Editor’s note: In May 2018, we introduced a series of updates designed to make it easier for you to start taking advantage of Google Maps Platform features and products. Learn more about up-to-date product and pricing information here. 

Eleven years after a developer first reverse-engineered a Google Map, there are more than three million location-informed apps and websites generating billions of requests daily, all powered by Google Maps APIs. From unicorns to passion projects to public service, the power of maps and location data is limited only by the creativity of developers.

The Internet landscape has dramatically shifted from desktops to mobile devices in the last decade, and as a result, our services have evolved to meet the needs of our developers and their users. More devices means exponentially more requests, and hundreds of millions of global users are just coming online. Therefore, today we are announcing a few updates to bring more simplicity and consistency to our Standard Plan limits and pricing.

As of June 22, 2016 we are making the following changes to the Google Maps APIs Standard Plan:

1. We no longer support keyless access (any request that doesn't include an API key). Future product updates are only available for requests made with an API key. API keys allow us to contact developers when required and help us identify misbehaving implementations.

2. We have implemented a simple 25,000 map loads per day free limit to new Google Maps JavaScript API, Static Maps API, and Street View Image API implementations. The confusing 90-consecutive-day grace period for these APIs is being retired on October 12, 2016. With this change, developers can predictably plan for growth while media sites and US nonprofits can request more quota at no charge via our dedicated support programs.

3. We have reduced the daily map load maximum limit you can purchase for Google Maps JavaScript API, Static Maps API, and Street View Image API from 1,000,000 to 100,000 requests per API.* We believe higher-volume developers are best served with a Premium Plan license, which includes technical support and a Service Level Agreement, and with this change we've also created consistency between Standard Plan quotas across our maps and web service APIs.

4. We now count Google Maps JavaScript API client-side requests towards the daily limit of the associated web service API.*

The new policies will apply immediately to all Maps API implementations created on or after June 22nd, 2016.

Existing applications have been grandfathered based on their current usage to ensure that they continue to function both now and in the future. We will also be proactively contacting all existing API key users who, based on usage growth patterns, may be impacted in the future. If you’re an existing user, please take the time to read our Policy Update for Standard Plan summary for details on how each of these changes might affect your implementation.

* Exceptions may apply for implementations that were exceeding new quotas prior to June 22, 2016.