Google Places API Web Service usage 10x as fast as requests made

2
votes

I may be missing something, but the google places API indicates free usage of 150,000 requests per day (provided you enable billing). https://developers.google.com/maps/pricing-and-plans/

However, every request i place appears to be counting as "10-requests" on certain places on their website. i.e. i was capped today after making 15,000 requests. Specifically, on the billing page, it appears that each request is counted as 10. On the API Manager overview page, each request appears to be counted as 10 on the bar graph of usage, however on the response code overview it is correct. [i.e it indicates i have made 15,000 2xx Success requests within past 24-hours --- which is the case--- (and a bunch of 4xx errors, resulting from me hitting the max limit in the table...) whereas the bar graph indicates usage of 150,000].

My question is, is this a mistake, or is it the case that each request using the places API Web Services does count as 10?

1
google-mapsgoogle-maps-api-3google-places-api
How many REST calls are actually being made with each request? To determine this, open your browser and check the network panel. - Tim Biegeleisen
@TimBiegeleisen each is a single request - i.e. i am requesting a page https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/textsearch/json?query=QUERY_TERM&key=MY_KEY and this is using 10 requests. (but as noted, only on certain places of the API console) - kyrenia

1 Answers

5
votes

There is a documented 10x multiplier on place Text Search requests:

from that documentation:

The Google Places search services share the same usage limits. However, the Text Search service is subject to a 10-times multiplier. That is, each Text Search request that you make will count as 10 requests against your quota. If you've purchased the Google Places API as part of your Google Maps APIs Premium Plan contract, the multiplier may be different. Please refer to the Google Maps APIs Premium Plan documentation for details.