10.000.000 visitors per month using API V3 styled maps

[diHobbes]

Hi everyone,

I want to embed a personalized map into my website. It will have the colors personalized and I will take off some layers. Aso it will have about 8.000 different markers, each one with his own icon.

Users will not be allowed to edit it, they will just check the markers I add.

After reading the next table, I have a question:

Service	Usage limit (per day)	1,000 excess map loads (in U.S. dollars)
JS Maps API v3	25,000	$4
JS Maps API v3 styled maps	2,500	$4[1] / $8[2]

If, by any chance, my site gets 10.000.000 visitors per month (don't laugh! lol) would that mean that I need to pay about $79.400 to Google for using the API every month?

Embedding a personalized map means that I use the API? I mean, it's not a mush-up, I will not use it to provide a service, I will just add markers using the "my paces" option in Google Maps.

Probably your thinking how on earth I want to start a site with this map if I'm asking about so basic matters, well, my intention is to hire someone, but first I need to solve this doubts.

Thanks everyone! 

[Barry Hunter]

Its not the number of visitors. Its the number of visits. If your site was to show 10,000,000 pages to visitors, then looking at about $31,760 monthly bill. 

BUT, worrying about paying the API bill before the site is launched, is almost certainly a classic case of "premature optimization". If/when your site reaches 10M monthly visitors, you will almost certainly be making some money, and already have a ream of people to help sort the issues. 

And for high volumn use, getting Google Maps for Business may well be cheaper, than paying the "Pay as you Go" pricing. 

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[Klederson Bueno]

day by day i'm going more to OpenStreetMaps.org because this insane rules of google maps.

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[diHobbes]

Hi Barry!

Thanks for the quick answer! I know it seems an immature question... I'm more curious than worried about having this number of visits, hehe.

Ok, So I need to pay $381.120 per year. Even if a website has this huge number of visits, $380.000 is way too much.

Google Maps for Business "starts" at $10.000 if I write them, would they answer me about how much would I pay in an imaginary case like this?

[Rossko]

> Embedding a personalized map means that I use the API?

To use styled maps. you will be using the API

Embedding a maps.google.com map in an <iframe> is not using the API

[Barry Hunter]

On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 5:28 PM, diHobbes <elias...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Barry!
>
> Thanks for the quick answer! I know it seems an immature question... I'm
> more curious than worried about having this number of visits, hehe.
>

Sorry my maths was wrong, I do actully agree with your figure, for 10M
page views.

((10,000,000 - (30 * 2,500)) / 1,000) * 8 = $79,400

>
> Google Maps for Business "starts" at $10.000 if I write them, would they
> answer me about how much would I pay in an imaginary case like this?

I can't speak for them. While they might not answer specific
questions, I think they should be able to give you costs for actual
traffic levels.

But get your understanding of visits/visitors/page views etc streight
first. And take realistic values - not just a totally "plucked out of
the air" value.

Your 10,000,000 pretty much is a completely arbitrary value. Work out
a better and more realistic number of page views.

Do some research on actual traffic levels of similar sites.

Hosting for large numbers of visitors is not trivial, and a bigger
issue to deal with than Gmaps. (not I am not saying more expensive!)

[diHobbes]

Really, thanks to everyone for answering such a "naive" question, you guys rock.

So, Rossko, if I create a map without a custom style, but I add the 8.000 markers, each one with his own icon (png's hosted in a server), that's not using the API? Lol, I feel shy.

[Charles]

Hi All

Just thought I'd mention you can have 25,000 map loads a day free, but
overall maximum of 275,000 as max of 250,000 map loads billable per
day without business account.

This equates to roughly 8.3 million a month so without business
account simply not possible.

cost for the max allowed per day un customised maps would be

25,000 free
250 x $4(cost per extra thousand per day) = $1,000 daily cost
$30,000 a month to get to 8.3 million page views.

Business account starts at $10,000 a year but question is what amount
of page views do you get for that? sure geocoding requests are
increased to 100,000 per day but if things are happening clientside
which effective use of the api would encourage then limit is 2,500 per
day per IP address. This opens up a can of worms for apps working on
mobile phones as the users phones run on blocks of ip addresses and
therefore could easily get above this amount.

next question does business account increase this geolocation request
to 100,000 per day per IP?

I would like to assume that once an app or website gets this big there
are stats and help a plenty from consoles and account managers
including ip address uncapping if required for app development for
mobile devices.

It may seem on the outside therefore that someone looking at
10,0000,000 page views is arbitary but alternatively they might also
be the sort of person that is more likely to create a website or app
that actually gets that in a short space of time and want to pre plan
the necessary steps to get there not deal with them once they occur.

5 p's comes to mind preparation prevents p*ss poor performance.

After reading the initial post in my inbox I decided to look into the
actual costs and routes to end result of 10,000,000 hits a month and
it seems quite difficult to get clear answers Google itself has
various different pages in a web search that tend to confuse, some
with some info others with other info. It all seems to marry up but
seems spread out and hard to find. Maybe that's just my opinion but it
is definately my experiance.

Any way rant over

Regards all

Charles
Anyway rant over

[Jeff Lake]

anybody have 10,000,000 10 MILLION hits a month
doubt it HIGHLY !!!
if you think your website has that man hits in a month
I want some of what your smoking

-Jeff Lake
MichiganWxSystem.com
WeatherMichigan.net
TheWeatherCenter.net
GRLevelXStuff.com

[davie]

Hi

Just a thought
800M unique users visit YouTube each month.

Regards Davie

[Charles]

Just remember we are talking map loads here not unique visitors.

One unique visitor could create a map load 10+ times a day or more.

Jeff it's not a case of anyone who asks about implications of having
10,000,000 hits being delusional it's simply a case of pre planning
for that sort of traffic whether that means planning steps required
for hosting or use of the actual Maps API.

We all dream about that sort of level of traffic and some of us might
even achieve it who knows.

Better to have tried and been prepared than not to.

My point is that the acquisition of info regarding this for that
planning stage seems somewhat difficult.

To Highlight what Davie said Youtube having 800m unique vistors a
month how many times are vids played in that month?

When Youtube first started would you, Jeff, have said they are all mad
dellusional I can just watch tv what do I want to watch home movies on
the internet for?

[davie]

Hi
Just a few thoughts

If I had a successful business would I want one of my core features
to be owned and operated by another company maybe even a competitor?
Why should Google not make money out of it as it is costing them to
supply the service?
If you are using Google Maps as a core feature what is to stop
somebody else stealing your idea and using Google or even Bing
Maps,maybe even Google itself?

Regards Davie

[Rossko]

> So, Rossko, if I create a map without a custom style, but I add the 8.000
> markers, each one with his own icon (png's hosted in a server), that's not
> using the API? Lol, I feel shy.

It depends whether *you* choose to use the API or not. You mentioned
'My Places', which is essentially a Google-hosted data store. You can
share your 'My Places' content with other people using Google Maps at
maps.google.com, this does not use the API.

I don't know but doubt that 'My Places' will support 8,000 individual
markers.

You have no control over the style or 'added value' (advertising)
content of Google Maps, but you can easily embed it in an iframe in a
webpage without programming.

I think 'Fusion Tables' may be an alternative for that quantity of
markers, which you can use with the API for display. The API allows
the flexibility of e.g. styling because you program it yourself, but
the penalty is restricted hits or bear the cost.

There might be performance issues if you are thinking of displaying
all at once - the browser will have to fetchg 8,000 little images.
Quite apart from the viewer making little sense of a map looking like
that.