Problem Description
You have a page with a Google Map which is failing to load. You might simply not see the map, or you may see the map, but it's unusable and an error appears hovering over top of it like "for development purposes only". Details in Google troubleshooting here.
This issue occurs because Google has now started charging for all Google Maps that are embedded in your website based on the number of times it's viewed on the page. They only include 1 view per day for free, all others must be paid for.
Problem Resolution
You could opt to have your website developer change the map to another mapping service other than Google Maps. For example this plugin for WordPress allows you to choose which mapping source to use, including OpenStreetMaps which is free.
If you wish to keep your Google Maps embed, you will need to either edit your existing Google Project or create a new Google Project, add a credit card to the account, then ensure to use a Google Maps API key generated under that Google account on your website. Here's how:
- Go to the Google Cloud Platform Console and login to your Google account if you aren't already.
- If it provides you with a project in the list and that project was used to create your Google Maps API key already, select that project and continue with setting up a billing profile
- If it does not provide you with a project in the list, go ahead and create one, then set up your billing profile
- By now you will have associated a credit card with the account. If it did not prompt you to do so, head here to make that happen.
- If you had to create a new project at steps 2/3, you will need to create a new Google Maps API key and install that API key in the plugin or code that inserts the Google Map on your website. If you have our Hands-On Support, you can simply create a new ticket and send us the key and we'll fix it for you.
That will resolve your Google Maps issue.
