Habrainterview with Alexey Terekhov (api.mail.ru)
Aleksey Terekhov - the founder and project manager of Platforma@Mail.Ru , which launched the social application platform “My World”, API for websites and social plugins, API for mobile and desktop applications, API for mail applications and much more answered questions from the audience Habrahabr.
Tell about the import of Mail.ru user's mail contacts via API
Did not find methods in the description.
Currently, our API does not provide such methods, but we plan to make them in the near future. We have already received several requests for such functionality, and this corresponds to our interests - the fewer places where people are asked to enter a password from their mailbox, the higher the security of our users. We announce the emergence of these methods on api.mail.ru.
If not, how did MoiKrug implement it?
')
I can’t be responsible for “My Circle”, but having received a login and password from the mail, there are many ways to collect the address book: from the web interface parser to analyzing all incoming emails via POP3. Most likely, one of them was used.
We do not recommend using these methods, as there is no guarantee that their performance will be maintained in the future. Soon you will have the opportunity to receive the user's address book in a civilized way through the API.
What social plugins will appear soon?
Now we are thinking about the comments plugin and a simplified way to authorize and register users through our API. There are also some interesting ideas for plugins that work with site content, but it’s too early to talk about them - watch for announcements in our cozy blog and on Habré.
Are you not afraid that after the introduction of 30% commission the flow of developers will significantly decrease? What other surprises are worth waiting for this year?
Not a bit afraid. Even considering the commission of 30%, we still have the most favorable conditions for developers in the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet. And at the global level, we have quite competitive conditions.
In addition, we have earned a good attitude of developers to the Platform. We always try to be open and predictable, which is a prerequisite when building an ecosystem for growing businesses. All market participants were waiting for the commission to enter, were ready for this, and even asked us themselves: “Well, when will you enter and what will be the percentage?”.
As for surprises - wait for new interesting and unique technological and marketing opportunities, we do not plan to stand still.
From February 1, when the 30% selection of money from the developer takes effect, will the profit parameter in the billing script request contain the amount with 30% deducted already or in the original amount?
The profit parameter, as now, will return the amount of your net income, after deducting the Platform commission.
How do you feel about turning the "Best" section into a collection of "farms"?
It reflects the interests of users - they still like farms, they sit in them for hours. Also, the "Best" section allows the most successful applications to accumulate an audience.
On the other hand, in “My World” there are already more than 4,000 applications in the catalog, among which there are many interesting, but not enough popular ones. Therefore, we are thinking about processing the catalog, we want to direct the attention of users to a wider range of interesting games and applications.
How do you feel about the fact that 95% of applications in social networks are clones? Why do so many similar applications?
Not quite agree with the wording. The bulk of applications use the same limited set of game mechanics (farm, builder, taykun, ...), but are not clones. In the five most popular farms, of course, you will find a lot in common and similar. But ask the users - these are different games for them, just like for the avid gamer, Battlefield BC2 is different from Call of Duty: Black Ops or for Firefox geek is different from Chrome.
In addition, it is completely market history. As long as there is a demand for such games and applications, they will be made. As soon as the interest of users begins to fade away, they come up with something new. Personally, I am for the intensive development of the social games and applications industry, for the emergence of new interesting mechanics and settings.
Why not openid?
OpenID is an accelerated registration protocol. Our task is to provide not only the ability to quickly register a user on an external project, but also the possibility of authorized access on behalf of this user to the data and services of Mail.Ru.
Therefore, on the Platform, we supported the OAuth 2.0 protocol (the announcement should take place the other day), which makes it possible to authorize a user and get detailed information about it for expedited registration on an external site.
By the way, OpenID version 1.0 in Mail.Ru also has openid.mail.ru .
Do you plan to hold contests to attract developers (not in the direction of the game)?
ROI from previous contests was close to zero, so now we do not plan such activities. Instead, we are developing the API, it gives a better result.
Do you have an understanding that advertising your applications is too expensive, and there is a lack of control over it? At the moment: 4.8 rubles. for 1000 impressions, there is no control over advertising - all through the manager; minimum package - 48 thousand rubles. While “Vkontakte” - from 0.3 kopecks per 1000 impressions, with admin panel, targeting, the ability to pay per click and the ability to manage everything on the fly. Is something being done in this area? Can you name any deadlines?
