Windows Live Commercial API Details
By Nathan Weinberg
Expert Author
Article Date: 2007-05-02
The Windows Live Dev news site details the new usage of the Windows Live API, which will let larger websites use the API beyond typical restrictions by paying for it.
See, almost all web APIs have a limit of how many uses you get in a certain time period, but many give you no way of paying for more, so Microsoft's release of a for-pay API is better than nothing at all. The bullet points: * For basic usage, the API will always be free
* Usage up to one million unique users is free, except for:
* Windows Live Search is free up to 750,000 searches per months
* Virtual Earth (Live Maps) is free up to 3 million map tiles per month
* Silverlight video streaming is free up to 4 gigabytes of storage, with free unlimited streaming, and no limits on users
* Above one million unique users, sites will have to pay 25 cents per user per year
* For Search and Virtual Earth, sites will need to negotiate a commercial agreement with Microsoft
* No beta services will charge for usage of the API. You will only have to pay after it leaves beta
* Users will be averaged out per quarter, so if you have a big spike one month, you won't have to pay for it Great stuff, except the negotiating for Search and Virtual Earth.
I'd like to know what the process is, and if it is going to be difficult for small websites to make a deal.
Still, four gigabytes of Silverlight storage, with free unlimited streaming, is incredible.
It sounds so good that I'm going to have to start using it.
I mean, who needs YouTube when you can host the actual video for free like that?
(via the Virtual Earth blog)
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About the Author:
Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.
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