A powerful way to represent your data

Let's take a look at the way powerful location data is being used in this constantly
changing world.
Click the arrow to learn more.


Data Boom

Ninety percent of the world’s data was generated in the last two years alone, and it’s
increasing at an exponential rate. For data to be relevant for decision making or driving
insights, it must be presented within a user’s context. A fundamental context
is location. 

The number of smart devices that use geo-location capabilities is increasing rapidly,
and knowing where data originates provides a clear relationship that enables
meaningful insights. Approximately 80% of all business data already has a location
component, according to Forbes.

Location capabilities provide a contextual connection and overlay between data that
doesn't seem to be linked or have an obvious relationship. Through location analytics,
businesses can achieve real insights, take action, and make meaningful business
decisions that can significantly increase both business performance and value.

A brief overview of Maps

Since Maps launched, it has evolved from a simple map tool to a full suite of
functionality using maps, routes, and places.

When Google launched the Google Maps API in 2006 it was one of Google's first
developer APIs and provided access to the rich geospatial and location data Google has
to offer.
From the early days of Maps, the product has evolved from functions that were quite
simple, like store locators, to powering billions of users across multiple industries
like ride-sharing, real estate, travel, gaming, and so much more. 

Our expectations as consumers have also changed. Today, we expect technology to

help us with our daily lives, like getting to work, buying groceries, or even assisting with
choosing dinner. Google Maps Platform is the foundation for this new wave of products
and services.

Google Maps Platform is constantly iterating to deepen our understanding of the real
world and to bring those improvements to our users and developers. And it’s not just
working with JavaScript, either.

Google Maps Platform supports iOS and Android SDKs for a range of ever-expanding

capabilities to bring the power of Google Maps frontend directly to the user, wherever
they are and whatever they’re doing.

Google Maps Platform products

Now that you’ve had an overview of what Google Maps is and what it does, let's explore
the core product offerings that make up the Google Maps Platform. 

The Google Maps Platform is a collection of products broken down into three
categories:

Maps

Maps

Geographic data for over 200 countries and territories, covering 99% of the world.

 Capable of building customized, agile experiences that bring the real world to
your users through blended static and dynamic maps, Street View imagery, and
360° views.


 Routes

Routes

40 million miles (65 million kilometers) of road networks worldwide.

Built with reliable navigation information wherever you are, helping users find the
best way to get from A to B with comprehensive location data and real-time
traffic updates.

Places

Places

150 million global places and locations.

Enabling you to discover a world overlaid with rich location data, with the ability
to find specific places using phone numbers, addresses, and real-time signals.

Each of these product categories, Maps, Routes, and Places, contains a collection of

SDKs and APIs. We’ll discuss these SDKs and APIs in greater detail in other sections of
the course - The Google Maps Platform Piece by Piece and Putting the APIs to Work.

Value proposition
Now that you have some idea of the products being offered, let's take a brief look at
how the Google Maps Platform turns insights into opportunities and can bring the real
benefits of the consumer platform to enterprises.

In 2005, Google Maps revolutionized the way people gain access to maps when geo-
data became digital. As smartphone technology became popular, geo-data digital
capabilities increasingly became dynamic, with increased usability and access to 3D
building images, directions, and place information. Now Maps integrates with cloud
computing, which supplies additional capabilities such as big data,
analytics, and machine learning (ML), to provide the next generation of real-time map
products and services.

The competitive strength of Google Maps

The Google Maps Platform is a powerful tool with an extensive feature set that
positions Maps as the top choice for customers who want to leverage visualization and
location services. However, it’s important to highlight the additional benefits that
differentiate Maps from our competitors.  

Google Maps Platform offers four key benefits:

•    Speed and scale

•    Global coverage
•    Rich, real-time data
•    Maps that users love

Let’s explore each of these benefits in a little more detail.

Speed and scale

Google’s future-proof infrastructure operates at 99.9% reliability and availability. It is
secure and global with high performance that is constantly improving and evolving.
Google’s network has thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable and uses advanced
software-defined networking and edge caching services to deliver fast, scalable, and
consistent performance. 

Customers can also trust the performance of Google Maps Platform when running their
applications across the globe. Similarly, customers can move from prototype, to
production, to planet-scale without capacity, reliability, or performance concerns. 
Global coverage
Google’s global coverage is a major differentiator. Over 99% of the world is mapped.
Routes has comprehensive, up-to-date driving directions covering 40 million miles (65
million kilometers) of roads in over 200 countries and regions. There are directions for
biking, walking, or public transit through more than 3.8 million train and bus stations,
20,000 towns/cities, and 78 countries. We’ve added 39 new languages for Google Maps
Platform, spoken by an estimated 1.25 billion people worldwide. We also provide real-
world views in 85 countries, as well as parts of the Arctic and Antarctica. With Street
View, customers and their users have access to detailed and accurate mapping data
that only Google can provide.

