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Do you have a Google Maps map on your website? If so, it is important that you read this :)

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Reading time minutes
By Patrick Schokker

You come across it almost on every website: a Google Maps map, to display (usually) the location of the company. A website visitor only has to click on it and the route is immediately displayed in Google Maps from the current location. Ideal! However, as of July 16, 2018, Google has changed the terms of use of this platform for third parties.

In one sentence, that means: since July 16, the free use of Google Maps on your website is no longer a given.

Of course, you can still use the cards. In this blog, we explain what exactly is changing and the implications.

What will change for the Google Maps map?

Google is going to charge for using Google Maps maps on websites.

Google maps map on website

When the Google Maps map is displayed on the website, it connects to the Google Maps API. This always costs Google extra money when more people use the map. This is because it requires Google's servers to do more frequent and faster calculations. Therefore, Google has decided to curtail the use of the API.

As of July 16, Google charges for every request to display a Google Maps map $ 0,007. So if you have 1,000 website visitors clicking on the map, you come to 1,000 impressions and thus $7.00.

To accommodate especially small website in the possible costs, Google offers each user a monthly credit of $200 (free). This credit is automatically replenished each month. So this is basically over 28,000 requests for free.

Are you not a big business? Then you often don't reach the 28,000 requests in a month, so you can just keep using the Google Maps map for free.

Tip: some websites put the card on multiple pages or even in the footer. Limit the placement of the card e.g. only to your contact page and the number of requests decreases significantly :).

Note the API Key

To display a Google Maps map on your website, you need an API key. This is a unique code consisting of a series of numbers and letters. This will give your website access to Google Maps and allow your website to retrieve and display maps. You can get an API key by creating an account with Google.

Because of the unique API key, Google knows the requests are coming from your website and thus determines how much you should pay. Should you exceed the $200 free credit, the remainder will be billed.

Without an API key, Google cannot determine which Web site has made a request to Google Maps, preventing it from passing on the cost. Therefore, it is important that you create your own API key, if you do not do this. Then the Google Maps map on your website will not work from now on.

You can here learn more about the API key.

Want to learn more about Google's new pricing model? Click here >>

Get in touch!

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Patrick Schokker
Patrick Schokker

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