Google Maps Policy Update: “Honey I’ve Shrunk the Number Free Loads!”

If this happened after July 11, stop looking for a bug, your code is completely OK (or not, but this is not the reason of the Google Maps problem anyway.) It’s just the Google Maps platform was launched as announced.

Don’t panic, that’s not an Armageddon, just a little issue that is not very hard to fix.

What happened to my Google Maps?

In May Google announced the merging of 18 APIs into three products – Maps, Routes, and Places. Besides that, they warned users about launching the Google Maps Platform on July 11. From that day, to use a convenient map on your website you have to get a special API key and register a billing account in Google Cloud.

After registration, you receive access to the application and will be able to use it for free until the number of map loads won’t reach the equivalent of $200. If you go beyond the limit – your map will be disabled (you will receive a low-quality image with “for development purposes only” text or an error) unless you pay according to the pricing.)

Effects and reaction

What does all that mean for developers, vendors, and marketplaces?

That’s simple – it means all the website that use Google Maps to show users their location will lose it and confused website owners will come to developers seeking explanations. All the situation caused a very hot discussion on Reddit, developers are trying to figure out how to fix that issue and ask advice about how to explain it to the clients.

What to do now?

In fact, you have only two available options – to continue using Google Maps and to look for some alternatives.

If you love Google Maps, consider it to be vital for your website and don’t want any other service – register at Google Cloud and get an API key. All your clients should go the same way. To go through the details you should read the User’s Guide and recommend it to your clients.

Here are some pieces of advice different people gave each other in the discussions on the forums.

WordPress themes developers who prefer to try and search for an alternative could check out OpenStreetMap, which is one of the best among Google Maps competitors.

Bing Maps, Waze, and HERE WeGo are also worthy of your attention.

Conclusion

Keep calm and carry on, every change could bring you issues. Google products are really great, you can meet them everywhere and they slowly became a vital part of our internet life. After all, if you don’t want to use it – there are alternative applications, so don’t consider yourself chained to this positive double “O”.

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