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Google Maps Platform

cloud.google.com

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Re: Google Maps Platform

#91

Post by jstandard »

reustle wrote: post #33
m-localhost wrote: post #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)

Agreed. I contribute to Google maps a lot and I've looked into contributing to open street maps but the options seemed pretty clunky. I recommend mapbox to all of my clients over Google maps.

I've been looking into Mapbox lately. What types of things do you find they're strong vs. weak at?

Re: Google Maps Platform

#92

Post by mnutt »

Having contacted Google Maps sales years ago, their salespeople were some of the worst I've ever encountered--rude, inconsistent aggressive pricing, and vaguely threatening. I avoid them at all costs, and as others mention, Mapbox is a great alternative.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#93

Post by rajacombinator »

Back when I was working on a map heavy app, Google Maps API seemed designed to discourage usage. Bad/opaque pricing, usage limits, assumption that Google robots will pull the plug with no warning. In fact all Google APIs seem to be this way - they are not really interested in enabling 3rd party apps through their APIs. Seems bizarre to me, because they could gobble up the businesses of companies like Mapbox overnight if they made an effort here.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#94

Post by lallysingh »

NKosmatos wrote: post #47
0x0 wrote: post #38

Wonder if lots of people will jump to OpenStreetMap without realizing their open tile servers aren't a free-for-all? https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/tiles/

As you correctly state, their servers aren’t free and hammering them will incur a ban. On the other hand if you are a high profile user why not copy the free data from http://planet.openstreetmap.org and have your own server? Or if this is technically difficult, you can find paid for services with OSM data (I guess if you go down this road, it’s like paying Google)

There were easy to use docker images for serving your own, the last time I checked a few years ago.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#95

Post by elliotlarson »

Maybe I'm missing it, but I'm not seeing what the cost is for higher resolution maps. As I understand it, in addition to usage beyond what the free account allowed, a paid account used to also give you access to higher resolution map tiles and a higher zoom level via their API.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#96

Post by pvg »

robocat wrote: post #88
jazoom wrote: post #58

If you're on mobile, I'll save you some time. There is no way to locate the pricing page. And yes, the navigation menu is completely empty. I was able to get on a desktop and find the pricing page. Here's a link: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/sheet/

iOS11 added a "Desktop view" mode but I am not sure the feature is well known (Android has had the feature forever, so by mobile, you mean iOS I think). From memory, in Safari, tap share, then scroll across to desktop view. I don't have an iDevice with me at moment, but it should work.

It's been there since at least iOS 8.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#98

Post by tj89 »

So all those sites have 30 days to figure out something or start shelling out money? That's really short notice

From what I can find the "dashboard" only shows the highly variable "per day" numbers so you can't even see how many calls you're doing per month... which is pretty shady

For a company that touts "do no evil" they are going to hurt a lot of free websites and small businesses / projects with basically no notice.

Re: Google Maps Platform

#99

Post by corny »

NelsonMinar wrote: post #71

Mapbox has an excellent alternative map platform based largely but not entirely on OpenStreetMap data. Mapbox GL JS in particular is a joy to work with and extend. https://www.mapbox.com/ It's not free, but it's very easy to use and the pricing is roughly 1/10th of Google's when you get past the free tier: https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ Mapzen used to be an alternative but sadly they shut down. However many of their…

I'm in the process of comparing Mapbox with Google Maps Platform. The usage would be for large full-screen maps with lots of interaction. Comparing map loads/views is not apples to apples. Google counts a single map "load" similar to a page view [1]. The number of tiles loaded doesn't influence cost. With Mapbox, a map "view" is 4-15 tiles (depending on how they're styled) [2].

[1] https://developers.google.com/maps/faq?_ga=2.255037760.93939...

[2] https://www.mapbox.com/help/define-map-view/

Re: Google Maps Platform

#100

Post by jakecopp »

NelsonMinar wrote: post #71

Mapbox has an excellent alternative map platform based largely but not entirely on OpenStreetMap data. Mapbox GL JS in particular is a joy to work with and extend. https://www.mapbox.com/ It's not free, but it's very easy to use and the pricing is roughly 1/10th of Google's when you get past the free tier: https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ Mapzen used to be an alternative but sadly they shut down. However many of their…

Mapbox's maps look great, though I wish they had a generic product like Google Maps that I could use.

Does any such general navigation app using Mapbox exist? Basically a vector OpenStreetMap with good search and routing.

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