
Google is discontinuing their free weather API - Sephr
https://research.eligrey.com/status/1090696844944932864
======
payne92
For the US, the National Weather Service has an API:
[https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-
api](https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api)

Since it’s a government service, it’s entirely free and will likely stay that
way. I have noticed occasional data quality issues (e.g. missing items), and I
recommend a catching/proxy layer if you are planning heavy usage.

~~~
mlthoughts2018
It’s astounding that we live in a time when this needs to be questioned, but
with Trump’s recent NOAA appointment, there is actually some risk regarding
what public feeds will continue to operate,

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-
gang/wp/...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-
gang/wp/2017/10/12/trump-taps-barry-myers-accuweather-ceo-to-head-noaa-choice-
seen-as-controversial/)

Barry Myers enriched himself by repackaging government-provided weather feeds
and has long advocated that only private firms should be able to distribute
forecasts based on those feeds to the public.

His argument is that it presents unfair competition if people can consume the
forecasts from a government entity that has public funds and military support
to deploy sensor networks, satellites, etc.

Ironically, he also holds the position that for any type of forecast, like
hurricanes or severe weather, for which there could feasibly be legal
culpability if an incorrect forecast leads to damage or loss of life, the
government should be responsible for those warning systems and private weather
corporations should not be required to provide data for these types of events.

~~~
allengeorge
It’s not ironic if one understands that his larger motivation is to “privatize
the profits and socialize the costs” as opposed to a coherent worldview about
the role of government in providing services.

------
sys_64738
Killing Google Reader in 2013 was what got this death march of Google EOL'd
projects noticed, IMO. You now can't trust them for product longevity outside
the core search and email.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products#Discon...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products#Discontinued_products_and_services)

~~~
thomascgalvin
And they're even taking away Inbox, and forcing everyone back to Gmail.

------
pedalpete
This is interesting when viewed in combination with the new pricing tiers for
maps api.

I believe that they are opening the door to companies such as mapbox, carto
and others, which is a good thing.

The question is, why are they doing it?

1) do they want to bring in other competitors to stave off some sort of anti-
trust?

2) do they want the tiny bit of revenue (compared to their main revenue
streams) to help cover the costs?

3) is there something with the structure of being an alphabet company which
would require these things be paid for?

~~~
ForHackernews
According to recent discussion,
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19004899](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19004899)
Google (and more importantly, Google's investors) are waking up the fact that
they're a mature company in a mature market, and they are trying to cut costs
across the organization.

------
Spivak
You would think they would let existing developers continue to use the free
tier under the old API for good PR but it seems they're intentionally pushing
devs away from the platform.

"Hey, you need to rewrite your app to use our new API and pay us for the
privilege of doing so."

~~~
tinus_hn
‘Hey you need to rewrite your app and you can choose either our new paid API
or that of someone else’

It’s actually pretty nice of them to remove the lock-in effect!

~~~
kkarakk
it's not. it's most likely that android apps are the ones using the google
apis(since it used to be logical to goto google first for your api needs).
even if these apps are taken off the playstore,they probably exist on
someone's phone. cutting off api access means these apps stop working -
resulting in an even more garbage experience on android. Finding an app you
LIKE for everyday tasks remains as irritating as ever across playstores and
these kinda changes usually means your favorite abandoned app stops working.

i guess google PM's probably think the trickle down effect is negligible since
fuschia is probably going to be their next iteration of mobile OS

------
antisthenes
Another shout out to [https://darksky.net](https://darksky.net) \- using it
currently for personal weather forecasting. Very simple API and 1000 free QPD
seems like a decent amount.

Works well for the US, but I've heard it's not quite as accurate for Europe
and other parts of the world.

------
jasonvorhe
Either a Google service is free and advertising supported or you need to pay
for it and it's free of advertising and analytics.

People will still complain.

------
onetimemanytime
Google needs to monetize their next thing, Maps.

Then they'll fill it with ads so if you search for McDonalds on Maps, they'll
be forced to buy ads for their own name or Burger King will.

~~~
chatmasta
Maps is already heavily monetized. On the developer side, it's monetized via
API licensing and pay-per-request geocoding. [0] Any website with a google
maps widget and meaningful traffic is paying google to use the maps and/or
lookup addresses in a typeahead box. On the marketing side, it's monetized via
advertisements, namely sponsored map icons, sponsored links, and (I think)
"billboarding". When you scroll in/out in maps and see icons belonging to
seemingly seemingly arbitrary businesses, they are likely paying for that
exposure. [1]

[0] [https://cloud.google.com/maps-
platform/pricing/](https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/)

[1] [https://www.quora.com/How-does-Google-monetize-Google-
Maps](https://www.quora.com/How-does-Google-monetize-Google-Maps)

