Developer Guide

Introduction

The Maps Embed API lets you place an interactive map, or Street View panorama on your site with a simple HTTP request. It can be easily embedded in your web page or blog by setting the Maps Embed API URL as the src attribute of an iframe:

<iframe
  width="600"
  height="450"
  frameborder="0" style="border:0"
  src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/place?key=API_KEY
    &q=Space+Needle,Seattle+WA" allowfullscreen>
</iframe>

Easy embedding

Maps Embed API maps are easy to add to your webpage—just set the URL you build as the value of an iframe's src attribute. Control the size of the map with the iframe's height and width attributes. No JavaScript required.

Advertisements on the map

The Maps Embed API may include on-map advertising. The ad format and the set of ads shown in any given map may change without notice.

Before you begin

Get a key

To use the Maps Embed API, you must include a free API key when making a request to the API.

Follow the instructions in the guide to getting an API key to register your app project on the Google Cloud Platform Console, and get a Google API key to add to your app or website.

Enable billing

NEW: Certain uses of the Maps Embed API are now billed. Before you start developing with the Maps Embed API, review the usage and billing information (you need to enable billing on your project).

Forming the URL

The URL for an Maps Embed API request is as follows:

https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/MODE?key=YOUR_API_KEY&parameters

Where:

  • {MODE} is one of place, search, view, directions, or streetview.
  • {YOUR_API_KEY} is your free API key.
  • parameters include optional parameters, as well as mode-specific parameters.

Basic Map Modes

Note: Embed API requests using Place mode or View mode remain free with unlimited usage. See usage and billing for details.

Specify which map mode to use in the request URL.

Place mode

Place mode displays a map pin at a particular place or address, such as a landmark, business, geographic feature, or town.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/place
  ?key=YOUR_API_KEY
  &q=Eiffel+Tower,Paris+France

The following URL parameter is required:

  • q defines the place to highlight on the map. It accepts a location as either a place name, address, or place ID. The string should be URL-escaped, so an address such as "City Hall, New York, NY" should be converted to City+Hall,New+York,NY, a plus code such as "849VCWC8+R9" must be converted to 849VCWC8%2BR9. (The Maps Embed API supports both + and %20 when escaping spaces.) Place IDs should be prefixed with place_id:.

View mode

View mode returns a map with no markers or directions.

The example below uses the optional maptype parameter to display a satellite view of the map.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/view
  ?key=YOUR_API_KEY
  &center=-33.8569,151.2152
  &zoom=18
  &maptype=satellite

The following URL parameter is required:

  • center defines the center of the map window, and accepts a latitude and a longitude as comma-separated values (-33.8569,151.2152).

Advanced Map Modes

Note: Embed API requests using Directions mode, Street View mode, or Search mode are billed. See usage and billing for details.

Specify which map mode to use in the request URL.

Directions mode

Directions mode displays the path between two or more specified points on the map, as well as the distance and travel time.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/directions
  ?key=YOUR_API_KEY
  &origin=Oslo+Norway
  &destination=Telemark+Norway
  &avoid=tolls|highways

The following URL parameters are required:

  • origin defines the starting point from which to display directions. The value can be either a place name, address, place ID, or lat/lng coordinates (for example, &origin=47.625215,-122.337326). The string should be URL-escaped, so an address such as "City Hall, New York, NY" should be converted to City+Hall,New+York,NY, a plus code such as "849VCWC8+R9" must be converted to 849VCWC8%2BR9. The Maps Embed API supports both + and %20 when escaping spaces.) Place IDs should be prefixed with place_id:.
  • destination defines the end point of the directions.

The following URL parameters are optional:

  • waypoints specifies one or more intermediary places to route directions through between the origin and destination. Multiple waypoints can be specified by using the pipe character (|) to separate places (e.g. Berlin,Germany|Paris,France). You can specify up to 20 waypoints. Each waypoint can be either a place name, address or place ID.
  • mode defines the method of travel. Options are driving, walking (which prefers pedestrian paths and sidewalks, where available), bicycling (which routes via bike paths and preferred streets where available), transit, or flying. If no mode is specified, the Maps Embed API will show one or more of the most relevant modes for the specified route.
  • avoid tells Google Maps to avoid tolls, ferries and/or highways. Separate multiple values with the pipe character (e.g. avoid=tolls|highways). Note that this doesn't preclude routes that include the restricted feature(s); it simply biases the result to more favorable routes.
  • units specifies either metric or imperial units when displaying distances in the results. If units are not specified, the origin country of the query determines the units to use.

Street View mode

The Maps Embed API lets you display Street View images on your site or blog as interactive panoramas. Google Street View provides panoramic views from designated locations throughout its coverage area. User contributed Photospheres, and Street View special collections are also available.

