Exploring ‘Region Parameter’ of Newsdata.io

Familiarizing with the ‘Region Parameter’

The Newsdata.io platform recently launched a new parameter named the ‘Region’ parameter to increase data extraction efficiency. The specified geographic region cut down chunks of irrelevant data and ensures precision in data extraction.

All about the ‘Region’ parameter

This section of the blog will focus on the working of the parameter.

What is the new ‘Region’ parameter about?

The ‘Region’ parameter allows you to set the geographical location for relevant data. Like other pre-existing parameters, the key function is to increase the overall efficiency.
This new parameter allows you to narrow down the region you want the data from. It can be a city, state, region, country, or even a continent.

For instance, you want articles related to Nashville City of Tennessee State of the United States of America Country. The request parameter of the same would be:

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-tennessee-united states of america

This will fetch you all the articles related to Nashville City of Tennessee State of the United States of America.

NOTE: If you mention just Nashville City (region=nashville), it will fetch articles related to all the locations around the world named Nashville. So, in order to fetch articles from Nashville City of Tennessee state of the United States of America, you should mention the whole geographical location (region=nashville-tennessee-unites states of america).

NOTE: This parameter allows the user to add up to 5 geographical locations in a single query. Such that, you can still add 4 more geographical locations to the given query.

Who can access the ‘Region’ parameter?

Only corporate users can access the newly launched ‘Region’ parameter. Furthermore, this parameter is available only in the “news” endpoint.

Country Filter VS Region Parameter

If there already exists a ‘country’ filter then why another parameter? To answer that query, go through the table of differences inserted below:

Let’s understand Region Parameter with examples

To help understand better, given below is a set of examples explaining different ways this parameter can be used.

1. City-State-Country

• For instance, you want articles from City: Nashville, State: Tennessee, Country: United States of America. The request parameter for that would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-tennessee-united states of americaThis would fetch all the available data from Nashville City of Tennessee State of United States of America.
• If you want articles from City: Seattle, State: Washington, Country: United States of America, then the request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=seattle-washington-united states of americaThis would fetch all the available data from the Seattle City of Washington State of the United States of America.

2. City-State

• For instance, you want articles from City: Nashville, State: Tennessee. The request parameter for that would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-tennesseeThis would fetch all the available data from the Nashville City of the Tennessee State.

NOTE: The given request parameter will fetch articles from all the locations around the world named Nashville, Tennessee. If you want articles from Nashville City of Tennessee State of the United States of America specifically, you will have to mention the country as well.

• If you want articles from City: Seattle, State: Washington, then the request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=seattle-washingtonThis would fetch all the available data from the Seattle City of Washington State only.

NOTE: The given request parameter will fetch articles from all the locations around the world named Seattle, Washington. If you want articles from Seattle City of Washington State of the United States of America specifically, you will have to mention the country as well.

3. City-Country

• For instance, you want articles from City: Nashville, Country: United States of America. The request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-united states of americaThis would fetch all the available data from the Nashville City of United States of America only.
• If you want articles from City: Seattle, Country: United States of America, then the request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=seattle-united states of americaThis would fetch all the available data from the Seattle City of United States of America only.

4. State-Country

• For instance, you want articles from State: Tennessee, Country: United States of America. The request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=tennessee-united states of americaThis would fetch all the available data from the Tennessee State of United States of America only.
• If you want articles from State: Washington, Country: United States of America, then the request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=washington-united states of americaThis would fetch all the available data from the Washington State of United States of America only.

5. City-State-Country-Continent

• • For instance, you want articles from City: Nashville, State: Tennessee, Country: United States of America, Continent: North America. The request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-tennessee-united states of america-north americaThis would fetch all the available data from the Nashville City of Tennessee State of United States of America of North America Continent.
  • If you want articles from City: Seattle, State: Washington, Country: United States of America, Continent: North America, then the request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=seattle-washington-united states of america-north americaThis would fetch all the available data from the Seattle City of Washington State of United States of America of North America Continent.