Understanding is certainly there. But with the numbers, I strongly disagree. The price of 1000 impressions starts at 1.39 rubles, which, with an average CTR of a block of 0.04%, gives a cost per click of 3.47 rubles. In VKontakte, the recommended non-targeting cost per click is now 3.22 p. The difference is not dramatic, but the entrance threshold is definitely higher. Now we are working on a system of automated advertising sales, we plan to launch along with the revision of the pricing policy in February 2011. Follow the news on api.mail.ru
Alexey, when will Krivor's odnoklassniki.ru managers finally be dispersed and put you in charge of applications? Perhaps this would lead to a common API and the approach as a whole (the company is now one).
No comments.
Is it possible to expect the appearance of an API for direct calls to technical support? Now its functionality is very limited, often it does not at all what is expected of it.
We did not think about it. Tell us in more detail how you want to use this API?
Will it be possible to add additional developers to the application?
This possibility has been around for almost a year .
Alexey personally killed the application in "My World", citing copyright compliance. However, the most arrogant application showing TV shows and movies online, hangs in the top without any problems. The essence of the question is where is a clear policy?
A clear policy is set out in the rules for placing applications .
To deal with your claim - you need details and facts. What application and when I personally "hacked", which application that violates copyright, hangs in the top. Write a letter to app@corp.mail.ru, it will not remain unanswered.
Will it be possible to transfer applications to other people? Now you can add another user to the management of the application (in administration), but you cannot delete the original “creator” .
Transfer application to another account is now possible through the moderator. To do this, you need to write a request for app@corp.mai.ru from the account on which the application you want to transfer is located. We want to put this into the application management interface, but the priority of the task is rather low, so I can’t promise anything in time.
Is there a planned advertising system similar to VKontakte - with pay per click and not for impressions?
Planned, see above.
Do you plan to cancel the ban on external links in applications, as in "Vkontakte"? Now, according to the rules, you can advertise sites, but you cannot advertise external games, for example.
You can post links to external projects if these projects are integrated with the Mail.Ru API for sites. If this is a browser game, you can integrate the ability to quickly register through our API and put the "Like" button .
Why was it written open-api on the Client-Server system, in which when generating the key the public key is used, which can be taken from js scripts, i.e. ANY can go under ANY account? Vkontakte, for example, is made with a private and public key, Facebook also has no such lawlessness, only you have such frills.
Extract from the documentation : the sig parameter is the signature of the application initialization parameters. We strongly recommend that you check the signature parameters in order to avoid their falsification by hackers. The signature is calculated according to the server-server REST API scheme.
Please note that the sig parameter is not involved in calculating the signature. Since the signature contains the secret key secret_key, it can only be verified on the server. Thus, your claim has no reason. The secret_key key, by which the request signature is calculated, is known only to you and is stored on your server. It should not be transferred to the client parts of the application.
In fairness, I want to note that we have a certain confusion in the key naming (private_key and secret_key), which could mislead you. It is a problem of historical heritage. We hope to solve this problem in the next version (already the fourth) of our API.
Why in open-api it was necessary to give out either an oid or a vid, and not a vid and a flag (the first time a user came to us or not). A bunch of confusion makes the same?
Extract from the documentation : the vid parameter always contains the identifier of the current user of the application. The oid parameter depends on how the application is launched: the user could launch the application from his personal page, then the oid will be identical to the vid. If the user entered the application from the page of another person who installed it, then the oid will contain the identifier of the user who installed the application.
Thus, the option of passing parameters that you proposed does not fit into the business logic. And the scheme adopted by us corresponds to it and is quite logical.
In conclusion, I want to thank all the participants for the questions and the organizers for conducting a habra interview. I hope that after it new web developers and developers of social applications will pay attention to the possibilities provided by the Mail.Ru API. We are always open for questions and criticism, you can send them to app@corp.mail.ru.
By the way, we are constantly looking for energetic people to work on the Mail.Ru API. In particular, the vacancies of the Promotion Manager (evangelist) of the Platform and the backend developer (Perl / C ++) are open. If you want to work in one of the most interesting projects of the largest Runet company with big ambitions and opportunities - write me on terekhov@corp.mail.ru.