Rich, real-time data

With rich, real-time data, Google provides over 25 million daily updates to the map’s
application. Google Maps Platform is built from more than 1,000 authoritative sources,
including public and commercial mapping data, satellite, aerial, and street-level imagery,
and user contributions. Our users and local guides make millions of edits to local data
and map data every day. We calculate travel times based on real-time traffic data and
historical time-of-day and day-of-week traffic data. Our customers and their users have
access to real-time results based on user contributions and traffic flow at any time of
day.

Customers love our consumer maps!

Our customers love consumer maps! Over one billion people around the world use
Google Maps. On average, more than 650 million miles are driven daily with Google
Maps. Over 2 million active websites and apps use the Google Maps API every week.
Our customers and their users enjoy a familiar and friendly user experience with Google
Maps Platform.

At its core, Google Maps Platform allows businesses to incorporate customized maps
into their applications in order to help users understand where they are, find information
about places, and determine the best way to get from A to B.

The Internet of Things (IoT)

Platform for intelligent services
Now that you have learned about the key benefits that Google Maps Platform offers,
let’s take a look at how Google Cloud IoT can help expand these benefits to address all
your IoT needs.

Google Cloud IoT is a complete set of tools to connect, process, store, and analyze data
both at the edge and in the cloud. The platform consists of scalable, fully managed
cloud services—an integrated software stack for edge/on-premises computing with
machine learning capabilities.
Play the video to find out more.

IoT solution with location intelligence

Whether your IoT assets are indoors, in remote areas, or distributed across hundreds of
cities, track them with precision. Google Maps businesses are location-aware;
visualizing where their assets are located in real time, where they’ve traveled, and how
often they’ve moved.
Click the tabs to learn more. 
 Geocoding
 Geolocation API
Geocoding is the process of converting addresses (like "1600 Amphitheatre Parkway,
Mountain View, CA") into geographic coordinates (like latitude 37.423021 and longitude
-122.083739), which you can use to place markers or position the map. Reverse
geocoding is the process of converting geographic coordinates into a human-readable
address.

You can also use the Geocoding API to find the address for a given Place ID, which is a
unique identifier for every place in the world.

Knowledge check
Now that you have gained a basic understanding of what Google Maps Platform is, can
you answer the following questions?
Google Maps provides what percent coverage of the world?
Select the correct answer
90%

95%

99%
SubmitShow Feedback
Google Maps receives how many updates each day?
Select the correct answer

10 million

15 million

25 million
SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
Location data is critical to all industries and makes up 90% of all the world’s data
generated in the last two years alone. For data to be relevant for decision making or
driving insights, it must be within context. A fundamental context is location.

Google Maps offers three core products:

 Maps 
 Places
 Routes 

The competitive strengths are:

 Speed and scale

 Global coverage
 Rich, real-time data
 Maps that users love

Additional Resources
Google Maps Platform ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the What Is the Google Maps Platform module of the Google
Maps Tech Credential. You can revisit this module at any time. Click the button below
to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE

Business
Positioning
Let's talk Maps: Module 2
Introduction
In this module...
You’ll learn about the innovative ways that industries use the Google Maps Platform.
Additionally, you'll learn about the three guiding principles that drive the demand for
Google Maps, how the product adds to a business’s bottom line, and finally, where the
Platform is heading in the future.

You'll get answers to...

 What industries are great places to look for deals, and what are their use cases?
 How do the guiding principles of Google Maps Platform create demand for Maps?
 How is Google Maps Platform adding value to businesses?
 What does the future of the Google Maps Platform look like?

Industry use cases

The three core products of Google Maps Platform—Maps, Routes, and Places—are the
basic components of our location-based experience. Here are just a few examples of
their usage.

Local rides and delivery

Examples:

Matching riders and rides: ride-sharing companies like Lyft continue to develop and
expand throughout global markets.

Managing and routing fleets for small delivery firms, which are growing in number to
service online shopping.

 The growth of “Uber for deliveries”: independent operators make immediate deliveries
of meals, groceries, or business supplies.

Automotive
Examples:

Usage of in-car sensors to improve navigation, thus augmenting Google Maps

information from the in-car GPS unit.

