> My understanding is that Google does not allow the display of its maps > on websites if the website requires a fee to access the site.
The maps have to be "generally accessible" without the visitor having to pay a fee to access them. You can have some protected map instances, or protection on a public map instance, for admin and editing purposes. > I'm developing a travel guide website. It will be free at first, but I > eventually hope to require an annual membership fee, which of course > would be small ($10-20/year). I'm a "little guy" who certainly won't > be making big bucks off the site. If I were to use Google Maps, would > I be in violation? In other words, does Google have an "all or > nothing" approach to fee-based sites? AIUI the Terms only apply to the Maps API, so you could certainly have the map pages available for free (to locate hotels) and have non-map pages with other information only available to fee-paying members. Since the definition of a "page" is very loose in these days of AJAX and server-side scripting, I'd have thought you could legitimately display extra information beside the maps when someone has logged in. It's the Maps API that has to be "generally accessible", not other website content. The bottom line is that Google give us the maps API for free in return for us advertising Google by using the API on publicly-accessible pages. If your use of the API is not generally accessible for free then you need a paid-for licence. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Maps API" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