Tell about the import of Mail.ru user's mail contacts via API
Did not find methods in the description.
Currently, our API does not provide such methods, but we plan to make them in the near future. We have already received several requests for such functionality, and this corresponds to our interests - the fewer places where people are asked to enter a password from their mailbox, the higher the security of our users. We announce the emergence of these methods on api.mail.ru.
If not, how did MoiKrug implement it?
')
I can’t be responsible for “My Circle”, but having received a login and password from the mail, there are many ways to collect the address book: from the web interface parser to analyzing all incoming emails via POP3. Most likely, one of them was used.
We do not recommend using these methods, as there is no guarantee that their performance will be maintained in the future. Soon you will have the opportunity to receive the user's address book in a civilized way through the API.
What social plugins will appear soon?
Now we are thinking about the comments plugin and a simplified way to authorize and register users through our API. There are also some interesting ideas for plugins that work with site content, but it’s too early to talk about them - watch for announcements in our cozy blog and on Habré.
Are you not afraid that after the introduction of 30% commission the flow of developers will significantly decrease? What other surprises are worth waiting for this year?
Not a bit afraid. Even considering the commission of 30%, we still have the most favorable conditions for developers in the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet. And at the global level, we have quite competitive conditions.
In addition, we have earned a good attitude of developers to the Platform. We always try to be open and predictable, which is a prerequisite when building an ecosystem for growing businesses. All market participants were waiting for the commission to enter, were ready for this, and even asked us themselves: “Well, when will you enter and what will be the percentage?”.
As for surprises - wait for new interesting and unique technological and marketing opportunities, we do not plan to stand still.
From February 1, when the 30% selection of money from the developer takes effect, will the profit parameter in the billing script request contain the amount with 30% deducted already or in the original amount?
The profit parameter, as now, will return the amount of your net income, after deducting the Platform commission.
How do you feel about turning the "Best" section into a collection of "farms"?
It reflects the interests of users - they still like farms, they sit in them for hours. Also, the "Best" section allows the most successful applications to accumulate an audience.
On the other hand, in “My World” there are already more than 4,000 applications in the catalog, among which there are many interesting, but not enough popular ones. Therefore, we are thinking about processing the catalog, we want to direct the attention of users to a wider range of interesting games and applications.
How do you feel about the fact that 95% of applications in social networks are clones? Why do so many similar applications?
Not quite agree with the wording. The bulk of applications use the same limited set of game mechanics (farm, builder, taykun, ...), but are not clones. In the five most popular farms, of course, you will find a lot in common and similar. But ask the users - these are different games for them, just like for the avid gamer, Battlefield BC2 is different from Call of Duty: Black Ops or for Firefox geek is different from Chrome.
In addition, it is completely market history. As long as there is a demand for such games and applications, they will be made. As soon as the interest of users begins to fade away, they come up with something new. Personally, I am for the intensive development of the social games and applications industry, for the emergence of new interesting mechanics and settings.
Why not openid?
OpenID is an accelerated registration protocol. Our task is to provide not only the ability to quickly register a user on an external project, but also the possibility of authorized access on behalf of this user to the data and services of Mail.Ru.
Therefore, on the Platform, we supported the OAuth 2.0 protocol (the announcement should take place the other day), which makes it possible to authorize a user and get detailed information about it for expedited registration on an external site.
By the way, OpenID version 1.0 in Mail.Ru also has openid.mail.ru .
Do you plan to hold contests to attract developers (not in the direction of the game)?
ROI from previous contests was close to zero, so now we do not plan such activities. Instead, we are developing the API, it gives a better result.
Do you have an understanding that advertising your applications is too expensive, and there is a lack of control over it? At the moment: 4.8 rubles. for 1000 impressions, there is no control over advertising - all through the manager; minimum package - 48 thousand rubles. While “Vkontakte” - from 0.3 kopecks per 1000 impressions, with admin panel, targeting, the ability to pay per click and the ability to manage everything on the fly. Is something being done in this area? Can you name any deadlines?