Tuning a vehicle’s performance based on driver behaviors.

Predictive car maintenance.

Real estate
Examples:

Making a map available for property searches in an area, such as a ZIP code or any
polygon.
 Using icons to display property characteristics, such as for sale or for rent.

Assistance in shaping buying decisions through a consolidated view of the locality.

Financial
Examples:

Analyzing the location of transactions for use in risk management and fraud detection,
such as detecting that a credit card is being used in two places at the same time.

Analyzing driving behaviors to adjust insurance rates.

Improving retail customer experiences by providing a map on receipts to help with

customer loyalty and retention.

Fleet and asset tracking

Examples:

Monitoring mileage from a central location for the purpose of scheduling preventive
maintenance.

Predicting the best order to serve customers during a delivery run, and predicting delivery
arrival times to improve customer experience

Tracking global shipments, routing orders around weather and traffic, or calculating
when a delivery will arrive and monitoring potential shipment disruptions.

Mobile gaming
Examples:
 Using immersive games in the real world without the overhead of a global-scale game
world.

Overlaying augmented reality to render a game world over a real-world map or live
video.

 Enabling gameplay activities to be triggered based on a user’s location or introducing

social gameplay features based on multiple users’ locations.

Our guiding principles

As you have seen, industries use Google Maps Platform in many innovative ways.  

Let's review the three guiding principles Google Maps Platform follows to support such
innovation.
Click the + icon to find out more.

Simple

Scalable

Better with Cloud

Google Maps APIs add value to the bottom line

The info-graphic details measurable business value achieved by customers using
Google Maps Platform.

Thinking ahead
We are working toward improving several different areas. These improvements will
allow Google Maps Platform to continue supporting the industries we have previously
seen convert data into insights.
Click the arrow to scroll and learn more


Investment across Google

In addition to the investments that Google Maps Platform continues to make, Google is
making synergistic investments across the company that benefit Google Maps and vice
versa, such as Android Auto, Waymo, Cloud ML, Waze, and Gaming. For example, the
billions of Android devices and cars fitted with Android Auto provide real-time traffic
signals and road conditions, and our highly accurate maps help Waymo vehicles
navigate quickly and safely. And Google is betting big on the gaming space:
from ARCore↗, Maps to Cloud, and YouTube, we’re helping game developers shape the
next generation of games.
Knowledge check
Now that you have explored how Google Maps Platform is the key element of any
location-based experience, can you match the example to its industry?
Drag the actions and drop them into the box matching their industry.

Automotive

Mobile gaming

Local rides and delivery

Fleet and asset tracking

Enabling gameplay activity to be triggered based on a user’s location

Tracking global shipments, routing orders around weather and traffic, or calculating when a delivery will
arrive and monitoring potential shipment disruptions

Tuning a vehicle’s performance based on driver behavior

Matching riders and rides: ride-sharing companies like Lyft are continuing to develop throughout
global markets
SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
Now that you know the guiding principles that Google Maps follows when making
changes, can you name one of these guiding principles?
Select the correct answer.

Scalable

Frugal

Customer obsession

Think big

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
Businesses are leveraging the power of Google Maps technology to provide their
customers and employees with exceptional location-relevant experiences and making
an impact on their bottom line.

The guiding principles of Google Maps are to:

 Simplify 18 individual APIs into three core products — Maps, Routes, and Places — to
make development and adoption easier for customers, whilst providing
straightforward pricing that gives access to all our core APIs.
 Scale easily as business grows.
 Integrate with Google Cloud Platform Console to make it easier to track usage, manage
your projects, and discover new innovative Cloud products.

Google Maps will continue to transform industries and improve people's lives as smart
investments are made, the IoT expands, logistics and location insights continue to be
developed, and new technology becomes available.
Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Business Positioning module of the Google Maps Tech
Credential. If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click
the button below to close this window and return to the course main menu.

Qualifying an
Opportunity
Let's talk Maps: Module 3
Introduction
In this module...
You will learn what a valid Google Maps Platform sales opportunity looks like and,
equally as important, what one doesn’t look like.
You’ll also receive guidance on what you should look for during a discovery
conversation to correctly position and qualify an opportunity using opportunity
triggers, while considering opportunities that may look great but could actually be deal-
breakers.
You'll get answers to...
 How to qualify an opportunity.
 What a valid opportunity for a Google Maps Platform solution sale look like.
 What to look out for in a discovery conversation to know whether your customer is
considering purchasing a Google Maps Platform solution.
 What to look out for in discovery conversations that indicates that the Google Maps
Platform is not the right fit for the customer.

