What is an API?

For some brief context (to understand what a Search API even is), API stands for Application Programming Interface – a set of protocols that allows different software components and applications to communicate and exchange data. APIs define how the components interact to request and exchange information. (Coursera, 2023)

APIs work through a request and response cycle:

1. The user interacts with the website or application, which initiates an API request.
2. The request is sent to the API to perform some action or for data from an external program or server.
3. The API retrieves the requested data and sends it back to the application.

Google’s Search API

Google’s AJAX Search API was a JavaScript library that allowed developers to embed Google Search in their own web pages and applications. This was my original research topic for this post, and it gave me such a headache trying to find information until I realised it doesn’t exist anymore (thank you Wayback Machine). The AJAX Search API was released alongside the AJAX Feed API in 2007. The API provided a way for developers to include a dynamic search box and search results in a webpage, with several different search “controls” included:

• Web Search
  • Including News Search, Blog Search, and Book Search)
• Local Search
  • Integrated with the Google Maps API for location-specific results.
• Multimedia Search
  • Included Google Image Search and YouTube Video Search

The AJAX Search API was depreciated in November 2010, in line with the release of the Custom Search API.

Google’s Custom Search API

Google’s Custom Search API (or Custom Search Engine) was functionally similar to the first-generation Search API; however, it was not a direct replacement, and retired the Web Search and Local Search functions of the former API (to many people’s disappointment, apparently). Aside from this, the Custom Search API did pretty much the same thing and improved the ability for developers to customise the search engine to their desired specifications.

In April 2020, the CSE was rebranded to become the Programmable Search Engine.

Programmable Search Engine

The Programmable Search Engine allows developers to create and customise a search engine specific to the needs of the website. It allows for site search – where it searches the contents of a single defined website – and can search a defined topic over a collection of websites. It also includes image search, autocomplete, and the ability to customise search results.

The search engine itself can be created with an XML file defining it, but it is most easily created using the Control Panel. From here, you can then download and modify the XML files to customise it further. The Programmable Search Element is the search box that allows the search engine to actually be implemented in a website.

In terms of findability, this improves the search experience for the user as it makes it easier to find the content they are looking for. With the Programmable Search Engine, developers can define specific topics as context, and determine which pages or domains are indexed by the search engine. This helps define the scope of the search to tailor the results and rankings, ensuring that users receive the most relevant and high-quality results, and that websites with a large volume of content are more easily searched.

TL;DR

Using technologies like Google’s Search APIs enhances the user experience, and makes it much easier to find content within a website. They allow for the use of multiple different components and enable them to work together seamlessly and exchange data. Google has over 400 APIs that a developer can access, making it much easier to incorporate Google products and features in other projects. APIs can play a huge role in shaping the findability and usability of a website. With website findability being more important than ever, the Programmable Search Engine (and its predecessors) is a very good way of getting a website to move up the search engine rankings.

references

Coursera. (2023, June 16). What is an API? (+ How Do They Work?). Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/what-is-an-api

Google. (2020, April 30). Custom Search Engine is now Programmable Search Engine. Programmable Search Engine Blog. https://programmablesearchengine.googleblog.com/2020/04/custom-search-engine-is-now_30.html

Google. (n.d.). Overview | Programmable Search Engine. Google for Developers. https://developers.google.com/custom-search/docs/overview

Google. (n.d.-a). Google Ajax Search API – Developer’s Guide. Google Code. https://web.archive.org/web/20100104174333/http:/code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/documentation/

Google. (n.d.-b). Google AJAX Search API. Google Code. https://web.archive.org/web/20100104013441/http:/code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/

Google. (n.d.-c). Introducing the Google APIs Console and our latest API updates. Google Code. https://googlecode.blogspot.com/2010/11/introducing-google-apis-console-and-our.html

Schalk, C. (2007, July 30). Introducing the Google AJAX APIs. Developer.com. https://www.developer.com/design/introducing-the-google-ajax-apis/