Just wondering if a Google Map with markers that is hidden on page load would still get counted by Google for the purposes of charging?
And if the answer is yes (hopefully not!) what about if that map was only able to be unhidden (by click of button and workflow) if a user is logged in. Would it be counted by Google if a user is not logged in (and therefore the map remains hidden and the button not clickable by that un-logged user?
And whilst I have your knowledge, if a map has 100 markers is that counted as 100 places by Google maps for the purpose of calculating what to charge?
You’re still gonna read that and not have an answer so I’d suggest making pages with different solutions and checking the usage on google maps to find out what counts and what doesn’t.
Hi @jobs Thanks for unearthing that article…I will get into that for sure. But great idea - I should do some tests and check the api data. (I have my suspicions but also thought that someone might have an awesome tip/strategy)
As I do further investigation, I thought I would add notes here in case it helps anyone else or prompts more feedback.
From my testing it looks like my map with 100+ markers so far, with data drawn from my Bubble Database, is counted in Google Console as one (1) Maps JavaScript API request each time it is loaded.
And if the map is hidden on page load and visible only when a button is clicked, it does not call on the Maps JavaScript API until it is revealed.
I have an SPA and if users navigate between views and return to a page with a map, it seems like that is not counted as a new load (yeah for SPAs). It’s only when the page is refreshed that it counts as a new call. This was one way I have tried to limit gratuitous map costs and the other has been to make maps accessible only to logged-in users…so those who choose to create a (free) account get that functionality. Hopefully that also saves robot-initiated page/map loads.
Importantly, the Geocoding API and Places API are not called on with a map load…something I had wondered about. They come into it only once, when I access them via a form built to harvest location details that are then saved to the database.
So at this stage, my concern that a map with 200 markers might involve heaps of API calls and therefore cost was not founded.
Having said that, if the site gets lots of traffic the bill will still add up.
Over time I will monitor usage/value and I might go entirely to linking externally to Google Maps if the cost becomes prohibitive.
so I’d suggest making pages with different solutions and checking the usage on google maps to find out what counts and what doesn’t.