Google has posted on its Code Blog updated deprecation terms of service for five APIs, including the App Engine cloud service, which indicate service terms for these APIs when they are either deprecated or a newer version is introduced.

Terms of service include three years of support for the App Engine API as well as for the Documents List Data, for uploading documents; SketchUp Ruby API, for building 3D models and the YouTube online video APIs. There is just one year of support for CheckOut API, for the CheckOut online sales application.

"We just posted updated terms of service for five more APIs to include transparent deprecation policies," said Neel Kshetramade, of Google Developer Programs, in a blog on Thursday. "This is part of their increased commitment as graduates of Google Code Labs. As we mentioned in March when we introduced Labs, each of these deprecation policies states that we'll support each version of the API for a guaranteed length of time from when it's deprecated or a newer version is introduced. While it's three years for most, it might be less for some. With this batch of updates, for example, the Checkout API has a policy of supporting old versions for one year while all of the others will support old versions for three years."

The company could not be reached for comment as to why the Checkout API has a shorter support life than the others.