Mashups are made in order to utilize information or tools that a developer could not otherwise use or create on their own. Things like dynamic maps, product databases, and photo repositories are difficult to make, but applicable to a great deal of functions. From the side of the content provider, mashups serve as a valuable way to gain visitors and name recognition (after seeing google maps everywhere it starts to stick in your head).

Mashups usually utilize an Application Programming Interface, or API, to draw information from exterior websites or databases. Many popular websites such as Digg, Google, and Flickr provie APIs free of charge for prospective devleopers. An older method, called “screen scraping,” is also used when an API is not available. Screen scraping operates by running a program to search text or images on a normal website or program then taking certain bits of information and putting them into its own database.

Check out some APIs: Digg API, Google Maps API, Flickr API