The solution
Meet Peter and Bethany…
Read a story about Bethany and Peter of ProFurniture.  Toward the end of this module,
you will conduct a conversation with them regarding their needs.

Click the arrows to learn about Bethany, the Head of Sales, and Peter, the COO, and their
situation.


Meet Bethany...
Bethany is the Head of Sales for ProFurniture, a furniture supplier that specializes in
supplying businesses with furniture delivered right to the door.

In the past, ProFurniture was primarily a large-scale wholesaler of office furniture for
new builds, office moves, and office re-models. In recent years, ProFurniture has
implemented an online shopping catalog on their website to allow office managers to
quickly and easily browse for, and purchase, smaller orders online. 

Bethany believes that the online sales function is under-utilized and offers a real

opportunity for ProFurniture to modernize and grow their business.

How to qualify an opportunity

Now that you've learned about the business problem statement, it's time to look at how
to qualify sales opportunities for Google Maps Platform.

As a technical sales professional, your primary job is Solution Validation.

There are a few questions that you can ask to get a better idea of how Google Maps
Platform can satisfy ProFurniture's needs. Think back to Bethany, and how these
questions could be relevant to increasing sales.

 What is the business impact of the problem?

 Do our products and solutions meet the customer’s needs?
 What are the customer's architecture and technical requirements?
 Is the customer being sold something they don’t need?
 Does the stated use case comply with our Terms of Service (ToS)?
 Are there any red flags? (e.g., does it sound like they’re caching Places indefinitely to
create some third-party product or using imagery to extract a product (derivative
rights))?
 Quota estimation—how much does the customer use each month?

You’ll need to figure out the daily expected call volume to each of the services the
customer is expected to need; you’ll also need to calculate an estimate for annual map
credits and account for growth or spikes in usage due to seasonality.

The big green flags

Let’s look at some standard Google Maps Platform opportunity triggers to look out for
in a customer conversation.

Note: You will be having a conversation with Peter and Bethany later on in the module

on how to use Google Maps Platform to boost sales, so make sure you keep these
triggers in mind.

Online sales
If the customer wants an online sales feature, you are looking at a prime
candidate for autocomplete. All e-commerce verticals are prime targets for
 our autocomplete service. Shopping cart abandonment is a major issue for any
online sales site, and autocomplete is the top method for minimizing user
bounce-off pre-checkout.

Registration
Online form completion is a labor-intensive and frustrating process and proves to
be a major blocker for the casual internet user, which leads to significant bounce-
off during online registration. With autocomplete, the number of users losing
interest and walking away can be greatly reduced.

User addresses
If your customer needs to know where their users are, the user addresses may
need to be in a format that is readable by the system. There are many ways a
user can write their address, and although each way may make sense, the
system will not necessarily understand. In order to ensure that the service can
locate users, use autocomplete to assist in the address entry.

Scheduling
If  your customer discusses scheduling as a business priority, this is a good
opportunity to open a discussion around leveraging Routes APIs to assist them.
Travel time is an important consideration when considering any scheduling
function that includes getting from point A to B. Using Google's Routes APIs is a
great way to ensure that users have an accurate schedule.

Deliveries/Shipping
 If your customer’s business includes the transport of assets, this should be
considered a high-priority Google Maps Platform opportunity. Asset tracking is
one of the core verticals that Google Maps Platform services. If this is
mentioned, you should immediately scope the opportunity for Google Maps
Platform.

Customer pickup
If your customer mentions that their business includes pickup and transport of
people, you should consider this to be a priority opportunity for Google Maps
Platform. Ride-sharing is a core vertical for Google Maps; when it is identified in a
prospect, you should immediately begin to scope the opportunity for Google
Maps Platform.  

Mobile gaming/Augmented reality 

If your client is involved in mobile gaming and their offering includes an
augmented reality aspect, this should be considered a high-priority Google Maps
Platform opportunity. Augmented reality games are inherently location-sensitive,
and Google Maps is highly motivated to ensure that they are involved in this type
of gaming. When augmented reality mobile gaming is identified, you should
immediately begin to scope the opportunity for Google Maps Platform.

Fraud detection
Fraud detection can be a complex process; an effective augmentation to this
process, however, can be through use of the Google Maps Routes APIs. Google
Maps Platform can calculate the likelihood that a user action is legitimate based
on the possibility of their traveling from point A to point B in the time between
actions.
 

