How to use maps in an app with unlimied domains? - google-maps

I have an app that's used on many websites and different domains.
Not a low amount like 5-10, more like 200+
And I want to display something like a google map.
Their API key has to be manually requested each time. -We have to avoid this.
Is "Using a Bing Maps Key to access the Bing Maps SOAP Services" a solution?
Or is better to create a single web page on a separate website that displays any map.
It would get the map pin point from a query string. Then display this map using an iFrame.
Looks like eventbrite does that:
http://www.eventbrite.com/googlemap?eid=1885257857&iframe=Y

Bing Maps requires a key per domain, so thats not an easy thing to achieve. You have two options as I see it:
1) Create one map on one domain and share it with all the other sites using and iframe
2) use google maps v3 as that no longer requires api keys and is therefore not locked to a domain

Related

Google Maps REST API to Create Custom Maps?

I have a database table with a listing of thousands of locations. I would like to create a custom map (accessible from the main Google Maps splash page by going to Menu->Your places->Maps. These are the same maps that you can create yourself at google.com/maps) using REST URLs to drop dots associated with my location addresses. The populated custom map will then be accessed through google.com/maps. I am not looking to embed Google Maps on a web page.
I've looked here, but I have not been able to find a set of REST URLs that I can use to do this. Most of the APIs provided by Google comes in the form of client-side JavaScript libraries.
Is there a way to create a custom map using exposed REST endpoints from Google?
The brief answer is no.
Maps Data API has not been available since 2011 (see Maps Data API deprecation announcement) and as for now there still is no way of doing it programmatically (see Allow programmatic access to MyMaps)

For Developing Location based reminder mobile app, which one is good..... Google Maps or Nokia maps

I am developing GPS based Location reminder in j2me. I am little bit confuse to which maps i use??.....Google maps & Nokia maps. Which one allows me good working... The working of my app are as follows :-
-User will provide a string to app to search a place of his/her desire.
-Then according to given string app will show a place on map by pointing marker on map.
-User can save that place or he/she can select a near by place rather than searched place by clicking on map or any other way.
-app will save that searched place coordinates & remind when it reached to near that place.
-When app remind to user about already stored place... that place should show on map by pointing an marker along with the how far he is from his destination.
The real choice here lies in whether to use a RESTful API like the Google Static Maps (or Nokia's RESTful Maps) or to use a native Java ME mapping library plugin such as the Nokia Maps API for Java ME. The latter has several major advantages:
Static mapping services such as the Google Static Maps API or Nokia's
RESTful Map API do not cache or tile the images when requested,
therefore each request involves a round trip to the server. If the
map on a mobile application needs to be refreshed at any time, using
a caching library will result in a reduction in network traffic after
around three maps have been displayed. An explanation of this can be
found here
As the name implies, Google's Static Maps API can only retrieve over
http static images for a requested coordinate point, image size,
image type and zoom level. Newer libraries offer additional
functionality out of the box offering dynamic Map content and touch
support, where the user can move around his/her current position,
zoom in, zoom out, modify the view mode to satellite or translate an
address to a coordinate point and show that on the map, among others.
This abstraction of the underlying functionality is hidden from the
developer so much less coding is needed in order to achieve the same
result .
Terms and Conditions for Nokia Maps are easier to fulfil than
Google - No legal restrictions of using the API outside a web browser
application or need to provide a link to the native Google Maps App
(if there is one), or to Google Maps (if there isn't one).
Nokia currently offer higher free daily request limits. Nokia Maps
API for Java ME supports up to 50,000 render requests per day and per
unique IP address (as of January 2012), for Nokia Developer
registered users (free of charge) while the limit for Google's Static
Maps API is currently 1000 unique (different) image requests per
viewer per day.
A couple of years ago there wouldn't be a choice, only RESTful solutions existed, but these days I would say a static http solution should only be used if you want a simple single image
As an abstraction of the underlying services, there are already a full set of examples to cover most of your use cases:
-User will provide a string to app to search a place of his/her desire.
-Then according to given string app will show a place on map by pointing marker on map.
http://www.developer.nokia.com/Commu...PI_for_Java_ME
-User can save that place or he/she can select a near by place rather than searched place by clicking on map or any other way.
Maybe you need to use a draggable marker:
http://www.developer.nokia.com/Devel...ples/#standard
Or react to the touch and find a Geocoordinate:
http://www.developer.nokia.com/Commu...PI_for_Java_ME
-app will save that searched place coordinates & remind when it reached to near that place.
This is known as geofencing and is covered by the Location API:
- http://www.developer.nokia.com/Resou...ty-events.html
-When app remind to user about already stored place... that place should show on map by pointing an marker along with the how far he is
from his destination.
Showing a Map with a Marker
http://www.developer.nokia.com/Devel...ples/#standard
For distance calculations, I guess you'd be after the ROUTING example
http://www.developer.nokia.com/Devel...mples/#routing
http://www.developer.nokia.com/Commu...g_with_Java_ME
Now you could re-write and all these services from scratch using RESTful APIs (and then go about debugging your code) , but I'm sure you'll agree it would be much easier to use an existing, working and tested framework for the low level plumbing and then just write your code on top using the services.
It is possible to encapsulate RESTful service in Java ME. As an example, added below is a screenshot from an app encapsulating the suggestion service
It is just a lot easier when someone else has already done this work for you and placed it in a library.

Google Maps API Key - Get one for everyone of my users programmatically?

I saw that one has not to obtain a Google Maps API key if you want to use their maps api in general, only if you want to use their web services and statistics etc.
Now I have two questions regarding this:
If I have a public website which uses the Google Maps API to display a map with default options. How does Google count the API calls if I don't use an API key? (Maybe with the help of the domain which requests the map?)
If they do so and my site exceeds the 25k calls/day, is there a possiblity that my users can login with their Google account on my site and some backend logic will get them an API key from Google that I store e.g. in a database. So I could use the API keys of my users to bypass the API usage limits only for my site.
Assuming you are using the Javascript API v3:
This SO question partially answers your queries.
Have a look at the usage limits, it looks like that you cannot use more than one API key:
Can I use more than one API key to increase my available usage over
the documented limits?
Google reserves the right to withhold access to the Maps API from any site that attempts to use more than the permitted number of map
loads of the Maps API without permission, and fails to respond when
contacted by Google.
Though this may be debatable, to me it seems a bad idea using your user's API key. For sure you need to ask the permission, then you have to monitor their quotas and so on, a minefield...
TL;DR if you exceed constantly the daily quota you should purchase a larger quota.

Google APIs Verification

I am attempting to add a Google maps to a website and allow users to insert their postcode to get directions to my client.
Currently I can't manage to make the map visible, the website although under development IS hosted and I have my own unique api key.
Is there more verification necessary? I read something about meta tags but was unsure how to get a code.
Unless your expecting or are getting more than 25000 hits a day, you don't need an API key for the current version of google maps, so requesting it with http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=true should work then use a library like this should get it to work http://code.google.com/p/jquery-ui-map/wiki/jquery_ui_map_v_3_tutorial
Follow that tutorial and you'll have it running in no time.

How to show more than one places on google maps?

Using the public google maps site, how can I show multiple locations on a map. I want to do this using the query string. For example, I might want to show Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.
http://maps.google.com/?q=Portland,%20OR%20AND%20Seattle,%20WA
I don't think it's possible on the Google Maps site, so you probably have to use the API and build a web page with two maps on it, each showing the location depending on the query. You might also want to look at the Geocoding API if you are going with that.