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API ECOSYSTEMS

Application programming interfaces or APIs


are the linchpins of the platform economy,
enabling business everywhere to embed TOTAL NUMBER OF APIs WORLDWIDE
By the first quarter of 2017
the software capabilities of other platforms
within their own apps or websites. APIs have
facilitated entirely new business models across
18,000
nearly every industry, allowing companies to
latch on to and customise existing platforms,
algorithms and resources to create new
services and entice new customers 16,000 17,682
APIs were listed on the
ProgrammableWeb
directory by June 2017

14,000 ProgrammableWeb.com 2017


TOP API CATEGORIES BY API COUNT
Includes categories listed as both primary and secondary

1,500 12,000

1,250 10,000

8,000
1,000

6,000
750

4,000
500

2,000
250

0 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2017


Social

E-commerce
Tools

Financial

Mobile

Mapping

Search

Enterprise

Data
Messaging

ProgrammableWeb.com 2017

API BUSINESS MODELS

API IS THE PRODUCT API PROJECTS THE PRODUCT API PROMOTES THE PRODUCT API POWERS THE PRODUCT

When an API is your product, not an When an API is a means for partners, When an API advertises your product When an API is a channel to get new
extension of your product, and is the mobile apps and third parties to using different channels and/or allows content/value into the business; the API
primary source of revenue experience your product and integrate it third parties access to data used to continually receives new content which is
generate interest in your product used to make up part of your service
Amazon Web Services, Skype eBay, Spotify
Amazon.com, Vimeo, Netflix Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

ProgrammableWeb.com 2017

KEY BUSINESS DRIVERS BEHIND APIs

Access new markets


70% 69% 68%
63%
Reduce costs
Develop

61%
Imp

new dist
rov

Improve control over resources


e ti

71%
me

55%
ribution
Ex

to
pl

m
oi

ark
tn

75% Keep up with competition


ew

channel
et
bu

54%
sin
es

s
sm

Inc
rea
od

se
e

d
ls

rev
en
ue
Improve brand recognition

53%
Deve
lop n
ew p
artn
e rship
s
Differentiate offer from competitors

51%

Cutter Consortium/Wipro

BRIEF HISTORY OF WEB APIs

2000 2000 2002 2004 2006 2006

Salesforce launches eBay rolls out its API to Amazon launches so-called Flickr creates its API, which Amazon Web Services Facebook launches its
and APIs were part of selected eBay partners and Amazon.com Web Services, enables it to become the is formed as the cloud API, allowing developers
its internet-as-a-service developers to revolutionise allowing third parties to image platform of choice computing platform we access to Facebook friends,
solution from day one, as the way people do business incorporate Amazon.com for early blogging and know today and launches photos, events
customers need to share on eBay products and features into social media an API to give developers and profile information
data across their different their own websites access to inexpensive data
business applications storage infrastructure

2006 2007 2009 2011 2011 2015-2016

Twitter launches its API in Google Maps creates its API Apple launches the App Instagram releases the official Fitbits API enables third parties Apigee, the developer of
response, much like eBay, to ahead of the launch of the Store, opening up a new API for its photo-sharing app, to build data from the fitness API-based software platforms,
a growing number of people Google Maps app, enabling world of mobile apps asserting itself as one of the tracker into their own apps and floats on the stock market in
creating their own rogue businesses to embed maps through which APIs would be defining players in mobile API services, showing the potential a significant milestone for the
APIs of their locations on their own the driving force history for partnerships with APIs and industry; it was later acquired
websites connected devices by Google in a deal worth
$625 million

API Evangelist

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