I've recently encountered some issues with the Place Finder API returning a HTTP 418 errors.
After doing some research, I assume this has something to do with with the switch to YQL table on Nov. 17. However, the service still works if I access it from using file_get_contents() :
http://where.yahooapis.com/geocode?location=California&appid== MY App ID -- &flags=J
It just works inconsistently, throwing the error occasionally. So, do I have to transition to YQL?
BTW, I was not the one to set up the appID so I don't have any info about our usage data, but I would imagine we would be very unlikely to cross 500 requests in a day.