Google is Changing how they use Google Maps

Your Google Maps may stop working this is due to the way Google is changing it’s API. Every time someone goes onto a page on your website with a google map it will use a API request to get the information it needs from Google. Google is going to start charging per API request.

If you are having this issue on your website you will need to create a google console account, set-up an API key for your website, Set-up Billing Information and send the API key to us so we can update your website. To do this follow the instructions below:

Setting up a google console account and setting up an API Key

1. Go to the Google console ( https://console.developers.google.com/ ) and sign in with your google account.
2. Click the drop-down next to the Google API logo ( top left ).
3. A pop-up will appear, click the “New Project” link in the top right.
4. Type in your website name as the project name. You can leave the location as “No Organisation”.
5. Click the drop-down again, next to the Google API logo, to make sure you’re on the correct Project.
6. Click the “Enable APIs and services” button next to the “Dashboard” title.
7. Select the “Maps JavaScript API” box ( this should be the third box under Maps, just under the search box ).
8. Click the blue “Enable” button.
9. Click the “Credentials” tab.
10. Click the blue “Create Credentials” button and select API Key.
11. Copy the API Key and send this to us, with your domain name.
12. You may need to follow sets 2-11 if you have multiple domains with google maps.

You need to Set-up Billing information

1. Once logged into the Google console ( https://console.developers.google.com/ ) Click the menu button to the left of the Google API logo. ( Three lines, stacked vertically ).
2. Select “Billing”.
3. Click the blue “Link a billing account” button and press “Create Billing Account” on the pop-up.
4. Enter your details.

Cost of API requests

The price for each request for the first 100,000 requests is 0.007 USD per request. Between 100,001 & 500,000 requests the price is 0.0056 USD per request. Find out more about this here.

When you set-up your Billing information, you’ll get $300 free, for the first 12 months.  You also get $200 USD worth of credit each month.

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