diff --git a/api/v2/api-v2.go b/api/v2/api-v2.go
index 2603b9bd..3e3dc035 100644
--- a/api/v2/api-v2.go
+++ b/api/v2/api-v2.go
@@ -5,10 +5,13 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
+
 	"github.com/m-lab/annotation-service/api"
 )
 
@@ -46,40 +49,117 @@ type Response struct {
 }
 
 /*************************************************************************
-*                           Local Annotator API                          *
+*                           Remote Annotator API                          *
 *************************************************************************/
+var (
+	RequestTimeHistogram = prometheus.NewHistogramVec(
+		prometheus.HistogramOpts{
+			Name: "annotator_external_latency_hist_msec",
+			Help: "annotator latency distributions.",
+			Buckets: []float64{
+				1.0, 1.3, 1.6, 2.0, 2.5, 3.2, 4.0, 5.0, 6.3, 7.9,
+				10, 13, 16, 20, 25, 32, 40, 50, 63, 79,
+				100, 130, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 630, 790,
+				1000, 1300, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6300, 7900,
+			},
+		},
+		[]string{"detail"})
+)
 
-// GetAnnotations takes a url, and Request, makes remote call, and returns parsed ResponseV2
-// TODO(gfr) Should pass the annotator's request context through and use it here.
-func GetAnnotations(ctx context.Context, url string, date time.Time, ips []string) (*Response, error) {
-	req := NewRequest(date, ips)
-	encodedData, err := json.Marshal(req)
+func init() {
+	prometheus.MustRegister(RequestTimeHistogram)
+}
+
+func post(ctx context.Context, url string, encodedData []byte) (*http.Response, error) {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 2*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	httpReq, err := http.NewRequest("POST", url, bytes.NewReader(encodedData))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	var netClient = &http.Client{
-		// Median response time is < 10 msec, but 99th percentile is 0.6 seconds.
-		Timeout: 2 * time.Second,
+	// Make the actual request
+	return http.DefaultClient.Do(httpReq.WithContext(ctx))
+}
+
+// ErrStatusNotOK is returned from GetAnnotation if http status is other than OK.  Response body may have more info.
+var ErrStatusNotOK = errors.New("http status not StatusOK")
+
+func waitOneSecond(ctx context.Context) error {
+	select {
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		return ctx.Err()
+	case <-time.After(time.Second):
+		return nil
 	}
+}
 
-	httpReq, err := http.NewRequest("POST", url, bytes.NewReader(encodedData))
+// postWithRetry will retry for some error conditions, up to the deadline in the provided context.
+// Returns if http status is OK, error is not nil, http status is not ServiceUnavailable or timeout.
+func postWithRetry(ctx context.Context, url string, encodedData []byte) (*http.Response, error) {
+	for {
+		start := time.Now()
+		resp, err := post(ctx, url, encodedData)
+		if err != nil {
+			RequestTimeHistogram.WithLabelValues(err.Error()).Observe(float64(time.Since(start).Nanoseconds()) / 1e6)
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusOK {
+			RequestTimeHistogram.WithLabelValues("success").Observe(float64(time.Since(start).Nanoseconds()) / 1e6)
+			return resp, err
+		}
+		if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusServiceUnavailable {
+			RequestTimeHistogram.WithLabelValues(resp.Status).Observe(float64(time.Since(start).Nanoseconds()) / 1e6)
+			return resp, ErrStatusNotOK
+		}
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
+			RequestTimeHistogram.WithLabelValues("timeout").Observe(float64(time.Since(start).Nanoseconds()) / 1e6)
+			return nil, ctx.Err()
+		}
+		// This is a recoverable error, so we should retry.
+		RequestTimeHistogram.WithLabelValues("retry").Observe(float64(time.Since(start).Nanoseconds()) / 1e6)
+		err = waitOneSecond(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// GetAnnotations takes a url, and Request, makes remote call, and returns parsed ResponseV2
+// TODO(gfr) Should pass the annotator's request context through and use it here.
+func GetAnnotations(ctx context.Context, url string, date time.Time, ips []string) (*Response, error) {
+	req := NewRequest(date, ips)
+	encodedData, err := json.Marshal(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// Make the actual request
-	httpResp, err := netClient.Do(httpReq.WithContext(ctx))
+	httpResp, err := postWithRetry(ctx, url, encodedData)
 	if err != nil {
+		if httpResp == nil || httpResp.Body == nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		defer httpResp.Body.Close()
+		if err == ErrStatusNotOK {
+			body, ioutilErr := ioutil.ReadAll(httpResp.Body)
+			if ioutilErr != nil {
+				return nil, ioutilErr
+			}
+			// To avoid some bug causing a gigantic error string...
+			if len(body) > 60 { // 60 is completely arbitrary.
+				body = body[0:60]
+			}
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s : %s", httpResp.Status, string(body))
+		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	defer httpResp.Body.Close()
 