Each Street View panorama provides a full 360-degree view from a single location. Images contain 360 degrees of horizontal view (a full wrap-around) and 180 degrees of vertical view (from straight up to straight down). The streetview mode provides a viewer that renders the resulting panorama as a sphere with a camera at its center. You can manipulate the camera to control the zoom and the orientation of the camera.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/streetview
  ?key=YOUR_API_KEY
  &location=46.414382,10.013988
  &heading=210
  &pitch=10
  &fov=35

One of the following URL parameters are required:

  • location accepts a latitude and a longitude as comma-separated values (46.414382,10.013988). The API will display the panorama photographed closest to this location. Because Street View imagery is periodically refreshed, and photographs may be taken from slightly different positions each time, it's possible that your location may snap to a different panorama when imagery is updated.

  • pano is a specific panorama ID. If you specify a pano you may also specify a location. The location will be only be used if the API cannot find the panorama ID.

The following URL parameters are optional:

  • heading indicates the compass heading of the camera in degrees clockwise from North. Accepted values are from -180° to 360°.

  • pitch specifies the angle, up or down, of the camera. The pitch is specified in degrees from -90° to 90°. Positive values will angle the camera up, while negative values will angle the camera down. The default pitch of 0° is set based on on the position of the camera when the image was captured. Because of this, a pitch of 0° is often, but not always, horizontal. For example, an image taken on a hill will likely exhibit a default pitch that is not horizontal.

  • fov determines the horizontal field of view of the image. The field of view is expressed in degrees, with a range of 10° - 100°. It defaults to 90°. When dealing with a fixed-size viewport the field of view is can be considered the zoom level, with smaller numbers indicating a higher level of zoom.

  • language defines the language to use for UI elements and labels. By default, visitors will see UI elements in their own language.

  • region defines the appropriate borders and labels to display, based on geo-political sensitivities. Accepts a region code specified as a two-character ccTLD (top-level domain) value.

Search mode

Search mode displays results for a search across the visible map region. It's recommended that a location for the search be defined, either by including a location in the search term (record+stores+in+Seattle) or by including a center and zoom parameter to bound the search.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/search
  ?key=YOUR_API_KEY
  &q=record+stores+in+Seattle

The following URL parameter is required:

  • q specifies the search term. It can include a geographic restriction, such as in+Seattle or near+98033.

Optional parameters

The following optional parameters can be used with any of the map modes listed above.

  • center defines the center of the map view. It accepts a comma-separated latitude and longitude value (such as 37.4218,-122.0840).

  • zoom sets the initial zoom level of the map. Accepted values range from 0 (the whole world) to 21 (individual buildings). The upper limit can vary depending on the map data available at the selected location.

  • maptype can be either roadmap (the default) or satellite, and defines the type of map tiles to load.

  • language defines the language to use for UI elements and for the display of labels on map tiles. Note that this parameter is only supported for some country tiles; if the specific language requested is not supported for the tile set, then the default language for that tileset will be used. By default, visitors will see a map in their own language.

  • region defines the appropriate borders and labels to display, based on geo-political sensitivities. Accepts a region code specified as a two-character ccTLD (top-level domain) value.

Place ID parameters

The Maps Embed API supports using place IDs instead of supplying a place name or address. Place IDs are stable way to uniquely identify a place. See the Google Places API documentation for more information on how to find and use place IDs.

The Maps Embed API accepts place IDs for the following URL parameters:

  • q

  • origin

  • destination

  • waypoints

In order to use a place ID, you must first add the prefix place_id:. The following code specifies New York City Hall as the origin for a directions request: origin=place_id:ChIJs--MqP1YwokRBwAhjXWIHn8.

  • radius sets a radius, specified in meters, in which to search for a panorama, centered on the given latitude and longitude. Valid values are non-negative integers. Default value is 50.

  • source limits Street View searches to selected sources. Valid values are:

    • default uses the default sources for Street View; searches are not limited to specific sources.
    • outdoor limits searches to outdoor collections. Indoor collections are not included in search results. Note that outdoor panoramas may not exist for the specified location. Also note that the search only returns panoramas where it's possible to determine whether they're indoors or outdoors. For example, PhotoSpheres are not returned because it's unknown whether they are indoors or outdoors.

Embedding the map

To use the Maps Embed API on your web page, set the URL you've built as the value of an iframe's src attribute. Control the map's size with the iframe's height and width attributes:

<iframe
  width="450"
  height="250"
  frameborder="0" style="border:0"
  src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/search?key=YOUR_API_KEY&q=record+stores+in+Seattle" allowfullscreen>
</iframe>

Tip: Add allowfullscreen to your iframe properties to allow certain map parts to go full screen. Tip: The frameborder="0" and style="border:0" properties remove the standard iframe border from around the map.

You can resize the iframe to suit the structure and design of your own website, but we find that visitors usually find it easier to interact with larger maps. Note that embedded maps are not supported below a size of 200px in either dimension.

Usage statistics

For users of Maps Embed API, Google uses anonymous cookies to determine the number of unique users of the API. Google also accumulates statistics about the types of features used from the Maps product.