Locations
Kind of a no-brainer. If your client is performing a function that yields or requires
a lot of location-specific data, there is a good chance that they can benefit from
the Google Maps Platform. Whether it’s collecting or interpreting spatial data, no
solution out there can out-perform Google Maps.

Using Autocomplete to reduce shopping cart

abandonment
The problem
Now that you have explored a few different opportunity triggers, it's time to delve deeper
into the specific problem posed and identify the opportunity for Google Maps Platform
to provide a solution using Google Places Autocomplete API.

When users shop online, additional steps or complexity in the checkout process can
lead to shopping cart abandonment; that is, customers put items in their online
shopping carts but leave before completing the purchase.

According to a study by the Baymard Institute, as of November 2015, the

average shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.53%. Although customers may decide
to abandon their shopping carts before checking out for a number of reasons—such as
hidden shipment costs, lack of payment options, or simply window shopping—too many
steps or complexity in the checkout process remains a top reason why a significant
number of purchases are not completed.

Increase conversion rates with Google Places Autocomplete

API
Address entry is time-consuming. The Google Places Autocomplete API can reduce
friction in the checkout process by providing a single, quick entry field with "type-
ahead" address prediction that can be used to automatically populate a full billing or
shipping address form.
How it works
When the user selects the Autocomplete entry box and begins typing, a list of address
suggestions appears.

When the user selects an address from the list of suggestions, the application can then
populate the correct fields of the address entry form:

Why use it?

By incorporating the Google Places Autocomplete API into your online shopping cart,
you can: 

 Reduce address entry errors. 

 Decrease the number of steps in the checkout process.
 Simplify the address entry experience on mobile or wearable devices. 
 Significantly reduce the total time required for a customer to place an order.
 Decrease the length of the checkout process by up to 64%.
 Reduce cart abandonment by 3–5%.
Getting started with the Google Places Autocomplete API
It only takes a couple of lines of JavaScript code to incorporate the Google Places
Autocomplete API into a customer’s website. 

1. Include the Google Maps API JavaScript library in their site and specify the Places
library (Code Snip 1).

2. Add a text box to your page (Code Snip 2).

3. Initialize the Autocomplete service (Code Snip 3).

The Google Places Autocomplete API is also available as a web service and natively in
the Google Places API for iOS and Google Places API for Android.

Tips to further enhance your customer experience

 Allow users to enter an address based on a business or point-of-interest name. The
"type ahead" prediction service doesn’t just work for addresses; customers can also
 allow business or landmark names to be entered. After a user enters a business name,
it’s easy to get the address with a call to Place Details.

 Show a map to provide visual confirmation of the delivery location. After address entry,
it’s easy to show a map to give the user visual confirmation of the delivery location. This
can provide the customer with some additional assurance that the delivery address is
correct and reduce delivery failures. This can be accomplished on a web page with the
Google Maps JavaScript API or in a confirmation email with the Google Static Maps API.

 Customize the look and feel of the Autocomplete API box to match your website style.
Customers can also style the Autocomplete widget to match the look and feel of their
shopping cart. A set of CSS classes are available for customization. Click here for more
information on how to style your autocomplete box.

 Bias the address suggestions to a particular geographic region. The suggestions

returned by Autocomplete can be biased to a specific geographic area or
a viewport defined by a Google Map on the customer's site. The results can also be
restricted to a particular country. This ensures that users always receive the most
relevant address suggestions. 

Disqualifying an opportunity
The big red flags
So far, we have explored some Google Maps Platform opportunity indicators to take
note of in a conversation with a customer. 

Now let’s take a look at some red flags that you should look out for when qualifying an
opportunity for Google Maps Platform.

Below are some examples of “Maps opportunities” that probably aren’t for Google

purposes. Here, we will dig in to qualify or disqualify these opportunities.

We will be looking at a lot of deal-breakers here, while keeping in mind that, sometimes,
there are things we CAN support with Maps Platform either partially or in totality.

Derivative works
During a sales team conversation, either an FSR or ISR says, “This new prospect wants
to do something significant for their business with Google Maps, they have some
questions about using Google’s data for….”
You might not always get a red flag like “they have some questions about using
Google’s data,” but it will come up occasionally. Be cautious about opportunities that
want to do something in bulk with Google Maps APIs or the underlying data.

Places

Routes

Maps

1.
2.
3.
4.

A good fit?
Continuing the sales conversation, a sales rep says; “This new prospect said they use
maps a lot—I think they said ‘ESRI’...”

