Google Maps supported in China - google-maps

Some old documentation lists Google Maps being supported in China but hitting the end points in recent days it appears to no longer be working...
For example hitting the endpoint - http://maps.google.cn/maps/api/geocode/json?latlng=39.934574,116.342378
Mentions an API key needs to be provided, but when it is the site crashes out with a network traffic attack style message.
Is it just that Google Maps isn't supported in China anymore or the service is down? It would be great for this to be mentioned/listed somewhere on the google support docs as I wasn't able to find anything useful describing its operation.

Related

Google Maps Earth View future

Google Maps Earth View has never provided any solid plugin-free API to work the same native way as we do with Google Maps API.
Now when Google Maps Earth View API is deprecated, we have no any means to interact with the Earth View. Needless to say that world explorations are not convenient using that default scanty set of tools provided by the Earth View. At that, Earth View now is the default physical map browsing map type at maps.google.com.
Does anybody have any information about some future plans of Google to support developers?
As far as I know, upon the deprecation of Google Earth API, plugins has been provided such as the Google Earth Browser Plug-in that allows users to navigate and explore geographic data on a 3D globe. The look and feel of the plugin is similar to the Google Earth application, thereby providing a similar user experience. However, there are also differences such as the one discussed in this forum.
To be kept updated with the latest product updates or upcoming plans, I would suggest that you follow or subscribe to the following links:
Google Earth Blog
Google Maps API Documentation
Google Maps Android API - Release Notes
Google Maps JavaScript API - Release Notes
Google Earth releases
Lastly, this SO post might also help.

Google Maps, HTTP in China and Mixed Content Error

I'm displaying Google maps in China, the API there uses HTTP. However, my website is HTTPS.
Chrome, and any other mainstream browser throws a Mixed Content error.
How do I overcome this?
Was not able to find an easy solution with Google Maps.
However, using Gaode Maps ( 高德地图 ) helps was an alternative for Chinese based clients on sites HTTPS is needed.
They have an SDK with English instructions and similar functionality and coverage to Google Maps.
It is slower than Google Maps for non-China based users but is still okay to use.
You could detect the user's location and use Google Maps and Gaode Maps as needed.

Why is my Google Maps API v2 still working

I have a google map on my site for showing visitors where events are held, in the back end of the site, the user can enter an address find the location and then drag the marker to the specific location. For this i am using Google Maps APi v2 but it is still working.
Should it not of stopped working after the API was made redundant? Or how long will it still work for
According to google (here):
As of November 19, 2013, all applications requesting v2 are served a special, wrapped version of the v3 API instead. We expect this wrapped version of the API to work for most simple maps, but we strongly encourage you to migrate to the v3 API immediately.

Access Denied when attempting to use Google Maps Geocoding Service with a Console API Key

UPDATE: In an effort to give a more clear question. How do I use the Google Console API key with the Google Maps Geocoding Web Service API? At the moment the request comes back as denied, when I specify the key but even though it failed it is logged in the Google Console API site's reports section.
Original Question
I have an existing app that has been modified to start geocoding address at the time they are entered (for use within the app on a Google Map). The volume expected for this is expcted to be within the free offering's limites and does not require a key at this time. However now I have to geocode all of the existing addresses. I have a small windows app (C#) that will loop through them one at a time, request they be geocoded (via https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json) and store the results in the database. However I keep running into the query limit. To help alleviate this I've setup an account on Google API Console (https://code.google.com/apis/console/) so that I get go over the limit and just be billed for the overages.
The problem is in order to do utilize this billing alternative I have to provide a Console API Key to the request, but every time I do so I get a response back with a status of REQUEST_DENIED.
My URL looks like this
https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=1600+Amphitheatre+Parkway,+Mountain+View,+CA+94043&sensor=false&key=123abc
If I take off the key it works fine, but with it on it fails. Now, I have seen other questions similar to this when looking around but can find no answer to the issue.
I've tried various alternate domains including maps.google.com, maps.googleapis.com and maps-api-ssl.google.com all seem to have the same problem from what I can tell.
Here's what I've been able to find out so far:
The service is listed in the Google Console API's site as Google Maps API v3, (there is a separate entry for v2) so I don't think it's a problem with keys no longer being mandatory in v3.
I know the requests are getting through and being correctly logged against this API key because with each failed attempt the request count goes up by one on the Reports tab of the Google APIs Console.
*I know it's not a problem with it not being accessed via a web page because the Console API explicitly lets you generates keys intended for Server/Service use and you can restrict access to them via IP address, not URL Referrer.
*I've also verified the parameter syntax as it's outlined on this page, as are other usage
*These seem to be generic to the Console API system but there is no mention of exceptions to these practices when used for the Google Maps API.
I even tried to contact Google but apparently they don't offer support over the phone (I was hoping to be done with this today but that's not looking likely).
It seems the key is not necessary anymore, since it doesn't increase your limit of free geocodings.
It was a legacy of v2, but geocoding API v2 was fully deprecated last March, 8.
If you need to use more than the free limit, I think you must adquire the Enterprise license.
Regards,
Eduardo.
I ran into this same issue and solved it by enabling the Geocoding API on the Google apis dashboard. Even though I'm using the Google Maps JavaScript API v3, it still required me to enable the Geocoding API as well. Make sure you understand the google's quota limits and billing system before enabling any API access. Hope this helps!
Late to this answer, but just in case anyone else has issue. Billing needs to be setup first and like Dylan said you also have to enable Geocoding API(this got me). At least I did for my locations app that shows multiple store location addresses.

Map controls for sites running https

A team I work with is currently in an unfortunate situation. They've spent a lot of time integrating the google map control on their site but they didn't discover that to run google maps on a https site you must license the control (and it isn't cheap) and the same goes for bing maps.
So my question is do you know of any cheaper/free map controls like google or bing maps?
OpenLayers
In version 3 of the API, HTTPS support is now free.
Why can't they put the google maps part on a non-secure page or frame? The google licence says that you must have it on a publicly accessible site to benefit from the free version of the licence, so even on a http site, you may still need to pay for the data.
All other mapping tools are dependant on the expensive map source data, so you'll not find any. The exception is OpenStreetMap which uses community-supplied map data.
MapQuest's API allows SSL usage through the free license.
I was looking into this and found this post - you can use Bing maps over ssl with no problems, and it seems to work fine.
For the danish users I found the following VisKort component on SoftwareBørsen. It looks like it is based on OpenStreetMap, but I'm not sure.