The Yahoo! Developer Network is opening up the world of automobiles to developers. For starters, you can use the new Yahoo! Local Search API Version 3 to create a directory of installers. This document describes how.
This document describes how to build an installer directory using the Yahoo! Local Search V3 API. In this document, "installer directory" is used to describe a tool for searching automotive parts installer businesses, and pulling up information about them. The Installer Directory described here will have power similar to the Yahoo! Autos Custom Installer Directory, including the ability to filter and sort results. Over time, our intent is to fill in things that developers need, so let us know if we're missing something.
The installer directory described here will allow the application to query our database of automotive installers, filter results to certain automotive subcategories, and sort by various result fields, per the standard Yahoo! Local Search V3 API.
The basic workflow is: Given an address and query term, fetch a list of businesses from the automotive installer category that match the query and are located near the given address.
Reference the Yahoo! Local Search V3 API documentation to generate a REST query and see how to parse the results.
Here's an example query; substitute your real application id to see businesses
in the 95051 zip code, matching the term "brakes": http://local.yahooapis.com/LocalSearchService/V3/localSearch? appid=YahooDemo&query=brakes&location=95051
In order not to hit businesses outside of the Automotive category, we append an argument to restrict the category. The format is category=<categoryID>. The automotive category id is currently 96925674. Category ids are subject to change. We currently feel it is unlikely that they will change often, and we will update this document and/or provide a dynamic API for querying category ids if/when they do change.
In addition to restricting by the automotive category, there are certain categories of automotive businesses which are not parts installers. So, we use v3 of the Local API to filter out those sub-categories of automotive. This is the string we append to the query:
&omit_category=96925693&omit_category=96925720&omit_category=96925717 &omit_category=96925695&omit_category=96925697&omit_category=96925710 &omit_category=96925724&omit_category=96925722&omit_category=96925699 &omit_category=96925721&omit_category=96925718&omit_category=96925711 &omit_category=96926424&omit_category=96926425&omit_category=96926494 &omit_category=96926628&omit_category=96926626&omit_category=96926627 &omit_category=96926480&omit_category=96925704
Here is our example, refined by categories:
http://local.yahooapis.com/LocalSearchService/V3/localSearch?appid=YahooDemo &query=brakes&location=95051&category=96925674&omit_category=96925693 &omit_category=96925720&omit_category=96925717&omit_category=96925695 &omit_category=96925697&omit_category=96925710&omit_category=96925724 &omit_category=96925722&omit_category=96925699&omit_category=96925721 &omit_category=96925718&omit_category=96925711&omit_category=96926424 &omit_category=96926425&omit_category=96926494&omit_category=96926628 &omit_category=96926626&omit_category=96926627&omit_category=96926480 &omit_category=96925704
You may also want to select subcategories of installers. The Yahoo! Autos Custom Installer Directory allows users to select subcategories of installers to search on via a dropdown menu. To accomplish this, instead of using category=95925674 for the automotive category, you can use one of these subcategories:
| Category ID | Category Name |
|---|---|
| 96925694 | Accessories |
| 97165838 | Audio and Video |
| 96925713 | Conversions |
| 97165811 | Customization |
| 96925723 | Dealers |
| 96925709 | Detailing |
| 97167137 | Mobile Electronics |
| 96925698 | Motorcycles |
| 96932224 | Painting and Lettering |
| 96925707 | Parts |
| 96926478 | Racing |
| 96925703 | Repair and Service |
| 96925702 | Security |
| 96925701 | Supplies |
| 96925700 | Tires and Wheels |
| 96925716 | Trucks |
| 96925719 | Vans |
Here is our previous example, limited to the automotive racing category:
http://local.yahooapis.com/LocalSearchService/V3/localSearch?appid=YahooDemo &query=brakes&location=95051&category=96926478&omit_category=96925693 &omit_category=96925720&omit_category=96925717&omit_category=96925695 &omit_category=96925697&omit_category=96925710&omit_category=96925724 &omit_category=96925722&omit_category=96925699&omit_category=96925721 &omit_category=96925718&omit_category=96925711&omit_category=96926424 &omit_category=96926425&omit_category=96926494&omit_category=96926628 &omit_category=96926626&omit_category=96926627&omit_category=96926480 &omit_category=96925704
That's it. Everything else you need to know about sorting/filtering/manipulating the results can be read in the Yahoo! Local Search V3 API documentation.
In order to create a "Top-Rated" Installers module like the one on Yahoo! Autos Custom Installers, you can peform a basic installers query using the term "auto" and sorting by "rating".
Here's our example:
http://local.yahooapis.com/LocalSearchService/V3/localSearch?appid=YahooDemo &query=auto&location=95051&category=96925674&omit_category=96925693 &omit_category=96925720&omit_category=96925717&omit_category=96925695 &omit_category=96925697&omit_category=96925710&omit_category=96925724 &omit_category=96925722&omit_category=96925699&omit_category=96925721 &omit_category=96925718&omit_category=96925711&omit_category=96926424 &omit_category=96926425&omit_category=96926494&omit_category=96926628 &omit_category=96926626&omit_category=96926627&omit_category=96926480 &omit_category=96925704&sort=rating
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