6. Multiple Geographical Locations

• • For instance, you want articles from ‘City: Nashville, State: Tennessee, Country: United States of America’, ‘City: Seattle, State: Washington’, and ‘State: Illinois, Country: United States of America, Continent: North America’. The request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-tennessee-united states of america, seattle-washington, illinois-united states of america-north americaThis would fetch all the available data from all the mentioned geographical locations.
  • If you want articles from ‘City: San Francisco, State: California, Country: United States of America’, ‘City: Portland, State: Oregon’ and ‘State: Tennessee, Country: United States of America, Continent: North America’, then the request parameter would behttps://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=san francisco-california-united states of america, portland-oregon, tennessee-united states of america-north americaThis would fetch all the available data from all the mentioned geographical locations.

Quick Tips to Remember

Mentioned below are some quick tips to ensure efficient utilization of the new parameter.

1. Spacing

In the case of two or more worded cities/states/countries/continents/regions, proper space is given among the words to avoid any confusion.
For instance, you want data from Nashville city, United States of America country. Then the request parameter would be

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-united states of america

2. Number of Geographical Locations

The number of geographical locations you use in a single query impacts the success of your request as well. You can use up to five different geographical locations in a single query.
For instance, if you want data from 5 different geographical locations, then the request parameter would be

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-tennessee-usa,newcastle upon tyne-england,chicago-united states of america,san francisco-california,london-united kingdom-europe

The given parameter will fetch information from the five different locations simultaneously.

NOTE: If you try to add more locations, there will be an error and the request will fail.

3. Correct use of “,” and “_”

You must note that ‘,’ is used to segregate two parameters whereas “_” is used within a single parameter.
For Instance, you want data from ‘City: Nashville, State: Tennessee’ and ‘City: Chicago, Country: United States of America’. The request parameter would be

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=nashville-tennessee,chicago-united states of america

In the given request parameter, “,” is used to separate 2 different region parameters and ‘_’ is used to specify Nashville of Tennessee State.

4. Complete Information

There is always a possibility of wasted API credits due to a lack of complete information. There are cities with the same name but different countries, which if not specified can lead to confusion.
For instance, you want data from City: Beverly Hills, State: California.

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=beverly hills

The given request parameter will fetch data from City: Beverly Hills, State: California as well as City: Beverly Hills, State: Texas.

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=beverly hills-california

The given request parameter will now fetch data from Beverly Hills City of California State. Thus, avoiding any confusion by specifying the complete location.

5. Complete names

One more thing that you should keep in mind is to always insert the full name of the geographical location. Inserting short forms of the cities/states/countries/continents/regions can lead to failure of the request.
For instance, you want data from State: New York, Country: United States of America.

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=ny-united states of america

There will be a failure with the given request due to the use of short forms.

https://newsdata.io/api/1/news?apikey=Your_API_Key&q=pizza&region=new york-united states of america

The given request will now fetch your data from New York City of United States of America.

NOTE: Except Washington D.C. all other cities, states, countries, continents, and regions should be inserted with their original full names.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is the recently launched ‘Region Parameter’ of Newsdata.io?

The new ‘Region’ parameter allows the user to be more precise about the geographical location they want their data to be fetched from.

Q2. Can I use multiple region parameters in a single query?

Yes, you can use up to five different region parameters in a single query.

Q3. Does the new parameter improve the accuracy of data extraction?

Yes, the new ‘Region’ parameter enables users to set the geographical location accordingly. Thus, improving the accuracy of the data.

Q4. What are the limitations of the new region parameter?

The only limitation of this parameter is that it is made available only to users with corporate plans. Any other user won’t be able to access it without upgrading their plan.

Q5. Can I use the region parameter to fetch local news?

Yes, unlike the ‘country’ filter you can use the ‘region’ parameter to fetch local news as well.

Q6. What happens if I use ‘USA’ instead of ‘United States of America’ while using the region parameter?

If you use ‘USA’ instead of ‘United States of America’ the API will face some issues while fetching the data. As a result, you might not receive the articles from your desired geographical location.