<p>Reading through the Flickr API documentation it keeps stating I require an API key to use their REST protocols. I am only building a photo viewer, gathering information available from Flickr's <a href="http://www.flickr.com/services/feeds/docs/photos_public/" rel="noreferrer">public photo feed</a> (For instance, I am not planning on writing an upload script, where a API key would be required). <strong>Is there any added functionality I can get from getting a Key?</strong></p>

<p><strong>Update</strong> I answered the question below</p>

The Flickr API is very nice and easy to use and will be much easier than scraping the feed yourself.
Getting a key takes about 2 minutes - you fill in a form on the website and then email it to you.