Set up your Google Cloud project

This guide shows how to set up your Google Cloud project before using the Google Maps Platform APIs. While you may have completed some of these steps in the Getting started with Google Maps Platform page, this topic provides additional, useful instructions for managing your projects.

Create a project

To use Google Maps Platform, you must have a project to manage services, credentials, billing, APIs, and SDKs.

Billing setup is required for each project, but you will only be charged if a project exceeds its quota of no-charge services.

To create a Cloud project with billing enabled:

Console

  1. Create a new Google Cloud project in the Cloud console:

    Create new project

  2. On the New Project page, fill in the required information:

    • Project name: Accept the default or enter a customized name.

      You can change the project name at any time. For more information, see Identifying projects.

    • Project ID: Accept the default or click EDIT to enter a customized ID that Google APIs use as a unique identifier for your project.

      After you create the project, you cannot change the project ID, so choose an ID that you'll be comfortable using for the lifetime of the project. Don't include any sensitive information in your project ID.

    • Billing account: Select a billing account for the project. If you haven't set up a billing account or only have one billing account, you won't see this option.

      You must be a Billing Account Administrator or Project Billing Manager to associate a project with a billing account. For more information, see the billing access control documentation.

    • Location: If you have an organization you want to link your project to, click Browse and select it; otherwise, choose "No organization".

      For more information, see Creating and Managing Folders and Relationships between organizations, projects, and billing accounts.

  3. Select Create.

gcloud

gcloud projects create "PROJECT"

Read more about the Google Cloud SDK , Cloud SDK installation , and the following commands:

Enable billing

To deploy your apps, you must enable billing. Your account will not be charged if you stay within your monthly quota. If your application needs resources that exceed the monthly quota, you will be charged for the additional usage.

If you have a billing account when you create a Cloud project, then billing is automatically enabled on that project.

To enable billing on a Cloud project:

  1. In the Cloud console, go to the Billing page:
    Go to the Billing page
  2. Select or create a Cloud project.
  3. Depending on if a billing account exists or if the selected Cloud project is associated with an account, the Billing page displays one of the following:
    • If billing is already enabled for the selected Cloud project, then the details about the billing account are listed.
    • If no billing account exists, you are prompted to create a billing account and associate it with the selected Cloud project.
    • If a billing account exists, you are prompted to enable billing if the selected Cloud project is not already associated with a billing account. You can also select Cancel and then select Create account to create and associate a new billing account.

After you enable billing, there is no limit to the amount that you might be charged. To gain more control over your costs, you can create a budget and set alerts. For more information, see Billing.

Enable APIs

To use Google Maps Platform, you must enable the APIs or SDKs you plan to use with your project.

Console

Enable the Distance Matrix API

Cloud SDK

gcloud services enable \
    --project "PROJECT" \
    "distance-matrix-backend.googleapis.com"

Read more about the Google Cloud SDK , Cloud SDK installation , and the following commands:

View enabled APIs

Console

To view the APIs or SDKs you have enabled, go to the Google Maps Platform page in the Cloud console:

Go to Google Maps Platform page
  • Additional APIs: These API or SDKs are not enabled.
  • If you see cards for each Map APIs and services, no APIs or SDKs have been enabled.

gcloud

gcloud services list --project "PROJECT"

Read more about the Google Cloud SDK , Cloud SDK installation , and the following commands:

Shut down a project

You can disable billing and release all the Cloud resources that are being used in your Cloud project by shutting down that project:

Console

  1. Go to the Projects page:

    Go to the Projects page

  2. Select the Cloud project that you want to shut down, then click Delete.

For more information about managing your Cloud projects, see Cloud Resource Manager: creating, shutting down, and restoring projects.

gcloud

gcloud projects delete "PROJECT"

Read more about the Google Cloud SDK , Cloud SDK installation , and the following commands:

What's next

After setting up your Google Cloud project, you must create and secure your API Key to use the Distance Matrix API:

Use API Keys