In a move that has angered many developers and search engine marketing firms, Google has announced that as of July 1st it will start charging for the use of its Adwords API. Pricing for the Adwords API will be based on a usage fee structure where $0.25 USD buys 1,000 units.

The Google Adwords API allows adwords users with a My Client Center to create their own programs to interface with the Adwords system. Using the Adwords API, developers and SEM Firms have created custom and commercial reporting, automation, bidding anc cross-PPC platform comparison tool that greatly improve efficiency and scalability of the Adwords platform.

From its initial launch, the Adwords API has been free to use and based on a quota system that was calculated for the most part based on the number of accounts one administered within their My Client Center

In addition to the new fee structure, Google is making some changes to their Adwords API terms of use. Rohit Dhawan, Google product manager explains that the new terms of use were needed to “to simplify developers’ abilities to commercialize their applications while at the same time ensuring that advertiser returns are maximized through the promotion of certain functional standards”. Google has made available a preview copy of the new terms of use. We will blog about the changes in the new tos once we have had a chance to thoroughly examine it.

Google has expanded their empire a little bit more with the introduction of Google Calendar.  The calendar is still in beta, but it’s early features show that it is quite a good system.  Sharing your Google Calendar is a snap, either as a public or group calendar, and adding on holidays, both religious and regional is just as simple.

The calendar can be configured to be integrated right into your Gmail account, for easy viewing of your events and upcoming holidays.

To test out the new Google Calendar system, find it here.