Responses to Google Maps API pricing

[Robin S]

I'm wondering how people here are responding to the new pricing for Google Maps: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/sheet/

For existing projects that stay within the $200 free monthly credit you can get away with not entering credit card details, but as I discovered today all new projects require you to enter credit card details. This is pretty infuriating IMO if you don't want to use the platform beyond the free credit. I'd be willing to have my API access cut off if I exceed the free credit, but forcing you to enter credit card details seems like it is designed to catch people out. I know you can add request caps but those are only for per user per second and per day whereas your credit is per month. It's hard not to be cynical about this and see it as a deliberate attempt to profit from accidental oversights of users.

So how are you responding to this? Do you...

Require clients to create their own developer accounts? Can't see that being workable.

Require clients to supply credit card details that you enter into your own developer account? That would be a problem for me, because most of my clients are NGOs that are run by volunteer administrators, and I think most of them won't have a credit card for the organisation. Plus people can be nervous about sharing their card details with others.

Enter your own credit card details? In which case what safeguards are you putting in place to protect yourself from excess usage?

Switch to a different mapping platform? Any suggestions for a (free) substitute for Google Maps with similar features and a well-documented API?

[FrancisChung]

Can you add a Visa prepaid card with Zero balance on it? If so, then this should be a reasonable workaround, no?

[Robin S]

6 minutes ago, FrancisChung said:

Can you add a Visa prepaid card with Zero balance on it?

Good idea, thanks. Would have to check with my bank about the options because I already have a prepaid Visa that is my main card, and by default my bank will let the card go into overdraft so would have to set up something special.

 

I gave Leaflet a try seeing as there is already a nice PW module for that. Early impressions are good.

Of the tile providers shown here it seems that the only hi-res aerial imagery tiles (which are a must-have for my use cases) are Esri.WorldImagery and HERE.hybridDay. Both of those are fine - does anyone know of any gotchas to watch out for when choosing tile providers? E.g. low usage limits?

And I guess it's pretty easy to implement a tiles switcher so you can select between a street map and aerial?

[FrancisChung]

2 minutes ago, Robin S said:

Would have to check with my bank about the options because I already have a prepaid Visa that is my main card, and by default my bank will let the card go into overdraft so would have to set up something special

1

Fintechs have started offering products like a Prepaid Visa card, if you were particularly disinclined to give the traditional Banks more of your money.
I applied for one influenced by some of the horror stories I've been reading from the Royal Commision into Banking (here in Aus)

[FrancisChung]

9 minutes ago, Robin S said:

by default my bank will let the card go into overdraft so would have to set up something special

I think this varies between card to card (prepaid Visa) so you need to read the terms & conditions.

Also, it might be prudent to just put a minimal balance of $10 or something, as sometimes companies test out the registered card by debiting/crediting a small amount of money. In theory, they should tell you they do this test during your onboarding process/
 

[dragan]

I would simply switch to https://www.openstreetmap.org

[pwired]

Thanks for posting this. Didn't know about that one, looks like a real good alternative.

[teppo]

1 hour ago, dragan said:

I would simply switch to https://www.openstreetmap.org

Slightly off-topic, but ...

Not a very good first impression in terms of reliability. There's another search provider as well, but that one was unable to find anything with the keywords I could think of. This probably isn't a major issue for the whole platform, but the downside of a completely free and open service is often that "it works if it works". Best make sure that the client is also aware of this – i.e. that there are no guarantees whatsoever ?

On topic: so far I think that providing Google with proper credit card details and defining daily quotas where applicable is the most viable solution. This change will likely limit our enthusiasm to offer certain Google Maps based solutions to clients as well.

One possibly interesting thing is that previously Google Maps terms of service stated that the implementation "must be generally accessible to users without charge". IANAL, but one (strict) interpretation of this was that using Google Maps on a non-public site, such as an intranet, would require the premium version – and I can assure you that it's not particularly cheap, so most organisations wouldn't want to pay for it unless it was a key part of their business model.

It seems to me that this limitation has now been lifted, making the use of Google Maps API a bit more flexible. I am not a lawyer though, so don't take my word for it ?

[zoeck]

Just switch to Here ? 

https://developer.here.com/plans

250k transactions per month for free.... 

