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Google Maps Platform

cloud.google.com

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Re: Google Maps Platform

#11
Does anyone know why Amazon doesn't have a maps offering on AWS? I've heard their internal logistics GIS services are pretty advanced and it surprises me they don't have a GIS category on AWS to the point I'm convinced there must some very specific reason they've chosen not to implement. Companies like MapBox and Carto seem to be doing well, Microsoft and Google have map services, demand seems to exist. Additionally it seems they would find value in possessing a list of companies utilizing such services and be able to offer some interesting services. It's puzzling.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#14
post #11

Does anyone know why Amazon doesn't have a maps offering on AWS? I've heard their internal logistics GIS services are pretty advanced and it surprises me they don't have a GIS category on AWS to the point I'm convinced there must some very specific reason they've chosen not to implement. Companies like MapBox and Carto seem to be doing well, Microsoft and Google have map services, demand seems to exist. Additionally…

AWS seems to me to mostly be a way to configure and sell capacity on hardware. Amazon probably has a lot of fantastic data and software that isn't available outside the company.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#15
post #6

Not a native English speaker and also not that well versed when it comes to marketing talk, but what exactly does "$200 monthly free credit" mean? (from this page: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/user-guide/pricing-ch... ). Do you get a sort of voucher with which you'll be able to use Google Maps services worth $200 each month? Will Google automatically start billing you once you surpass that quota? I'm in the…

The new documentation is really confusing to me.

"All Google Cloud Platform services require a credit card and billing account... If you choose not to add a billing account..."

So is it not actually required? Or is maps not considered a "Google Cloud Platform service"?

I have no idea what's going on with the pricing page. What's the difference between "embed" and "embed advanced" maps? (other than 1.4¢ per load). I'm assuming that 'native' means mobile, but I'm not really sure. I'm currently using the JS API, which I think is equivalent to 'dynamic maps'.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#16
post #6

Not a native English speaker and also not that well versed when it comes to marketing talk, but what exactly does "$200 monthly free credit" mean? (from this page: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/user-guide/pricing-ch... ). Do you get a sort of voucher with which you'll be able to use Google Maps services worth $200 each month? Will Google automatically start billing you once you surpass that quota? I'm in the…

> Is a credit card or billing account required? Even though your first $200 of monthly usage is free, all Google Cloud Platform services require a credit card and billing account, to cover any amount you spend over this free credit. If you are billed, we'll credit your account for the first $200 of monthly usage. If you choose not to add a billing account, there is a risk that if your usage exceeds $200 in a given month, your Maps API implementation will be degraded or other API requests will return an error. If your estimated usage will be above $200 a month and you don't have a credit or debit card to set up a billing account, a local Google Maps Partner may be able to help.

It's still not clear whether you have to give them your CC details or not. I once made this mistake and gave Google my CC details for Adwords, and I regretted it. I found the hard way they will run the ads for quite some time after I stopped the ads and charged me. Of course it was difficult to contact a human and ever if I managed to do it, it wouldn't help. One experience smarter and I only use bank transfer, thereby setting a true hard limit and making sure a stop means a stop.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#17
post #11

Does anyone know why Amazon doesn't have a maps offering on AWS? I've heard their internal logistics GIS services are pretty advanced and it surprises me they don't have a GIS category on AWS to the point I'm convinced there must some very specific reason they've chosen not to implement. Companies like MapBox and Carto seem to be doing well, Microsoft and Google have map services, demand seems to exist. Additionally…

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/maps/get-started.html

Re: Google Maps Platform

#18
I wish it would be easier for people to contribute to open source projects (like wiki voyage etc) than to Google Places. (it's a bit off topic and I like the Places API, but that's a huge amount of valuable data that contributors are submitting there for free)

Re: Google Maps Platform

#19
Did they change the usage limits of the Distance Matrix API? Previously they limited to "Maximum of 25 origins and 25 destinations per server-side request", even if you were a premium package subscriber, which is quite restrictive...

Re: Google Maps Platform

#20
post #6

Not a native English speaker and also not that well versed when it comes to marketing talk, but what exactly does "$200 monthly free credit" mean? (from this page: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/user-guide/pricing-ch... ). Do you get a sort of voucher with which you'll be able to use Google Maps services worth $200 each month? Will Google automatically start billing you once you surpass that quota? I'm in the…

The new documentation is really confusing to me. "All Google Cloud Platform services require a credit card and billing account... If you choose not to add a billing account..." So is it not actually required? Or is maps not considered a "Google Cloud Platform service"? I have no idea what's going on with the pricing page. What's the difference between "embed" and "embed advanced" maps? (other than 1.4¢ per load). I'm…

It's a shame that a product that probably took 7- or 8-figure dollars worth of development effort, didn't have some beta testers do a once-over on the documentation.
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