Google Maps widget not loading correctly

Ask the Community General Questions
1

I have recently noticed the Google Maps widget shows darker with the message “For development purpose only” across the map and the pop up from Google stating “This page can’t load Google Maps correctly.”
I have tried to raise a ticket with Elfsight without luck.
I have used this widget for 5 years without issue.

Any assistance I would be grateful for!

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3

Hi there, @Mark_Smith5 and welcome to the Community :waving_hand:

I’ve checked your website and I see that the console is reporting that Billing was not enabled while setting up the API key. This is the reason why your Map is not loading correctly:

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Please follow this link from your console and enable Billing there - https://console.cloud.google.com/project/_/billing/enable, it should help to fix this issue. You can also find the details about enabling the billing in this article - Get Google Maps API Key: Step 1 – Enable Billing.

Please let me know if it helps and if any other assistance is needed :slightly_smiling_face:

4

Hi Max,

Thanks for getting back to me, this widget has obviously changed dramatically recently as I have used it for 5 years by simply paying my subscription to Elfsight.

I have followed the link and Enabled Billing but the website still shows the maps the same way.

I’m very confused by the whole Google Cloud console…

Will it take some time for the website to show the map correctly?

Am I now paying both Elfsight and Google Cloud to use this widget?

Kind regards,

1 Like
5

Hi there, @Mark_Smith5 :waving_hand:

Could you please send me the API Key with the enabled billing in a private message? To do this, click on my profile image and choose Message:

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As for paying both to Google and Elfsight, Google shouldn’t charge you when you add your billing details to the key.

After accepting the terms you automatically start a 12-month trial. Inserting your credit card information is Google’s requirement. When the trial ends, you should not be billed automatically unless you upgrade manually:

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You’ll need to upgrade your plan only if you reach the geocoding quota.

I’d like to let inform you that if you add locations to your Google Maps widget by their addresses, the widget then needs to use Google’s geocoding feature to convert those addresses into coordinates.

Google only gives you 2500 geocoding requests per day for free. To prevent exceeding the limit of free requests, you simply can add your locations as coordinates. This way, you won’t need to use the geocoding feature at all, and you won’t exceed the limit of free requests :slightly_smiling_face: