Last December, Google deprecated their SOAP Search API and stopped issuing new keys. I was lucky enough to have two keys in order to create and test sucks/rocks, but the limit of 1,000 queries per day was an immediate problem.

What's the deal, Google? You're supposed to be the company who has an answer for search. Yahoo's Search API offers 5,000 queries per day (which sucks/rocks just exceeded) and an upgrade path, and Microsoft's Live Search API offers 10,000. Yet all you can come up with is a totally lame AJAX Search API that doesn't even tell us the number of results? Snooze!

Is it because of the ads, Google? You didn't like that people could search without seeing ads? We'll gladly show Google ads on our page if you just bring back the real Search API and make it not suck! Instead we're going to Yahoo and Microsoft, and Yahoo is actually a company I wouldn't puke on these days; in fact, their results are pretty similar (Microsoft's just suck, predictably).

The original developer of the Search API commented that this has something to do with "product discipline", but this is really a slap in the face for everyone who was successfully using the service.

Google, please give the developer community the scoop on your answer to real searching!