How does indexing of map content work with v3?

[John Beales]

Using the v2 API we could opt out of having the content that we
overlay on maps being indexed, ( see http://groups.google.com/group/google-maps-api/web/map-indexing-faq
), is this still the case with the v3 API, and is it still done by
adding indexing=false to the request for the javascript?

[William]

yeah that's an interesting question, because the Terms and Conditions
still refer to this as the only way to "opt out" of the Content
Licence granted to Google on your data. I am unsure how this affects
Premier customers, where I believe indexing=false by default, but I
guess that's covered in a separate Premier licence contract.

http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html

11.1 Content License. Google claims no ownership over Your Content,
and you retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Your
Content. By submitting, posting or displaying Your Content in the
Service, you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-
free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify,
translate, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute Your
Content through the Service and as search results through Google
Services. This license is solely for the purpose of enabling Google to
operate the Service, to promote the Service (including through public
presentations), and to index and serve such content as search results
through Google Services. If you are unable or unwilling to provide
such a license to Your Content, please see the FAQ for information on
configuring your Maps API Implementation to opt out.

http://code.google.com/apis/maps/faq.html#tos_optout

To disable logging of information within your markers and infowindows,
specify "indexing=false" when loading the Maps API. For example:

http://maps.google.com/maps?file=api&v=2&key=abcdefg&sensor=true&indexing=false

....

[Thor Mitchell (Google Employee)]

Hi John,

The indexing was only implemented in v2, and we have no plans to
implement it in v3. The data collected proved to be too noisy, so
we're not going ahead with indexing it, and we will shortly stop
logging it in v2.

Many thanks,

Thor.

On Jul 31, 11:15 am, John Beales <johnbea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Using the v2 API we could opt out of having the content that we

> overlay on maps being indexed, ( seehttp://groups.google.com/group/google-maps-api/web/map-indexing-faq

[William]

Hi Thor, in another thread you mentioned that Google was currently
drafting an update to the ToS. Will there be an amendment to the
Content License in 11.1?

The way I see it, the indexing of map content in Markers and
InfoWindows was just one mechanism permitted under 11.1, and in future
Google might develop better methods of indexing map content. So to
quote the ToS "if you are unable or unwilling to provide such a
license to Your Content", will Google still be offering the
"indexing=false" parameter to permit the user to opt out of any future
indexing mechanism, regardless of API version or technique of logging
data from the map to Google?

Obviously if the map data is originating from the Maps Data API, then
ToS Paragraph 11 doesn't offer any opt-out clause, because the data is
already hosted on Google's servers and can be directly indexed. And
the same would apply to data in KML and Fusion Tables where the map
content can be directly indexed.

Maps ToS:
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html
Maps Data ToS:
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/mapsdata/terms.html

...

[Thor Mitchell (Google Employee)]

Hi William,

If in future we choose to implement any other form of indexing of
content that is displayed on an API map but that is not already hosted
by Google, we will announce that in the Group and on the blog, and
provide an opt out. However we have no plans to do that at this time.

Many thanks,

Thor.