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PlaceFinder terms of use

I was reading the Terms of Use for PlaceFinder and saw the below restrictions from the "You shall NOT" section.

You shall NOT:

(viii) store or allow end users to store map imagery, map data or geocoded location information from the Yahoo! Maps APIs for any future use;

(ix) use the stand-alone geocoder for any use other than displaying Yahoo! Maps or displaying points on Yahoo! Maps;

The company's web based app needed to store its customer's information including their geocode data ( latitude/longitude ) based on their business location's address. The way it does is that they log in to the app go to their profile and click a button to retrieve geocode data for their address and save.

The above restrictions seem to prevent that.

What do you think?

In addition, can I use PlaceFinder in a "for profit" organization.

Regards,

Chalachew

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23 Replies
  • Chalachew,

    Did you find an answer to your Terms of Use question? I'm in a similar situation: I'd like to store Geocoding results in a for-profit application. I wouldn't reveal the Long/Lat the the user, but need to store it to allow searching businesses by distance from a point.

    Thanks,
    Marty Matheny
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  • QUOTE (marty.matheny @ Sep 3 2010, 09:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Chalachew,

    Did you find an answer to your Terms of Use question? I'm in a similar situation: I'd like to store Geocoding results in a for-profit application. I wouldn't reveal the Long/Lat the the user, but need to store it to allow searching businesses by distance from a point.

    Thanks,
    Marty Matheny


    We do not currently offer commercial terms of service for PlaceFinder. PlaceFinder is not intended to be used to populate a database with geocoding data, and geocoding results should be used within the same session during which they are generated.

    Eddie Babcock
    Yahoo! Geo Technologies
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  • QUOTE (Eddie B @ Sep 9 2010, 04:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    We do not currently offer commercial terms of service for PlaceFinder. PlaceFinder is not intended to be used to populate a database with geocoding data, and geocoding results should be used within the same session during which they are generated.

    Eddie Babcock
    Yahoo! Geo Technologies


    It this also true for non-profit and very small group organization (less than 10 persons)? We'd like to use geocoding data to sort database addresses for our community application.

    Thanks
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  • QUOTE (Eddie B @ Sep 9 2010, 04:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    We do not currently offer commercial terms of service for PlaceFinder. PlaceFinder is not intended to be used to populate a database with geocoding data, and geocoding results should be used within the same session during which they are generated.

    Eddie Babcock
    Yahoo! Geo Technologies


    I would like to use the reverse geocoding api for an application i'm developing. I will get (and store) the user lat/longitude (got from the javascript geolocation browser api). I would like to find out the address where the user is, and I've understood it's not allowed to store this address. I would like also to allow the user to post to twitter an short link to the map containing the marker of his position, and it would be nice if the twitter post contains the address. Is that considered as storing the result of the API, and therefore is forbidden ?

    Thanks.
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  • QUOTE (malgravajhoj @ Nov 12 2010, 03:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    I would like to use the reverse geocoding api for an application i'm developing. I will get (and store) the user lat/longitude (got from the javascript geolocation browser api). I would like to find out the address where the user is, and I've understood it's not allowed to store this address. I would like also to allow the user to post to twitter an short link to the map containing the marker of his position, and it would be nice if the twitter post contains the address. Is that considered as storing the result of the API, and therefore is forbidden ?

    Thanks.


    Tweeting an address returned by PlaceFinder is an acceptable use so long as the tweet does not also contain the coordinates as well. Doing so would allow someone to scrape the twitter feed and store the coordinates and associated address for future use (and avoid agreeing to our terms of service).

    Remember that non-commercial usage means that you may not monetize our technology for your benefit.

    Eddie Babcock
    Yahoo! Geo Technologies
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  • QUOTE (Eddie B @ Nov 18 2010, 03:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Tweeting an address returned by PlaceFinder is an acceptable use so long as the tweet does not also contain the coordinates as well. Doing so would allow someone to scrape the twitter feed and store the coordinates and associated address for future use (and avoid agreeing to our terms of service).

    Remember that non-commercial usage means that you may not monetize our technology for your benefit.


    Thanks for the answer, I will see how i can mix all the API and needs together for my non-commercial web site.

    Regards.
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  • These terms of use are very restrictive. I am designing a text messaging application in which a user sends a location. My application needs to determine the GPS coordinates and then reply to the user with information about vehicles that are nearby. If I were to use the Yahoo PlaceFinder API, my application would violate the restriction saying we can't use the API for anything other than showing points on Yahoo Maps. Is this really true?
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  • The original question was referring to the Maps API tos, not the Placefinder API tos.

    It seems there are different tos for these API's.

    Placefinder API does not appear to have the mentioned restriction about storing returned location data, nor did I find anywhere that Placefinder is for non-commercial use only.

    It would be great if a Yahoo person could clarify this, as I it appears I can store geo data and use Placefinder for commerical use.

    The only place that I've found that says otherwise is Eddie's response on this forum.
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  • I would like to second the request for clarification on Commercial use. Also, I have asked for an answer on how/what we need in the case that the volume of calls exceeds the 50k...

    Thanks in advance (assuming someone at Y! responds...)