-	// Catch errors reported by the service
+	defer httpResp.Body.Close()
+	// Handle other status codes
 	if httpResp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return nil, errors.New("URL:" + url + " gave response code " + httpResp.Status)
+		return nil, errors.New(httpResp.Status)
 	}
-
 	// Copy response into a byte slice
 	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(httpResp.Body)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/api/v2/api-v2_test.go b/api/v2/api-v2_test.go
index 29836326..5ec9824d 100644
--- a/api/v2/api-v2_test.go
+++ b/api/v2/api-v2_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -21,19 +22,36 @@ func init() {
 
 func TestDoRequest(t *testing.T) {
 	expectedJson := `{"AnnotatorDate":"2018-12-05T00:00:00Z","Annotations":{"147.1.2.3":{"Geo":{"continent_code":"NA","country_code":"US","country_name":"United States","latitude":37.751,"longitude":-97.822},"ASN":{}},"8.8.8.8":{"Geo":{"continent_code":"NA","country_code":"US","country_name":"United States","latitude":37.751,"longitude":-97.822},"ASN":{}}}}`
+	callCount := 0
 
 	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		fmt.Fprint(w, expectedJson)
+		if callCount < 3 {
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+		} else {
+			fmt.Fprint(w, expectedJson)
+		}
+		callCount++
 	}))
 	url := ts.URL
 
 	//url = "https://annotator-dot-mlab-sandbox.appspot.com/batch_annotate"
 	ips := []string{"8.8.8.8", "147.1.2.3"}
-	resp, err := api.GetAnnotations(context.Background(), url, time.Now(), ips)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 2*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	resp, err := api.GetAnnotations(ctx, url, time.Now(), ips)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Should have timed out")
+	}
+	ctx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	resp, err = api.GetAnnotations(ctx, url, time.Now(), ips)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
+	if callCount != 4 {
+		t.Error("Should have been two calls to server.")
+	}
 	expectedResponse := api.Response{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(expectedJson), &expectedResponse)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -44,3 +62,34 @@ func TestDoRequest(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error(diff)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestSomeErrors(t *testing.T) {
+	callCount := 0
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if callCount == 0 {
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+			fmt.Fprint(w, "body message")
+		} else {
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+		}
+		callCount++
+	}))
+	url := ts.URL
+
+	ips := []string{"8.8.8.8", "147.1.2.3"}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 2*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	_, err := api.GetAnnotations(ctx, url, time.Now(), ips)
+	if callCount != 1 {
+		t.Error("Should have been two calls to server.")
+	}
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Should have produced an error")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "body message") {
+		t.Error("Expected err containing body message", err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Internal Server Error") {
+		t.Error("Expected err containing Internal Server Error", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/handler/handler.go b/handler/handler.go
index 6507ffa1..e219f5d6 100644
--- a/handler/handler.go
+++ b/handler/handler.go
@@ -272,11 +272,16 @@ func handleV2(w http.ResponseWriter, jsonBuffer []byte) {
 	// No need to validate IP addresses, as they are net.IP
 	response := v2.Response{}
 
-	// For now, use the date of the first item.  In future the items will not have individual timestamps.
 	if len(request.IPs) > 0 {
-		// For old request format, we use the date of the first RequestData
 		response, err = AnnotateV2(request.Date, request.IPs)
 		if err != nil {
+			if err == manager.ErrPendingAnnotatorLoad {
+				// Encourage client to try again soon.
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+			} else {
+				// If it isn't loading, client should probably give up instead of retrying.
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+			}
 			fmt.Fprintf(w, err.Error())
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/handler/handler_test.go b/handler/handler_test.go
index 9672a05d..6f9ab1fb 100644
--- a/handler/handler_test.go
+++ b/handler/handler_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 package handler_test
 
+// TODO 201901 - TestStatusServiceUnavailable()
+// TODO 201901 - TestStatusInternalError()
+
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"errors"