Our Vizlly powered by Bookassist websites use a Google Maps application in order to display maps. Before you can go live with your new website, you will need to get a Google Maps API Key to ensure that the application will work on your website, and travel shoppers will be able to enjoy a better user experience.
Getting a Google Maps API Key is easy and will only take a few minutes of your time! Simply follow the steps outlined below, and be sure to send the API Key to your Success Manager once it’s created.
Note: You will need to sign in to the Google Cloud Platform using a Gmail or G Suite account before you can create a project and get an API Key.
Get Started
- Go to the Google Maps Platform.
- Click on the “Get Started” button.
- If you haven’t added Billing Details to your account, a new page will load to enable billing.
Enable Billing
You will need to set up a billing account to use a Google Maps API Key. Google provides a recurring $200 monthly credit of free usage, automatically applied each month.
For Dynamic Maps, which is what we use on our websites, this credit allows up to 28,000 loads per month for free. Additional loads of up to 100,000 loads in a month will incur a $7 charge. View the full pricing sheet.
Note: By signing up, Google will automatically provide you with a 12-month free trial with $300 in credit to spend over the next 12 months.
To enable billing:
- Select your country and accept the terms of service.
- Create your payment profile by filling in your contact and billing information.
- Select “Start Your Free Trial”.
Create a Maps API Key
- A new page will load with a welcome message. Select “Got It”.
- A new popup will load to Enable Google Maps Platform.
- Check off the “Maps” option and click “Next”
- A new popup will ask to select your industry and what you want to build. You can click “Skip”.
- In the next popup, select “Enable”.
- Once you’ve enabled your APIs, your API Key will be generated.
- Copy your API Key and send it to your Success Manager!
Once the API Key is created, follow these steps to secure your API Key and ensure that your maps will load properly on your website.
Secure Your API Key
Adding restrictions to your API Key will help prevent unauthorized use and quota theft.
- Go to your Google Console.
- Hover over APIs & Services and select “Credentials”.
- In the new page, select “Maps API Key”.
- Under “Application Restrictions” check off “HTTP Referrers (web sites)”.
- Under “Website Restrictions” select “Add an Item”.
- In the text box, add your website URL and select “Done”. Make sure the website URL is added in this format:
https://www.yourwebsiteurl.com/* - Click “Add an Item”, add this additional referrer and select “Done”:
*.smartweb-04.bookassist.com/* - Once the two referrers are added, click “Save” at the bottom of the page.
Example using Leonardo.com (please be sure to use your own domain instead of Leonardo.com)
Enable JavaScript & Checking Daily Quotas
Follow these steps to ensure that JavaScript is enabled and that there is no limit to how many times a map can load in a day.
- Go to your Google Console.
- Hover over APIs & Services and select “Dashboard”.
- Click on “Enable APIs and Services”.
- Select “Maps JavaScript API”.
- In the new page, ensure that API is enabled and select “Manage”.
- From the new page’s side panel, select “Quotas”.
- Ensure that your map loads per day is set to “Unlimited”.
Your Google Maps API Key set up is complete! Please remember to send your API Key to your Success Manager prior to going live with your new website, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.