Programmers were generally not happy at the recently reported termination of the Google Translate API - not to mention the rest of the APIs that Google has decided to close without offering much of a reason. However, it was the Translate API that seemed to be the one that was going to be most missed and Google has responded to the cries of anguish with a surprisingly foresighted and generous offer - you can have the Translate API but you will have to pay for it!

Well the anguished programmers can now hardly say no can they? After complaining that Google was shutting a valuable service they can hardly respond by being ungrateful to Google. The change of heart was "announced" as an update to the blog entry that itemised the API closures. To quote:

"In the days since we announced the deprecation of the Translate API, we've seen the passion and interest expressed by so many of you, through comments here (believe me, we read every one of them) and elsewhere. I’m happy to share that we’re working hard to address your concerns, and will be releasing an updated plan to offer a paid version of the Translate API. Please stay tuned; we’ll post a full update as soon as possible."

So a happy ending.

But wait - let's just imagine the response to Google if it had not terminated the API and then resurrected it as a paying service but simply moved to a payment model. There would have been a howl of protest that there wasn't a free version of the API and a lot of grumbling about having to pay for something that had been free for so long. 

Far be it from us to suggest that Google has found the perfect way to transition a free service to one that makes a profit...

Now what about the other APIs that are doomed...

More Information

Google Translate API to close

Google dumps APIs