Understanding is certainly there. But with the numbers, I strongly disagree. The price of 1000 impressions starts at 1.39 rubles, which, with an average CTR of a block of 0.04%, gives a cost per click of 3.47 rubles. In VKontakte, the recommended non-targeting cost per click is now 3.22 p. The difference is not dramatic, but the entrance threshold is definitely higher. Now we are working on a system of automated advertising sales, we plan to launch along with the revision of the pricing policy in February 2011. Follow the news on api.mail.ru
Alexey, when will Krivor's odnoklassniki.ru managers finally be dispersed and put you in charge of applications? Perhaps this would lead to a common API and the approach as a whole (the company is now one).
No comments.
Is it possible to expect the appearance of an API for direct calls to technical support? Now its functionality is very limited, often it does not at all what is expected of it.
We did not think about it. Tell us in more detail how you want to use this API?
Will it be possible to add additional developers to the application?
This possibility has been around for almost a year .
Alexey personally killed the application in "My World", citing copyright compliance. However, the most arrogant application showing TV shows and movies online, hangs in the top without any problems. The essence of the question is where is a clear policy?
A clear policy is set out in the rules for placing applications .
To deal with your claim - you need details and facts. What application and when I personally "hacked", which application that violates copyright, hangs in the top. Write a letter to app@corp.mail.ru, it will not remain unanswered.
Will it be possible to transfer applications to other people? Now you can add another user to the management of the application (in administration), but you cannot delete the original “creator” .
Transfer application to another account is now possible through the moderator. To do this, you need to write a request for app@corp.mai.ru from the account on which the application you want to transfer is located. We want to put this into the application management interface, but the priority of the task is rather low, so I can’t promise anything in time.
Is there a planned advertising system similar to VKontakte - with pay per click and not for impressions?
Planned, see above.
Do you plan to cancel the ban on external links in applications, as in "Vkontakte"? Now, according to the rules, you can advertise sites, but you cannot advertise external games, for example.
You can post links to external projects if these projects are integrated with the Mail.Ru API for sites. If this is a browser game, you can integrate the ability to quickly register through our API and put the "Like" button .
Why was it written open-api on the Client-Server system, in which when generating the key the public key is used, which can be taken from js scripts, i.e. ANY can go under ANY account? Vkontakte, for example, is made with a private and public key, Facebook also has no such lawlessness, only you have such frills.
Extract from the documentation : the sig parameter is the signature of the application initialization parameters. We strongly recommend that you check the signature parameters in order to avoid their falsification by hackers. The signature is calculated according to the server-server REST API scheme.
Please note that the sig parameter is not involved in calculating the signature. Since the signature contains the secret key secret_key, it can only be verified on the server. Thus, your claim has no reason. The secret_key key, by which the request signature is calculated, is known only to you and is stored on your server. It should not be transferred to the client parts of the application.
In fairness, I want to note that we have a certain confusion in the key naming (private_key and secret_key), which could mislead you. It is a problem of historical heritage. We hope to solve this problem in the next version (already the fourth) of our API.
Why in open-api it was necessary to give out either an oid or a vid, and not a vid and a flag (the first time a user came to us or not). A bunch of confusion makes the same?
Extract from the documentation : the vid parameter always contains the identifier of the current user of the application. The oid parameter depends on how the application is launched: the user could launch the application from his personal page, then the oid will be identical to the vid. If the user entered the application from the page of another person who installed it, then the oid will contain the identifier of the user who installed the application.
Thus, the option of passing parameters that you proposed does not fit into the business logic. And the scheme adopted by us corresponds to it and is quite logical.
In conclusion, I want to thank all the participants for the questions and the organizers for conducting a habra interview. I hope that after it new web developers and developers of social applications will pay attention to the possibilities provided by the Mail.Ru API. We are always open for questions and criticism, you can send them to app@corp.mail.ru.
By the way, we are constantly looking for energetic people to work on the Mail.Ru API. In particular, the vacancies of the Promotion Manager (evangelist) of the Platform and the backend developer (Perl / C ++) are open. If you want to work in one of the most interesting projects of the largest Runet company with big ambitions and opportunities - write me on terekhov@corp.mail.ru.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/112866/
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