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 dark here.
Later edit: I've found the answer to my first question, as in yes, the "$200 monthly free credit" acts like a voucher, sort of:
> Can I still use Google Maps Platform for free? Yes. Starting June 11, 2018, when you enable billing, you get $200 free usage every month for Maps, Routes, or Places. Based on the millions of users using our APIs today, around 98% of them can continue to use Google Maps Platform for free with this credit.
Still don't know the details of how to set up things so that I'll never surpass that traffic quota of theirs.
I'm part of that 98% they mention with a couple of small personal websites that aren't intended to bring any revenue, I'm not that hyped with giving Google my billing details.
Later later edit:
It seems that it's possible not to give them your billing details so that they'll automatically "degrade" your API calls once the traffic quota is reached without billing you. I guess that's the route I will take, it's the least amount of effort and seeing as my projects won't reach those quotas it also makes sense not to worry about API calls "degradation".
> 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.
Not neccessarily obiovus, because the current quotas are also per project. So if you get a 1000 calls a day then every different map projects in your acocunt gets 1000 calls. This suggests the new free tier can also be per project.
"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'.
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.
I wish it were an isolated instance. For one google storage product we found 2 pricing pages with 2 different billing models and a Google rep who added a 3rd billing model into the mix.
Billing models have become a new competitive frontier and lead funnel strategy in Saas. All but the most cursory usage has become "Enterprise" and begets a sales call.
> 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.
From the email I received it states you must have a billing account to qualify for the $200 Free otherwise you won't be able to use it.
"In addition, this change will require you to enable billing and associate it with all of your Google Maps Platform projects. Creating a billing account helps us better understand your usage so we can continue developing helpful products."
If you don't add a billing account it:
"will return low-resolution maps watermarked with “for development purposes only.”"
Later edit: I've found the answer to my first question, as in yes, the "$200 monthly free credit" acts like a voucher, sort of:
> Can I still use Google Maps Platform for free? Yes. Starting June 11, 2018, when you enable billing, you get $200 free usage every month for Maps, Routes, or Places. Based on the millions of users using our APIs today, around 98% of them can continue to use Google Maps Platform for free with this credit.
Still don't know the details of how to set up things so that I'll never surpass that traffic quota of theirs.
I'm part of that 98% they mention with a couple of small personal websites that aren't intended to bring any revenue, I'm not that hyped with giving Google my billing details.
Later later edit:
It seems that it's possible not to give them your billing details so that they'll automatically "degrade" your API calls once the traffic quota is reached without billing you. I guess that's the route I will take, it's the least amount of effort and seeing as my projects won't reach those quotas it also makes sense not to worry about API calls "degradation".
> 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.
reply