[psy]

@Robin S Going through the same dilemma.

Yes, I could do the kindly thing and add client sites to my google developer maps account but :

• how many until it impacts my map view limit?
• what happens when a site takes off and my gmap views go through the roof?
• how do I bill a client 5c and would they pay it?
• how do I work out which client to bill for minuscule amounts?
• how do I convince clients to sign up for a Google Developer account?
• I absolutely do not want to know my clients' credit card details for my sake as well as theirs

Already have a couple of sites that I need to think about this but it's doing my head in, and yes, there are alternate website map solutions but they don't have the same power in google searches which is a key driver for including Google maps for local businesses on websites?

 

[Soma]

5 hours ago, teppo said:

Slightly off-topic, but ...

Not a very good first impression in terms of reliability. There's another search provider as well, but that one was unable to find anything with the keywords I could think of. This probably isn't a major issue for the whole platform, but the downside of a completely free and open service is often that "it works if it works". Best make sure that the client is also aware of this – i.e. that there are no guarantees whatsoever ?

On topic: so far I think that providing Google with proper credit card details and defining daily quotas where applicable is the most viable solution. This change will likely limit our enthusiasm to offer certain Google Maps based solutions to clients as well.

One possibly interesting thing is that previously Google Maps terms of service stated that the implementation "must be generally accessible to users without charge". IANAL, but one (strict) interpretation of this was that using Google Maps on a non-public site, such as an intranet, would require the premium version – and I can assure you that it's not particularly cheap, so most organisations wouldn't want to pay for it unless it was a key part of their business model.

It seems to me that this limitation has now been lifted, making the use of Google Maps API a bit more flexible. I am not a lawyer though, so don't take my word for it ?

What are you trying to find? Tulokset ? Hakutulokset? Is also not found on google maps... Otherwise i can find all addresses i can think of, it's quite a good alternative.

[teppo]

Hey @Soma! Sorry, finnish UI in the screen capture might've been a bit confusing. Hakutulokset = search results, tulokset = results.

Anyway, the point was that I tried a dozen or so addresses and some local landmarks, and the only response was that error in red. Now it seems to work. ?

[bernhard]

On 8/13/2018 at 2:15 AM, Robin S said:

So how are you responding to this?

If you only need a simple map you can still integrate it as simple iframe (example https://www.hrdiamonds.com/kontakt/ )

On 8/13/2018 at 11:20 AM, teppo said:

Not a very good first impression in terms of reliability.

Openstreetmap has been a very good and reliable solution for several years. Sometimes their data is even better than google's. It's also a great project for collaboration in case of desasters where everybody can help to digitalize the current situation.

There are also lots of different tile providers based on openstreetmap data having customized renderings, like https://www.opencyclemap.org/

Leaflet on the other hand is a very good JavaScript library to DISPLAY this data. Another one is OpenLayers (really powerful but not so light-weight).

Lots of options ? Didn't know about here.com, thx @zoeck

[horst]

@bernhard only thing what seems not as good with OSM as it is from g**gle, is the routing planner. At least, it wasn't for a long time. (?)

My personal workaround for that is to use OSM with a link to g**gles routing planner. ?

For example, on https://wein-coop.de/ I use OSM with Leaflet and a link to the Routingplanner ( https://www.google.de/maps/dir/50.7823,6.0759/@50.7823,6.0759,15z ).

Spoiler

    var lat = 50.7823;
    var lon = 6.0759;
    var zoom = 15;
    var routerURL = 'https://www.google.de/maps/dir/' + lat + ',' + lon + '/@' + lat + ',' + lon + ',' + zoom + 'z';
    var popUpMarkup = '<strong>Cooperative Weinhandlung</strong> <br>Turmstraße 14 <br>D-52072 Aachen';

// and later ...
    L.tileLayer('https://api.tiles.mapbox.com/v4/{id}/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?access_token={accessToken}', {
        attribution: 'Map data &copy; <a href="http://openstreetmap.org" target="_blank">OpenStreetMap</a> contributors ' +
            ' | <a href="' + routerURL + '" target="_blank"> <strong>Routenplaner</strong> </a>',
...