Google Maps Platform
Author: Ronald Fung
Creation Date: 15 June 2023
Next Modified Date: 15 June 2024
A. Introduction
Google Maps Platform is a suite of location-based services and tools developed by Google. It provides businesses and developers with access to a wide range of mapping and location-based services to help them build and customize their applications and services. The platform offers a variety of services, such as geocoding, routing, and mapping visualization tools, that allow businesses to create custom mapping solutions.
Google Maps Platform includes several APIs, SDKs, and other tools that developers can use to integrate with their applications. These tools and services provide a wide range of features, including:
Maps: Google Maps provides high-quality maps of virtually any location in the world. These maps can be customized to display a variety of information, such as street names, building locations, and points of interest.
Geocoding: The Geocoding API provides developers with the ability to convert addresses into geographic coordinates, and vice versa. This can be useful for mapping and location-based applications that need to display addresses or locations on a map.
Routing: The Routing API provides developers with the ability to create custom routes for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles. This can be useful for navigation applications or for businesses that need to optimize their delivery routes.
Places: The Places API provides developers with access to a database of over 100 million points of interest, such as restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions. This can be useful for businesses that want to display nearby attractions or for applications that need to display search results based on location.
Street View: The Street View API provides developers with access to panoramic street-level imagery for locations around the world. This can be useful for applications that need to display a street-level view of a location.
Google Maps Platform is a powerful tool for businesses and developers looking to build mapping and location-based applications. With a wide range of features and customization options, the platform offers businesses the ability to create customized mapping solutions that meet their specific needs.
B. How is it used at Seagen
As a biopharma research company, Seagen may find Google Maps Platform useful in a variety of ways. Here are some ways that Seagen can use Google Maps Platform:
Location-Based Research: Seagen may conduct location-based research and analysis. Google Maps Platform can provide Seagen with access to a wide range of mapping and location-based services, such as geocoding and routing, that can help to optimize their research efforts.
Clinical Trials: Seagen may conduct clinical trials at multiple locations. Google Maps Platform can provide Seagen with tools to help manage the logistics of clinical trials, such as geocoding and routing, to help ensure that patients can easily find the trial sites and that medical staff can efficiently travel between sites.
Drug Delivery: Seagen may need to deliver drugs to hospitals or clinics. Google Maps Platform can provide Seagen with tools to optimize their drug delivery routes, such as the Routing API, to help ensure that the drugs are delivered quickly and efficiently.
Real-Time Monitoring: Seagen may need to monitor their research facilities or clinical trial sites in real-time. Google Maps Platform can provide Seagen with tools to create custom maps that display real-time data, such as the location of medical staff or the status of research equipment, to help optimize operations.
Visualization: Seagen may need to visualize their research data on a map. Google Maps Platform can provide Seagen with tools to create custom maps that display their research data, such as the location of research sites or the results of location-based surveys.
By using Google Maps Platform, Seagen can take advantage of a wide range of mapping and location-based services to optimize their research efforts. With tools for geocoding, routing, and real-time monitoring, Seagen can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their research operations.
C. Features
Streamlined products to create new location-based experiences
We’re simplifying our 18 individual APIs into three core products—Maps, Routes and Places, to make it easier for you to find, explore and add new features to your apps and sites. And, these new updates will work with your existing code—no changes required.
One pricing plan, free support, and a single console
We’ve heard that you want simple, easy to understand pricing that gives you access to all our core APIs. That’s one of the reasons we merged our Standard and Premium plans to form one pay-as-you go pricing plan for our core products. With this new plan, developers will receive the first $200 of monthly usage for free. We estimate that most of you will have monthly usage that will keep you within this free tier. With this new pricing plan you’ll pay only for the services you use each month with no annual, up-front commitments, termination fees or usage limits. And we’re rolling out free customer support for all. In addition, our products are now integrated with Google Cloud Platform Console to make it easier for you to track your usage, manage your projects, and discover new innovative Cloud products.
Scale easily as you grow
Beginning June 11, you’ll need a valid API key and a Google Cloud Platform billing account to access our core products. Once you enable billing, you will gain access to your $200 of free monthly usage to use for our Maps, Routes, and Places products. As your business grows or usage spikes, our plan will scale with you. And, with Google Maps’ global infrastructure, you can scale without thinking about capacity, reliability, or performance. We’ll continue to partner with Google programs that bring our products to nonprofits, startups, crisis response, and news media organizations. We’ve put new processes in place to help us scale these programs to hundreds of thousands of organizations and more countries around the world.
D. Where Implemented
E. How it is tested
Testing Google Maps Platform involves verifying that the maps and location-based services are functioning correctly and that they meet the desired performance and reliability requirements. Here are some steps you can take to test Google Maps Platform:
Define Test Scenarios: Define the test scenarios for your maps and location-based services, such as geocoding addresses, routing directions, or displaying points of interest. Create the necessary configurations and parameters needed for the test scenarios to be executed.
Execute Test Scenarios: Execute the test scenarios and verify that they are executed as expected. This can include checking that addresses are geocoded correctly, that directions are routed correctly, and that points of interest are displayed as expected.
Monitor Performance: Monitor the performance of the executed test scenarios to ensure that the maps and location-based services are performing as expected. This can include monitoring CPU usage, memory usage, and network traffic.
Perform Load Testing: Perform load testing to identify any potential performance or scalability issues with the maps and location-based services. This can help to identify any potential performance bottlenecks and ensure that the services can handle the desired workload.
Troubleshoot and Debug: If any issues arise during testing, troubleshoot and debug the problem to identify the root cause and resolve the issue. Test Integration: If you are integrating Google Maps Platform with other services or applications, test the integration to ensure that it is functioning correctly and that data is being passed back and forth as expected.
By following these steps, you can test Google Maps Platform and ensure that your maps and location-based services are functioning correctly and meet the desired performance and reliability requirements. Regular testing can help to ensure that your services remain reliable and efficient and avoid costly performance issues or outages.
F. 2023 Roadmap
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G. 2024 Roadmap
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H. Known Issues
Google Maps Platform is a powerful mapping and location-based service, but there are some known issues and limitations that you should be aware of. Here are some common issues with Google Maps Platform:
Usage Limits: Google Maps Platform has usage limits that can impact the performance and availability of the service. These limits can be based on the number of requests or the amount of data used, and exceeding these limits can result in additional costs or service disruption.
Accuracy: Google Maps Platform’s accuracy can vary depending on the location and the quality of the data available. In some cases, the location or geocoding data may be inaccurate, which can impact the performance and reliability of the service.
Third-Party Services: Google Maps Platform integrates with third-party services, such as traffic data providers and transit providers. These third-party services may have their own limitations or issues that can impact the performance and reliability of the service.
Security: Google Maps Platform may be vulnerable to security threats, such as unauthorized access or data breaches. It’s important to ensure that your application and the data you store on Google Maps Platform are secure.
Technical Expertise: Google Maps Platform can be complex to set up and manage, especially for businesses with large or complex mapping needs. It’s important to have the necessary technical expertise or partner with a trusted provider to ensure that the platform is set up and managed correctly.
It’s important to be aware of these limitations and issues when using Google Maps Platform. By understanding these challenges, you can better ensure that your maps and location-based services remain reliable and efficient and avoid costly performance issues or outages.
[x] Reviewed by Enterprise Architecture
[x] Reviewed by Application Development
[x] Reviewed by Data Architecture