eMpTy Pages blog features an interesting analysis by guest writer Dion Wiggins, CEO of Asia Online, focused on gaining a clearer understanding of Google’s announcement as well as the probable reasons for Google shutting down the Google Translate API. Here are some excerpts and the conclusions:

This impact to Google’s translation services as a whole can be summarized as follows:

• Google Translate web page will still translate text that is typed into the text box and will also translate a HTML web page when a URL is submitted.
• Google Translate Widget/Web Element will continue to function and will still translate content on-demand when a viewer of a web page requests a translation.
• Google Transliteration API will continue to function up until May 26, 2014 as per the deprecation policy.
• Google Translator Toolkit will still function as before and users can submit TMX and other documents formats for translation.
• Google Translator Toolkit API will continue to function as before and documents can be submitted and retrieved as previously. However new development using this API has been restricted.

Conclusions

Google is shutting down the Translate API, but Google Translate will continue to exist and improve in a manner that allows Google to leverage Google Translate in its own applications, but will not allow third-party developers to leverage the technology. Although late in applying controls to translation and with some risk, this is probably the best strategy for Google as a business.

• Eliminating language as a barrier to knowledge and communication is one of the last great challenges of the Internet. Google most certainly understands the benefit and potential of its automated translation technology and is now trying to regain a level of control over it.
• By shutting down the Translate API, Google is able to control when users access their translate functionality and when they can deliver advertisements to these users. Google also benefits by reducing the quantity of machine translated content that is misrepresented by websites as quality local language content.
• The “substantial financial burden” that Google refers to is not related to the operational costs of the API itself, but the burden and risk to Google’s business as a whole that uncontrolled access to Google Translate functionality represents.
• It is clear that Google understands the potential for translation. But it is also clear that Google understands the potential for abuse of translation and the knock-on impact that it is facing or may face. Not having control of what is translated and how the translations are used creates a threat to Google’s core revenue streams and potentially helps competitors such as Facebook to increase their value at Google’s expense. This is most likely the substantial economic burden that Google refers to in its announcement.
• The shutdown of the Translate API is truly a shame for the many software developers that did not violate the Terms of Use and used the Translate API in a manner permitted. Developers should be aware of the limitations of free APIs where they have no control or say in the future of the service. Business models built around a free API with little other value-add are doomed to failure from the outset. If a free API must be used, then developers should try to look for multiple providers of similar functionality and build in support for as many APIs as possible in order to reduce risk. Developers should anticipate the possibility of competition from Google in applications that leverage automated translation and move to protect themselves via patents and by offering features that go beyond those of interest to Google. Read the full post here.