Does anybody know the bitly "per-month, per-hour, per-minute, per-user, and per-IP rate limits for each API method"??

[NanoWisdoms Archive]

I know the free service allows creation of 10,000 bitly's a month, but this page:

http://dev.bitly.com/rate_limiting.html

Says:

"Bitly institutes per-month, per-hour, per-minute, per-user, and per-IP rate limits for each API method.

"While rate limits exist, default limits are more than sufficient for most API usage.

"Please note that some API rate limits reset once each hour. If you are experiencing rate limiting errors, please wait 60 minutes to resume making API calls."

However, I can't find out what all these limits are so I can throttle my application accordingly.

Over the last several weeks I've sent many emails to Bitly asking them for these limits but, although I always get a prompt reply, the question is always just ignored!

Thanks

[Peter Herndon]

Hi there,

I apologize if your question has gone unanswered, we prefer to evaluate cases individually, as we have many API endpoints, each with its own rate limit, and that limit varies per account. Please contact us directly at a...@bitly.com with the details of your particular API endpoint use case -- which endpoints you expect to use, and how many requests per hour and per minute -- and we can see if your expected requirements will fit under our free use limits.

Regards,

--Peter

Peter Herndon

Sr. Application Engineer

@Bitly

[NanoWisdoms Archive]

Hmm, my reply seems to have got stuck somewhere in the post approval queue.

I'd love to contact you with the info but the email address didn't get posted properly (looks like google redacts them).

But nevertheless I'm confused, aren't the limits the same for all free accounts? And so, can't they just be published to save time and effort for everyone? Because, frankly, my needs are very dynamic and depend on the publishing cycles of a dozen other sources from where I am curating and aggregating content from, so I'd much prefer to know what your limits are so I can properly throttle the application, as is the right way to do this, rather than hoping the application stays within some unknown limit by luck.

Thanks.

[NanoWisdoms Archive]

I am little confused though. 

On the one hand you say each API end point's "limit varies per account" but, on the other hand, you also say "we can see if your expected requirements will fit under our free use limits." I'm not understanding how the limits for free accounts would then also vary by account. If there are limits for free accounts, wouldn't those then be the limits?

Thanks.

On Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 9:34:27 AM UTC-8, Peter Herndon wrote:

[NanoWisdoms Archive]

Thanks for your reply and I have several scenarios, however your email address is masked out and generates an error when I try to click on it. 

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

On Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 9:34:27 AM UTC-8, Peter Herndon wrote:

[Peter Herndon]

Hi,

Our direct email address is api at bitly.com, feel free to direct your questions there, and we can discuss your particular case.

Regards,

---Peter

Peter Herndon

Sr. Application Engineer

@Bitly

[Peter Herndon]

Hi there,

To rephrase what I wrote earlier, we will not publish the hourly rate limits for each of our API endpoints, as a matter of policy. We have many endpoints, they each have different default rate limits, we modify those defaults on occasion, and we can modify each rate limit for any given account. We will not do so without a reason we feel merits the action. One such reason is if you become a paying customer; we are, after all, a business. If you do not want to pay us for higher rate limits and expanded functionality, we will evaluate your request for higher rate limits on a case by case basis. We do occasionally work with researchers and other non-profit organizations, for example.

If you wish to discuss your particular case with us, I will be happy to look at your account and give you advice on your personal usage of our API, in the hopes that together we may find a way to make your use more efficient. I will also happily pass your contact information to our sales team, if you need a commercial account, and I will take your request for raising individual rate limits for consideration, if that is what you need. Again, please email us directly at 'api at bitly.com'.

Regards,

---Peter

Sr. Application Engineer

@Bitly

[NanoWisdoms Archive]

Thanks for the clarification. It seems like Google groups has quite a delay in posting replies.

I was very pleased to learn that you work with non-profits and will contact you about our needs and organization.

Thanks again.