Question

I am writing a Java application that needs to get images from Google image search (or similar).

It works as simple as a web call:
http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/search/images?v=1.0&q=japan

However, the response is limited to 8 results per page.
and google search is free for only 100 requests per day, so 800 results per day.

Is that correct?

Answer 1

The replacement for that deprecated API is here: https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview and for billing they note:

Any usage beyond the free usage quota will fail if you are not signed up for billing. Once you have enabled billing, you will continue to receive 100 free queries per day. However, you will be billed for all additional requests at the rate of $5 per 1000 queries, for up to 10,000 queries per day.

So the alternative is, simply, to pay for what you need.

There is lots of information from a similar question here: What's the best web image search API?

Somebody on that thread notes:

As of August 2012, Bing API will be part of Azure Marketplace: free access still available, but limited to a number of queries (5000/month). Google limits the free access to 100 queries/day.

So perhaps Bing has sufficient free quota for your needs? There are other options on that page also, check it out.