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I'm using this link https://www.google.com/reader/api/0/stream/contents/feed/FEEDHERE?output=json&n=20

to fetch feeds using Google's algorithm. As you can see I'm not adding any other parameters, just fetching the returned data in JSON format. My app will be heavily used hopefully and if I send a lot of requests to this link, will Google block my access or something?

Is there anything I can include, like userip, url for my app (so if they have problem to just contact me) or something else?

MarioDS
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Devfly
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2 Answers2

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The most basic answer to your question is that Google will change its Terms of Service whenever it likes, and you've got no say in the matter. So if it's allowed today, it might not be allowed tomorrow, at Google's whim.

On this issue, though, you seem fairly safe. From the Terms of Service (these is the general document, since Reader doesn't seem to have a specific one):

Don’t misuse our Services. For example, don’t interfere with our Services or try to access them using a method other than the interface and the instructions that we provide.

Google provides RSS and Atom. They provide these feeds, so I assume they expect that they'll be used. They don't say that it's a misuse to point someone else at those feeds, so it looks OK for now, but they could add such a clause at any time.

eh9
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All online services are subject to the terms and conditions of the providers of those services. So, as others have said, they may be ok with your use today, but they can change their mind any time down the line. I doubt including a URL or email or contact info will help anything, because when these services change, they don't notify every user of the service, they just announce the change publicly, and usually they give several month's notice in order to give users a chance to adapt their applications, but this is not standardized or enforced so there is no guarantee. One example would be the fairly recent discontinuance of the Google Finance API (for which no replacement has been announced).

The safest approach would be to design your app such that this feature that uses google's functionality is decoupled as much as possible from the rest of your app, so that, when or if the availability of the service changes (ie it's no longer available at all) you can adapt your app to use some other source for the feeds with minimal impact to the rest of the app. Design for change and plan for the worst.

ryan0
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