    Julian
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  • Hi ,

    Can someone explain the clause :

    YOU CANNOT :
    (vi) use the Yahoo! Maps APIs with location information that is less than 6 hours old and derived from a GPS device or any other location sensing device;

    (vii) use the Yahoo! Maps APIs with location information derived from a GPS device or any other location sensing device where such information was not uploaded to your application or service directly by the end user.

    does this mean that i cannot send GPS data from my cell phone like LatLong Co-ordinates and reverse Geocode them to know about my Exact location ???
    Like if i am in a foreign country , and i want to give my present location , i want to upload my Data on the server , reverse geocode it and then display the Location Data on my cell or on my website. Am i violating any Rules here ???
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  • I'm looking to get some clarity around the TOS for the PlaceFinder API. We are looking to call the service to return geographic coordinates, but not use them on a Yahoo Map. The original TOS on the now deprecated Yahoo Maps API had a clause that stated "F: YOU SHALL NOT - (ix) use the stand-alone geocoder for any use other than displaying Yahoo! Maps or displaying points on Yahoo! Maps;" The TOS for PlaceFinder does not show this restriction in the terms. I would like to confirm we are interpreting this correctly. Do the returned results need to be plotted on a Yahoo Map to fulfill the terms of service?
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  • QUOTE (gregcalderiso @ Feb 3 2011, 10:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    I'm looking to get some clarity around the TOS for the PlaceFinder API. We are looking to call the service to return geographic coordinates, but not use them on a Yahoo Map. The original TOS on the now deprecated Yahoo Maps API had a clause that stated "F: YOU SHALL NOT - (ix) use the stand-alone geocoder for any use other than displaying Yahoo! Maps or displaying points on Yahoo! Maps;" The TOS for PlaceFinder does not show this restriction in the terms. I would like to confirm we are interpreting this correctly. Do the returned results need to be plotted on a Yahoo Map to fulfill the terms of service?


    Use of PlaceFinder does not require the use of Yahoo! Maps or Yahoo! Maps APIs.

    Eddie Babcock
    Yahoo! Geo Technologies
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  • Hi...I am still not clear about the terms and conditions for using Yahoo PlaceFinder service. Here are my questions
    1. Do I have to display the address obtained by reverse geocoding in conjuction to a map.
    2. Can I save the address obtained by reverse geocoding into my database but visible only to users of my app?

    Appreciate any inputs regarding this.

    Thanks,
    John
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  • QUOTE (John @ Mar 29 2011, 12:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Hi...I am still not clear about the terms and conditions for using Yahoo PlaceFinder service. Here are my questions
    1. Do I have to display the address obtained by reverse geocoding in conjuction to a map.
    2. Can I save the address obtained by reverse geocoding into my database but visible only to users of my app?

    Appreciate any inputs regarding this.

    Thanks,
    John


    PlaceFinder is a Geo API, not a Maps API. PlaceFinder does not need to be used in conjunction with Yahoo! Maps. You may save addresses returned for reverse geocoding, but you must not display a web page, or provide an API, that contains both the address and the original coordinates, since this can be used by your users to reconstruct our data. PlaceFinder also cannot be used in any revenue-producing web page or application (including advertising).

    Eddie Babcock
    Yahoo! Geo Technologies
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  • Thanks for this clarification.
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  • Hi...Does that mean PlaceFinder APIs can only be used in free apps. Can we purchase a license to be used in commercial apps? Please let me know. Thanks.
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  • QUOTE (John @ Mar 30 2011, 03:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Hi...Does that mean PlaceFinder APIs can only be used in free apps. Can we purchase a license to be used in commercial apps? Please let me know. Thanks.


    PlaceFinder may only be used in non-commercial applications. We do not currently offer a commercial license, but you may submit a request at http://developer.yahoo.com/register/ to express your interest in such a license.

    Eddie Babcock
    Yahoo! Geo Technologies
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  • Also Eddie,
    I'm have a website of a company that has an "Closest  office finder" section.
    I'm being paid to make the website but anyone can access and use the branch finder.
    Is this classified as commercial application?

     Can PlaceFinder/Geo be used in this situation?
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  • I'm intending to use Placefinder to get latitude/longitude information and store them in a CRM database that my company uses.

    Is this allowed?
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  • I'm trying to build a store locator app as well, and would like to store lat/long in a database in order to calculate distance from a location. Can I get a staight forward answer as to if this is allowed by the PlaceFinder API? Thanks in advance.
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  • I am developing a travel authorization process which will be used internally within the company.
    Could I use placefinder to get city,state,country by inputting a city name then save it to our own database for future query ?
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  • I think Eddie was pretty straightforward when he said that it cannot be used in any commercial applications.  Commercial meaning that money changes hands (or accounts).  If any money is paid for the service built upon the Placefinder data, that constitutes commercial use.  

    For that, you would need to look to some commercial APIs such as Cdyne, StrikeIron, QAS, and SmartyStreets.  That is not an exhaustive list, there are a lot of them out there.  Just do a search for "address verification api" or something similar.

    There are also some free geocoding services out there.  Here's a really good one from USC.  If your organization is a non-profit service, then SmartyStreets has a free one as well.  The USC site has a very good service, especially for smaller volume needs.  

    It wouldn't be fair if I didn't point out that I am not completely impartial.  I do work for an address verification service called SmartyStreets, but I do try to pass on knowledge and experience that I have obtained and not just make shameless advertisements.

    QUOTE(Brian @ 13 Mar 2012 5:16 PM)

    I'm trying to build a store locator app as well, and would like to store lat/long in a database in order to calculate distance from a location. Can I get a staight forward answer as to if this is allowed by the PlaceFinder API? Thanks in advance.
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  • What do the terms mean by commercial? Does this simply mean I can't sell the service itself, or am I not allowed to access the API from any website that brings in money for me?

    I'm thinking of developing a website that will allow a user to enter a trip he wants to take (start & end address). I'll take the two addresses (converted to lat/long with PlaceFinder), compare them to other users' two points, calculate the distances, and group up potential carpoolers. Of course, I will may have ads and such on the website, and I might charge users to use this. Would this not be allowed?
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