Bug: 500 Internal Server Error while calling Google Static Maps API

[Julien Defrance]

Good afternoon.

We've recently noticed a growing number a API call failure when trying to reach your Google Static Maps API.

Issues initially seemed intermittent, but seems to happen a lot more frequently, if not: all the time.

What steps will reproduce the problem? Please provide a link to a
demonstration page if at all possible, or attach code.

1. Totally works locally or in a web browser
2. Sends out a 500 Internal Server Error when on our staging/production systems
3. Could that be related to authentication? To my knowledge, API keys aren't really enforced locally, but definitely checked for when application runs on a live system.
4. Doesn't report as an error in our Google API Console. Just as a regular successful call.

5. Sample URL:

https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=38.121504,-122.590525&scale=2&visual_refresh=true&size=280x188&key=OUR_BROWSER_API_KEY&markers=icon:http://stage.hometrendsreport.com/images/mini_orange.png|shadow:false|38.121504,-122.590525&markers=icon:http://stage.hometrendsreport.com/images/mini_blue.png|shadow:false|38.121073,-122.5932|38.123742,-122.591363|38.123981,-122.590448|38.124226,-122.589497|38.118754,-122.588585|38.119648,-122.587095|38.123877,-122.587494|38.118187,-122.592065|38.118038,-122.591357&markers=icon:http://stage.hometrendsreport.com/images/mini_gray.png|shadow:false|38.118442,-122.589865|38.118442,-122.589865|38.12166,-122.602269|38.116919,-122.571937

6. Here's our code snippet, using ruby/paperclip:
self.picture = URI.parse(google_map_url.to_s)
return self.save

Any idea why this is happening?
Any help gladly appreciated.

Best regards,

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[Julien Defrance]

FYI,
In this ticket, I purposely removed my actual "browser application" key from that link.