Goodreads plans to retire API access, disables existing API keys
In news that surprises nobody, Goodreads last week quietly announced the deprecation of their public APIs. And I mean really quietly – the only people who were told about this were those unfortunate enough to have their existing API keys disabled without warning. Other than a small banner at the top of the API docs which mentions vague “plans to retire these tools”, nobody else appears to have heard anything from Goodreads, including those whose API keys remain active. So far it seems any key unused for 30 days has been disabled.
So this is an “announcement” much in the way a windshield announces its presence to bugs on a highway, and with the same consequences: dead bugs. Some developers have taken to the API discussion boards and blogs, but the overall impression I’m getting is grim acceptance. Really the surprising thing is how long it took them: Amazon has been in charge at Goodreads for almost 8 years now, and I think we’ve all been expecting this to come at some point.
So why now? What’s changed? Well, the fact is the market’s changing – and Goodreads isn’t. Alternative options are starting to emerge, and since Goodreads has forgotten how to innovate, it wants to use its market position to stifle innovation instead.
The sad thing is it really only hurts the hobbyist projects and Goodreads users themselves. Anybody seriously attempting to compete with Goodreads is well aware of the Amazon-shaped elephant in the room and is likely prepared. It’s the users and the hackers that this move will harm, and if anything it further reinforces the need for viable alternatives.
Personally I’m going to continue pouring my efforts into building readng. I’m already using it to keep track of my reads & collections, along with a few thousand beta testers. I’m really excited by our plans and think we have the right team to execute, but we also need a shift in consumer behaviour.
The web has to mature beyond advertising as a business model. For this to happen people are going to have to open their wallets, pay for the services they use, and support independent businesses. That’s how we build a web where indies can thrive - one that’s more village centre than financial centre. I think the shift is underway.
PS: here’s my own readng profile. You should probably use our Goodreads importer while our API key works, huh?
It was already pretty useless tbh. Still a waste of a beautiful opportunity for a community to be built around this.
It was still returning responses in XML lol
I loved goodreads and am a long time user. But yeah it’s obvious Amazon is letting it wither. Checking out readng.
The problem with the readng site is its UI. It's a bloated card-based layout, when what most readers want is information density. The constant resizing of everything you mouseover was enough to make it painful to use for more than a few seconds.
I took a look at your readng profile, followed the link to book (Subprime...) and was surprised to see 2 “Buy” links that both went to Amazon!
Shocked me as I thought it was goodreader, ios app...
I use the GoodReads API on my website to show the current books I am reading and what I've read (https://bpaulino.com/reading) It is a pitta they are taking this down :(
Just signed up for readng! Hope these help: auto fill remembered my username instead of the requested email address do goodreads imports work on private goodreads accounts? one feature I’d love is being able to save quotes that are connected with their books, perhaps with page numbers, and leaving a comment for it. nice work!
What are you using as your search API ?
I also just signed up for readng. I'd seen your previous blog posts and suppose also knew this time would come. GoodReads has been good, but unnecessarily complex and slow, or became a review popularity contest that made it hard to wade through things and make sense of the fact. Looking forward to trying readng. I would also agree with the other comments that information density could be a bit higher, but can appreciate the aesthetic you're going for with more room to breathe. It would be lovely to one day see an integration with places where books are available to read/buy, e.g. Gutenberg, or non-Amazon places.
You mentioned alternatives?
We built https://listy.is around the idea to own your content so this situations never happen again.
I guess developers will simply use scrapers instead of the API in the future. For some, this has proven to be more practicable in the last few years: - https://github.com/andre-st/goodreads-toolbox "Goodreads isn't eating its own dog food": - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18536888-is-the-public-api-maintained-at-all#comment_number_1
I'm devastated by this. For one — ruins my plans to build an app to display GoodReads highlights. For another: goodreads is SUCH a beloved community for readers. And yet Amazon treats it like the disfavored step-child. Such a shame to see the demise of a platform that brings so much delight.
I checked out readng page, the search is not yet returning all, maybe one book and multiple editions would help like on Goodreads. Would be also nice to see what I have read this year without creating a collection, I am sticking around :) will see where this goes
Espero sea de ayuda