I have one real website using google map and It is binded with several domains. Each domain serves for a separated group of client.
Google map announces new policy updates that apply from 11th june 2018 that decrease free limit usage from 25K map loads per day to 28K map load per month
My questions is Can I use map api key which generated from separated google account to increase free usage ?
I have read this question carefully use multiple Google Maps API Keys for same server?
But link seems broken and I can't find relevant information as answer on that question or some other questions too
In my case, although my sites have the same code based and IP, however they works like different sites on shared hosts. One more thing, Google assigns free usage based on account (not google map key) so I think I can use multiple account to increase limit
So can I do this ? I don't want to break Google rules and I appreciate for any comment
You can not since is against Google terms, please check section 3.2.4.e in this link https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/#16-limitation-of-liability.
No Circumventing Fees. Customer will not circumvent the applicable Fees. For example, Customer will not create multiple billing accounts or Projects to avoid incurring Fees; prevent Google from accurately calculating Customer’s Service usage levels; abuse any free Service quotas; or offer access to the Services under a “time-sharing” or “service bureau” model.
I'm not sure if it's against the rules:
Google Maps guy said here, that it's OK https://twitter.com/GMapsPlatform/status/1001061642363461633
My company purchased a Google Maps API for Business license, but there is a lot of confusion on the quota that we're allowed to use.
I want to use this license in a new project, but I need to convince that we are well under our limit.
Here is the license that we purchased:
GM-INT-250K-OEM | Google Maps API Premier: 12 month license/support term; up to 250,000 internal page views; Maps API for
Business - internal application; 250K annual pageviews
It describes that we should get 250K annual page views. However, this doesn't make any sense because the "free" license gives 25K page views a day.
I apologize if this isn't the right place to ask this since it isn't a code issue. If anyone can confirm that the quota limit is indeed per day and not per year, that would be extremely helpful. If you can also refer to a link that clearly states this, that would be exactly what I need. For some reason, I haven't been able to find this :(
Many thanks.
It seems unlikely that your license has a mistake in it of that magnitude, but you should ask your Google sales rep if you want to confirm the numbers.
I can tell you why it doesn't seem to make sense, though: the 25K and 250K numbers aren't referring to the same thing.
The free Maps API license is for websites available to the general public at no charge, and Google is allowed to put advertising on your map.
You're not allowed to use the free license at all for an internal application.
So, the 250K annual views you get with the Business license is quite a bit more than the zero views you'd get with the free license. :-)
Also, here is a thought on minimizing your number of page views. Google counts the initial page view of a map only. Once the map page is loaded, you can keep interacting with it as long as you like without costing another page view.
So you'd want to avoid structuring your internal app with different pages that all load their own maps. Those would be individual page views. Instead, create a single-page app that loads the map once and keeps it loaded. You can even show and hide the map without costing another page view. Just don't reload the page. (And encourage your users to be economical by leaving your app loaded instead of reloading it all the time.)
This question has been asked in a few places on SO, but I've found the answers to be either slightly contradictory or "thin"... so I'm not sure if asking again will help but here goes.
The google "help" page says that the google team maintains a "presence" on SO, so if you are a google chap, please could you make this clear, and if you are not please also make this clear, thank you :)
So, what I want to do...
User searches for a set of locations. These will be used to form a travel itinerary. I want to take the lat/lng and the address components and store them in my own database so that when another uses search for trips in some country, some place etc etc I can go about finding them.
The big question, does the terms of conditions allow this? The relevant bit that worries me is...
10.1.3 Restrictions against Data Export or Copying.
... snip ...
(b) No Pre-Fetching, Caching, or Storage of Content. You must not
pre-fetch, cache, or store any Content, except that you may store: (i)
limited amounts of Content for the purpose of improving the
performance of your Maps API Implementation if you do so temporarily
(and in no event for more than 30 calendar days), ...snip... For example,
you must not use the Content to create an independent database of "places"
or other local listings information.
Would what I want to do violate this. It sounds to me like it might, but then that renders the question, why would I use google maps for this kind of application? Other travel sites appear to?!
