
In general terms you deprecate a service when it is superseded by a newer version, in this case the old API has been superseded by the new one. We have done this as we needed to bring our API service up to date to include the new calls and access to the new data. This gave us an opportunity to create a cutting edge lightweight service and a much improved management platform.
We will continue to provide access to the old API for existing users but we will no longer be developing it or allowing new sign-ups. The data that the old API is hooked into will no longer be updated either, so it is a completely static database.
When will I stop being able to access the old API?
If you are an existing API customer we should have already been in contact to tell you about these changes. Any new sign-ups are already being placed on the new API service, the old one will be completely shut down on the 30 Jan 2014.
So what’s new?
The new API allows you to make a many more calls and interrogate the data in a much more diverse way. Now instead of just being able to request information based on a seed term you can ask for things like top terms, keyword stats, keyword counts and more.
There are also many new parameters for slicing the data, things like segmenting by time period, so you can ask for keywords and searches that only occurred within a specific date range. If that’s not awesome enough you can also get access to some of our new metrics like linkability which you won’t even find in our tools yet.
Do I need to do anything?
In short, if you want to continue using Wordtracker data, yes. The calls and responses are significantly different and its shifted from XML to JSON. So if you don’t update your app to use them then the functionality which relies on them will stop working as of 23 Jan 2014.
We built the API ourselves and have a dev team who love to tinker, so if you have any problems with implementing the new API then do get in touch and we’ll do our best to help. This brings me nicely to the next point...
How do I get in touch?
The new API is not supported via our traditional support channels, instead when you apply to use it, which you can do here, where you will be given a space on our API management platform. You can contact us directly through this platform. Think of it as an API hotline, your question will get in front of the right people much quicker and so get dealt with more efficiently this way.
Why can’t I use the old calls to use the new API?
This is down to a few factors, when we first started working on this the plan was to try and wrap the old and new calls to minimize the impact on customers. As things turned out that simply was not possible due to the difference in the old and new services.
So how can I access this new API?
Anyone can apply to access the API for commercial use, but we do not permit access for personal or non commercial use. This is for a couple of reasons, but primarily this is down to the ability to support these users at the level required. The API simply isn’t designed for all and personal users would be much better off using our tools which run directly off the API. These offer the functionality in a well supported environment.
What’s the bottom line?
We’ve done our best to keep pricing as low as possible, we want people to use the API and integrate our data into their amazing tools and apps. As such we are offering three tiers;
Free : For testing and getting started, it’s very limited and not intended for ongoing useEntry : For $20 a month you can get started with the API and make up to 1000 callsStandard: For $499 you’ll get an unthrottled account with 2000 included unitsEnterprise: For $1000 you get an unrestricted account with 10,000 units included
At any of the paid levels you can buy more units to make more calls, but the price per unit drops significantly as you move up the tiers. Please be aware the Entry level plan is designed for those just starting out on a smaller budget to get access, as they scale they would be expected to move up to a more suitable pricing plan.
You can check out our pricing plans for more detail.
What if I don’t want to move, why don’t you just leave the old API running forever?
Aside from the cost of keeping that service going in terms of both infrastructure and maintenance we need to think about quality. The old API just can’t support our new data and we don’t want people to carry on serving our old data as we won’t be updating it.
You can find out more about the new API here
Or if you’re the technical sort, please visit our documentation pages.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at api@wordtracker.com. Please do not use the other standard support channels for API queries as you will find the dedicated api team better equipped to handle your questions.
