Yahoo Answers API & RSS Queries Unofficial Guide

The basic query is very easy to construct, and results in an XML feed (RSS) of the current state of the Yahoo Answers database. It can be queried in a number of ways, and the basic form is as follows:

http://answers.yahoo.com/rss/searchq?p=squidoo

The italicized part never changes, and in the above example we have only included one option : the query search term.

This will return an XML feed, but there are many more parameters that we can add to change the way that Yahoo! Answers searches its database.

The complete list of possible options is:

• p : look for the following words
• pn : look for items without these words
• ps : how to use the query words
• tab : the status of the Answers to check
• scope : the type of Answers to query for
• mc : the category to look in
• asktime : the timescale to look for

The pn option can be used to exclude words from the query. So, to ask Answers to return details of 'squidoo' but not 'squid', we could use the following options:

• p=squidoo&pn=squid

• ps=1 : All Words
• ps=2 : Any Words
• ps=3 : Exact Phrase

• p=giant+squid&ps=3

So, the complete URL is:

http://answers.yahoo.com/rss/searchq?p=giant+squid&ps=3

You will note that these are just simple URLs (web addresses) like any others. They can be cut and pasted into a browsers address bar, and will return a piece of well-formed (XML) information that can be viewed with most modern browsers.

Let's assume that you want to look for only those questions that have been Answered satisfactorily. One reason for doing this might be as a part of an eBook research project.

Often, some of the best ideas come from other people's problems. But, we only want to see those that are actually resolved : so that we have both parts of the equation.

• tab=0 : All items
• tab=1 : Resolved items
• tab=2 : Undecided items
• tab=3 : Open items

http://answers.yahoo.com/rss/searchq?p=keyword+research&ps=3&tab=1

Note that in the above query, we have also limited the search to the exact phrase using the ps option.

Let's assume that the above yields a long list of questions and answers, so we decide that, actually, we only want to search the Best Answers for the keywords.

This will enable us, we assume, to ensure good quality whilst also receiving Answers that ask questions not explicitly> about keyword research, but which contain the phrase.

• scope= : All parts
• scope=subject : The Question
• scope=bestanswer : The Best Answers only

http://answers.yahoo.com/rss/searchq?p=keyword+research&ps=3&tab=1&scope=bestanswer

These can be used in any combination, and can be present, but blank (i.e. scope=), or absent.

The mc option allows for the selection of a specific category. There are so many of these that it is best to actually use the Answers advanced search function to build a default query on a category, and copy and paste the mc value from the resulting URL.

The asktime is a little simpler to use, and allows a query to specify the timeframe within which the items should fall. The possible values are:

• asktime= : Any
• asktime=0 : Less than 7 days old
• asktime=1 : 7 to 30 days old
• asktime=2 : 30 to 60 days old
• asktime=3 : 60 to 90 days old
• asktime=4 : Over 90 days old.