There is no problem if you store
latitude and longitude
addresses
As those would be "user preferences" in your app.
The restrictions on data export refer to the tiles and photos used to display the maps. In general people want this feature to have a cache mechanism or provide offline functionality. This is not allowed* and only the official mobile app has this features.
*Google actually allows it, but you have to read the finer print, more on that below.
Longer answer, analyzing the ToC:
No Pre-Fetching, Caching, or Storage of Content. You must not pre-fetch, cache, or store any Content...
What does content mean? This is map tiles, terrain tiles, photos of places, satellite photos etc. The content, in the ToC, is anything that has been created by Google and provided as part of the Google map service. But, not everything provided in the service has been created nor is owned by Google.
Addresses are not created or owned by Google, this is public information. What Google has done is to gather them and put them in a presentable, easy to search, interface. But it is not part of "the content".
GPS locations are not created or owned by Google, this is public information as well. In fact, GPS was created by the department of defense (DoD) in the US. They are the ones who control its use.
...For example, you must not use the Content to create an independent database of "places" or other local listings information.
It wouldn't be fair to Google if you downloaded a subset of the content, lets say all the tiles and photos for your home town. Once you have your copy of the files, you do a little processing on them, maybe add trivia or fun facts that only you know because you grew up there. And then use that to provide a re-branded service. Something called JimboMaps perhaps. That is the type of thing that is prohibited.
you may store: (i) limited amounts of Content for the purpose of improving the performance of your Maps API Implementation if you do so temporarily
Guess what, you are actually allowed to store content in you database. Any of it, photos, tiles etc. The catch is:
You can store limited amounts. A few blocks, probably a small region is ok. But don't store a whole town or suburb.
You can't store anything for more than 30 days.
The only valid reason to do this is performance improvement of your application. See this: Google Maps v3 - Map tile caching on client?
...you must not use the Content to create an independent database of "places" or other local listings information.
It is just saying that you are not allowed to create JimboMaps.
The newest Google Maps Platform Terms of Service (which takes effect July 16, 2018) is a bit more explicit about this.
3.2.4 Restrictions Against Misusing the Services.
(a) No Scraping. Customer will not extract, export, or scrape Google
Maps Content for use outside the Services. For example, Customer will
not:(i) pre-fetch, cache, index, or store Google Maps Content for more
than 30 days; (ii) bulk download geocodes; or (iii) copy business
names, addresses, or user reviews.
Yes, the address might be public knowledge, but the process to obtain it is subject to the terms of the service you use...
This is from Google's Developer pages:
https://developers.google.com/maps/articles/geocodestrat
*Caching Considerations
The Google Maps API allows you to cache geocodes (i.e. store them on your server for a limited period). Caching can be useful if you have to repeatedly look up the same address. However, there are two important things to keep in mind.
1.The Google Maps API Terms of Service allow you to use geocodes derived from the service on Google Maps or Google Earth only. You may not sell or distribute them in other fashion.
2.Geocoding changes often as our data gets more and more accurate. So even if you have cached data, you should refresh it periodically, to make sure you are getting the best geocodes for your locations.
The Google Maps API for Flash requires the use of API keys. Many people mistakenly think quotas are tied to keys. However, keys don't affect your geocoding quota at all. Registering for a new key won't help. Quota is solely tied to IP addresses. Therefore a new key won't give you any more quota at a particular IP address.*
This quote from their website (https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/geocoding-strategies) says you can save data for your use if you know you will need it many times, but recommends you update periodically.
Caching considerations
The Google Maps Platform Terms of Service allow you to cache geocodes (that is, store them on your server for a limited period). Caching can be useful if you have to repeatedly look up the same address. However, keep in mind that geocoding results change as our data gets more and more accurate. So even if you have cached data, you should refresh it periodically, to make sure you are getting the best geocodes for your locations.
