Yahoo! Updates Firehose API

The Yahoo! Updates Firehose API gives developers access to the full, real-time Yahoo! Updates index in the form of ratings, reviews, comments, favorites, uploads, bookmarks, events, and more. Developers can search, filter, and combine Yahoo! Updates data that takes place on the Yahoo! network or from third-party applications where users have connected with Yahoo!. The Yahoo! Updates Firehose API turns the Yahoo! Updates stream into a wide- open fire hose for easy access by third-party applications.

How Do I Get Started?

YQL makes it easy to use Updates Firehose data

The Yahoo! Query Language (YQL) is an expressive SQL-like language that lets you query, filter, and join data from Yahoo!, Facebook, Google, and a variety of other Web services. With YQL, you can read, write, and shape data across the Internet (in both XML and JSON formats) through simple REST requests, eliminating the need to learn how to use different APIs.

1. Explore: Experiment with Updates Firehose data in the YQL Console to test your queries.
2. Develop: Use the YQL web service to access Updates data in your application.

Accessing the Data

Overview

The Updates Firehose API utilizes the Yahoo! Query Language (YQL) as a mechanism to access Yahoo! Updates data, returning data in XML and JSON formats.

Example YQL Queries for Updates Firehose Data

Recent Indexed Updates:

• select * from social.updates.search

By User:

• select * from social.updates.search where guid=me
• select * from social.updates.search where guid='32AQHYBXQ2RSKAG62ONUTEIDBU'

By Query:

• select * from social.updates.search where query='earthquake'

By Link:

• select * from social.updates.search where link='huffingtonpost.com'
• select * from social.updates.search where link='huffingtonpost.com' and query='obama'

By Yahoo! Application ID:

• select * from social.updates.search where source='yNmsEV4q'

By Geolocation:

• select * from social.updates.search where woeid='2459115'
• select * from social.updates.search where woeid in ( select woeid from geo.places where text='NYC')

By Language (using ISO 639-1 Language Codes):

• select * from social.updates.search(100) where query='copa mundial 2010' and language in ('es','pt')

Rate Limits

Use of the Yahoo! Updates Firehose API should not exceed reasonable request volume. Access through YQL is limited to 10,000 signed calls per hour and 1,000 unsigned calls per hour, as defined in the YQL Terms of Use. If you believe your application will exceed such volume, please contact us.

Terms of Use

Use of the Yahoo! Social APIs is governed by the Yahoo! APIs Terms of Use.

Commercial Use

The Yahoo! Updates Firehose API may be used for commercial purposes, using OAuth as an authorization mechanism for access to personalized user data. Please read the Yahoo! Developer Network Guidelines and FAQ for more information about commercial use. If you feel your needs will exceed the standard rate limits, please contact us.

Support & Community

Questions and suggestions on the Yahoo! Updates Firehose API are discussed on the Yahoo! Updates Firehose Developer Community Forum. If you have questions or need technical support, please use this forum.

Native API Documentation

Previous versions of the Yahoo! Updates API utilized an Updates Web Service as a way to access user's Updates data. With the introduction of the Yahoo Query Language (YQL), we no longer use this web service as the primary means to access Updates data. Documentation for the previous Updates web service remain available, including a screencast explaining its use and the PHP and Flash SDKs.