Google is increasing your privacy
autocomplete in search fields = send more data to Google or others
Google has decided the autocomplete API it informally offers will no longer be available for “unauthorised” users as of August 10th. The company says its autocomplete API has found an audience among “a number of developers” who have used its ability to predict a query before a user finishes typing for uses other than Google's …
It may be more fun than that - the results might be customised to the user. i.e. it leaks their personal preferences.
But to take the tinfoil hat off for a sec, it would also burn a lot of CPU at Google's end since it had no limiters and people were using bodged-together code on it, and Google most certainly track resource usage.
that the developers in question were using the API to discover new and exciting* sex acts. (Or at least the latest terminology for them.)
*For values of 'excitin'g hovering around utterly gross. All the worthwhile sex acts were probably invented by Ugg and Uggette during a particularly steamy night in the cave.
What a c
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a ca
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a cat
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a cata
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a catas
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a catast
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a catastr
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a catastro
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a catastrop
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a catastroph
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
What a catastrophe!
Did you mean 'cat pictures'?
there are some times when using an unsupported, unpublished API also carries the risk that the API will stop being be available
In other words, their policy on unsupported, unpublished APIs is exactly the same as for their supported, published APIs. You're lucky if you even get 14 days notice sometimes.
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