TL;DR: I think storing lat/long from services provided by Google is not allowed
Google Maps Platforms terms (21.11.2019)
3.2.4 Restrictions Against Misusing the Services.
(a) No Scraping. Customer will not extract, export, or otherwise scrape Google Maps Content for use outside the Services. For example, Customer will not: (i) pre-fetch, index, store, reshare, or rehost Google Maps Content outside the services; (ii) bulk download Google Maps tiles, Street View images, geocodes, directions, distance matrix results, roads information, places information, elevation values, and time zone details; (iii) copy and save business names, addresses, or user reviews; or (iv) use Google Maps Content with text-to-speech services.
To me it looks like storing lat/long is (even explicitly) prohibited.
"Google Maps Content" is actually defined in the terms & conditions.
"Google Maps Content" means any content provided through the Services (whether created by Google or its third-party licensors), including map and terrain data, imagery, traffic data, and places data (including business listings).
Also the remark about it being ok to cache data for some time and periodically refresh it is no longer there, see Geocoding API Policies.
Pre-Fetching, Caching, or Storage of Content
Applications using the Geocoding API are bound by the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service. Section 3.2.4(a) and (b) of the terms states that you must not pre-fetch, index, store, or cache any Content except under the limited conditions stated in the terms.
Note that the place ID, used to uniquely identify a place, is exempt from the caching restriction. You can therefore store place ID values indefinitely. Place ID values are returned in the place_id field in Geocoding API responses.
For what it's worth you can store Place IDs instead of lat/long ;-)
You may want to use another service for lat/long geocoding.
Like others have said, the updated terms https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/#3.-license. section 3.2.3 (b) explicitly states (May 6, 2020)
(b) No Caching. Customer will not cache Google Maps Content except as expressly permitted under the Maps Service Specific Terms.
BUT
The specific terms (handily not linked in the terms, that I could easily see) mention this
(hopefully this is the specific terms https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/maps-service-terms updated June 14, 2020)
1.4 Caching. Customer can temporarily cache latitude (lat) and longitude (lng) values from the Directions API for up to 30 consecutive calendar days, after which Customer must delete the cached latitude and longitude values. Customer can cache Directions API Place ID (place_id) values, in accordance with the Directions API Policies.
Section 1.4 is for the directions API, but most of the other API's have the same exception. Unfortunately it doesn't mention address data.
I am planning to build an app that would find the shortest distance from one location to another and other things too.
It requires the latitudes and longitudes of a place and distance of all the coordinates from say X meters from it, distance in the sense of actual road distance. I do not want any graphics or showing the map but just the plain data.
This means that i can query for some address with the distance X, and it would give me the details. I looked into Google Map Api, but that looks like to cater for some kind of client job scheduling. I even looked into Bing Map Api. It seemed to provide things. But i thought to ask here before proceeding.
Any tips on available options ?
Fortunately you should be able to find many many code samples out there for models. But first:
I'm not sure what you mean by Google Maps API looks like it caters to client job scheduling; it actually is pretty much the opposite! There are limitations to how many requests per day can come from one IP. Also, the licensing for Google Maps is made for client facing applications like web based Store Locators (the application that I used it for) and often requires you to display a Google Map with the information.
You do have a limited license to do business related geocoding and searches.
I think you may be more interested in a product like Microsoft MapPoint http://www.microsoft.com/mappoint/en-us/home.aspx
While there are many competing products and services, the price point here is great. You may also be able to get it for free along with other apps if you register for their BizSpark program http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/default.aspx
HTH
Geezer
I'm currently developing a small webpage for a customer where i need a simple map with pins. It's really basic usage and the customer is going to hit the page maybe 50-100 times/month, what is a good service price-wise? I have tried contacting google, bing, and two local (swedish) providers, but the customer service is.. not good...
Your problem is that you say it's an "internal" project - I assume this means that it's not hosted on a publicly-accessible webpage?
For non-public sites, both Google and Bing require you to take out an enterprise licence agreement, which is normally prohibitively expensive for small businesses. (Licences are individually-negotitated, but think of the order of $10,000 per annum).
Alternatively, you could look at using the Leaflet JS map control (http://leaflet.cloudmade.com), displaying data from open street map (http://osm.org) - both of which are free and open source (and, in many cases, have higher quality data than either Bing or Google anyway)
ask about the new Bing Maps CRM licensing thats available, it may well meet your needs and be cost effective for you