Google Maps decision to charge will hit cyclists

LONDON, UK - A decision by Google to start charging sites that use its Google Maps application is likely to hit cyclists hard. Many free map services used by cyclists such as Bike Route Toaster use the Google Maps application to allow cyclists to plot their courses and download them to their bike computers.

Google announced this week that from January 1st they will start charging sites considered "heavy users" of Google Maps an annual fee to use the service. Heavy users are those with more than 25,000 uses of Google Maps per year, which will bring in many of the most popular cycling sites.

The sites will be expected to pay at least $4 per 1,000 users of Google Maps and as much as $10 per 1,000 users if they are considered to be servicing "high value" customers, according to initial reports about the move to charge users.

There are 1,115,421 different websites or apps worldwide using Google Maps, according to site metric specialist Builtwith, but only 0.35% of those sites are likely to be affected by the charge.

Google Maps API product manager Thor Mitchell, said: "We understand that the introduction of these limits may be concerning, However, with continued growth in adoption of the Maps API, we need to secure its long-term future by ensuring that even when used by the highest volume for-profit sites, the service remains viable."

"By introducing these limits, we are ensuring that Google can continue to offer the Maps API free of charge to the vast majority of developers for many years to come."