4 ms·

It happened to Facebook Breakup Notifier recently. Facebook revoked API access without notification.

by djahng 16y ago

pbiggar 16y ago
Sure, but why would they do it to Greplin specifically?
- ryanwaggoner 16y ago
  Why wouldn't they? Why did they kill off Breakup Notifier? It's not like that was obviously going to happen. The problem here is that you have no visibility into Facebook's roadmap, priorities, etc. Sorry, but I think betting $5m (or years of your life) on a startup that can literally be killed overnight on the whim of someone at another tech company is crazy.
  - pbiggar 16y ago
    Breakup Notifier was stalker-ish - not guaranteed to get cut off, but certainly a risk. I wouldn't bet $5m on that, definitely. In general, we're young in the space of companies that rely on APIs and other companies (App Store much?). Zynga has made a pile of cash relying on facebook, and plenty more will too, and that's just the way the world is from now on. As for the whim of some individual, you are absolutely right. But that will sort itself out in the next few years, and it doesn't seem like a good reason not to get in early on what is obviously a trend that's here to stay.
  - nostrademons 16y ago
    The point of these API-based companies is usually to gain a foothold and some user traction and then reduce their dependency on the mothership once they've got some leverage. It's pretty obvious that a business that's completely dependent upon FaceBook isn't in a very good position. It's equally obvious that a business that's completely dependent upon FaceBook but has users is in a better position than a business that nobody cares about. You start with the latter, not the former. If Greplin or some other startup is still dependent upon FaceBook after years gone by and $5M spent, they're doing something wrong. But in the near-term, they're doing a helluva lot better than the average startup.
- djahng 16y ago
  I believe Breakup Notifier was blocked due to too many api calls. Facebook hasn't really been commenting on the specifics as to why it was blocked. So why would they block Greplin specifically? Well the point is no one knows if/why/when Facebook would block Greplin, if ever. But they have the option to. And if Facebook decides to block Greplin, who holds all the cards?
- bl4k 16y ago
  because they will eventually have a superset copy of all this data, which these companies are building a business model on. eg. Facebook API access is for Facebook apps that use Facebook credits. Twitter API access is expensive (Gnip charge $10k+ a month plus just for a slice).

It happened to Facebook Breakup Notifier recently. Facebook revoked API access without notification.

by djahng 16y ago

It happened to Facebook Breakup Notifier recently. Facebook revoked API access without notification.

pbiggar 16y ago

Sure, but why would they do it to Greplin specifically?

ryanwaggoner 16y ago
Why wouldn't they? Why did they kill off Breakup Notifier? It's not like that was obviously going to happen. The problem here is that you have no visibility into Facebook's roadmap, priorities, etc. Sorry, but I think betting $5m (or years of your life) on a startup that can literally be killed overnight on the whim of someone at another tech company is crazy.
- pbiggar 16y ago
  Breakup Notifier was stalker-ish - not guaranteed to get cut off, but certainly a risk. I wouldn't bet $5m on that, definitely. In general, we're young in the space of companies that rely on APIs and other companies (App Store much?). Zynga has made a pile of cash relying on facebook, and plenty more will too, and that's just the way the world is from now on. As for the whim of some individual, you are absolutely right. But that will sort itself out in the next few years, and it doesn't seem like a good reason not to get in early on what is obviously a trend that's here to stay.
- nostrademons 16y ago
  The point of these API-based companies is usually to gain a foothold and some user traction and then reduce their dependency on the mothership once they've got some leverage. It's pretty obvious that a business that's completely dependent upon FaceBook isn't in a very good position. It's equally obvious that a business that's completely dependent upon FaceBook but has users is in a better position than a business that nobody cares about. You start with the latter, not the former. If Greplin or some other startup is still dependent upon FaceBook after years gone by and $5M spent, they're doing something wrong. But in the near-term, they're doing a helluva lot better than the average startup.
djahng 16y ago
I believe Breakup Notifier was blocked due to too many api calls. Facebook hasn't really been commenting on the specifics as to why it was blocked. So why would they block Greplin specifically? Well the point is no one knows if/why/when Facebook would block Greplin, if ever. But they have the option to. And if Facebook decides to block Greplin, who holds all the cards?
bl4k 16y ago
because they will eventually have a superset copy of all this data, which these companies are building a business model on. eg. Facebook API access is for Facebook apps that use Facebook credits. Twitter API access is expensive (Gnip charge $10k+ a month plus just for a slice).