Google Maps Platform provides a range of options for controlling your consumption and ensuring that your usage aligns with your budget. Options include:
- Stop charges by capping the number of billing events your app triggers.
- Get notified when your usage approaches specific budget or API limits.
- Build your apps more cost effectively.
The following table shows your options.
| Stop Charges | Get Notified | Build for Lower Cost |
Quotas
Quotas restrict how much of a Google Maps Platform service can be used by your Google Cloud project. Quotas are intended to ensure fairness and reduce spikes in resource use and availability. For more information, see Cloud Quotas overview.
The following count against quota:
- Successful requests
- Requests that cause server errors
The following don't count against quota:
- Requests that fail authentication
You can set up quota alerts to be notified when your API usage is approaching the limit. For more information, see Set up quota alerts and monitoring.
Quota limits help you control your API usage and prevent unexpected charges by capping the number of requests your project can make. While quota limits are set by default, they can be increased or decreased by submitting an adjustment request. For more information on managing quotas, see View and manage quotas.
Adjust quota as needed
Regularly review and adjust your API quotas to optimize usage and costs while finding a balance between preventing excessive spending and ensuring your application functions properly.
- Monitor your API usage patterns in the Google Cloud Console. Set quotas that align with your budget and prevent overspending.
- Ensure quotas can handle peak usage periods.
- Make gradual adjustments and test your application thoroughly after each change to avoid disruptions.
Budgets and alerts
If you have a specific budget for your Google Maps Platform use, you can avoid surprises in your bill by creating Cloud Billing budgets and alerts.
You can set budget alerts to notify you when you've reached a certain percentages of your total budget, so that you can see how your usage costs are trending over time.
For more information, see Create, edit, or delete a budget alert.
Strategic cost management
Effective budgeting involves using free or lower-cost options whenever possible. This section explores various strategies for minimizing costs.
Use Maps Static API whenever possible
The following situations work well with static maps, which support simple map displays that only need a single marker:
- You are starting with a prototype that doesn't yet have a lot of features.
- You don't have any map customizations.
- You use at most one marker.
- You don't need to support user interaction using dynamic maps or dynamic street view.
Lazy-load using thumbnails
Thumbnails (small map images) are a good use for the Maps Static API. These items are billed at a lower rate than dynamic map loads and upon user interaction can take users to a dynamic version of Google Maps on-click, so that you only pay for dynamic map loads for engaged users.
Use cheaper pricing categories
Google provides a different number of free usage events for each pricing category. You can optimize your application to use capabilities in the "Essentials" or "Pro" categories, where you have more free monthly usage events. Learn more about pricing categories.
Consolidate multiple maps
If you have an implementation that displays multiple maps, follow these guidelines:
- Load maps only when necessary, minimizing unnecessary resources.
- Reuse a single map by updating its viewport, zoom, and markers as needed.
- Use the Store Locator Plus solution if you're displaying multiple maps to show store locations.
- Use a single map per user-interface screen, as users generally only interact with one map at a time.
Cache content when permitted
Most Google Maps Platform products prohibit caching content. However, some exceptions allow you to cache their results for up to 30 days. See the Google Maps Platform terms for details.