This is an example that would probably not be a good fit, but then again, maybe it would.
Have the sales rep dig a little deeper into exactly what ESRI products the prospect is
using and what they’re used for.
Rule of thumb
The Google Maps Platform allows customers to visualize spatial data they own or
created, on a web and mobile interface. If the prospect is trying to do something
radically different from this, it probably isn't a great fit for the Google Maps Platform.

ArcGIS and disqualifying an opportunity

What is ArcGIS?

ArcGIS is a tool for working with maps and geographic information. The use of ArcGIS
by a prospective customer is not automatically a deal-breaker, but there are many
applications of ArcGIS that would disqualify a customer from being a valid Google Maps
Platform prospect.
ArcGIS Desktop
Let’s look at some of the features of ArcGis Desktop.

Simple map visualization

Printing/plotting maps regularly

Joining tabular data with spatial data

Digitizing (tracing) features from Imagery to create new datasets

Network topology/editing (creating or modifying complex networks such as roads or
utility lines, and potentially even routing or geocoding against them)

Raster analysis (running algorithms against imagery or terrain type data)

Vector analysis, buffer and select, and zonal statistics





ArcGIS Server
ArcGIS Server CAN be hosted on Google Cloud Platform, and some customers are doing
just this.

A basic web-hosted Map with layers you can turn on and off

Geoprocessing APIs

Imagery processing and serving

ArcGIS Online
Let’s look at some of the features of ArcGis Online.

All the things ArcGIS Server does, but a managed service billed by consumption and
running on AWS
Story Maps

Knowledge check
Now that you have looked at identifying opportunities, can you recognize which of the
following topics are opportunity indicators that the Google Maps Platform would be a
suitable product for the customer?
Select the correct answer. 

Customer pickup

Online sales

Mobile gaming

Fraud detection

All of the above 

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
What is ArcGIS?

Select the correct answer. 

ArcGIS is a tool for working with maps and geographic information.

ArcGIS is a navigational tool developed for nautical GPS navigation. 

ArcGIS is a geographic database designer as a plugin for Google Maps.
SubmitShow Feedback

Conduct the conversation

Now it's time to pull it all together! Remember Bethany and Peter?

You have scheduled a meeting with both Bethany and Peter. Bethany has shown an
interest in using Google Maps Platform to boost her online sales. It’s time to learn about
their needs and concerns and figure out whether a Maps solution is a good fit for their
company.
Choose the best question or statement to use throughout the conversation. 
Progress

0%

You are starting your conversation with Bethany and Peter. Read the conversation
below, select the best option, and watch the progress bar move with every correct
answer. 

Bethany: “As I mentioned in my mail, I am the head of sales at ProFurniture, and this is

Peter, who is our Chief Operating Officer.” 

Peter: “Nice to meet you. I am interested in seeing what solutions Google Maps

Platform can provide to help us grow.”

Bethany: “We are looking to improve sales in our online store and thought that Google
Maps could provide opportunities for expanding this side of the business.”

You: “Great! I would be happy to help! I would like to learn more about your current
situation and discuss how we can help.”

Select a question to get the conversation going.

Is shopping cart abandonment an issue for you?Have you had any previous experience with
using asset tracking to manage your fleet of delivery vehicles?What kind of scheduling
challenges do you face during the operation of your deliveries on a day-to-day basis?

Try again from the startShow my choices

Recap
Top takeaways
 We looked at specific topical opportunity indicators within an example conversation that
indicate whether Google Maps Platform would be a suitable match for the customer.
These include the customer's need to have any of the following in the app: online sales,
user registration, user addresses, scheduling, deliveries, pick up, gaming, fraud detection,
and locations.

 We explored a range of opportunity indicators that suggest Google Maps Platform

would not be a good fit for a customer. If it sounds like the customer intends on doing a
lot more than building a web application or simply loading their data on a map to see it in
a spatial context, it probably isn’t a fit for Maps Platform. This might involve one-off
instances of harvesting locations or routes for private use.

 We also explored ArcGIS and how the use of ArcGIS by a prospective customer might
disqualify the customer from using the Google Maps Platform.
Additional resources
GMP Product News ↗

ArcGIS ↗

 
Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Qualifying an Opportunity module of the Google Maps
Tech Credential. If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time.
Click the button below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE

Maps
The Google Maps Platform Piece by Piece: Module 2
Introduction
In this module...
You’ll dig deeper into the Maps product and discover what geocoding  is and how it’s
used. Additionally, you'll investigate what APIs are available within Maps and some of
the solutions that have been tailored for various scenarios across different industries.
You'll get answers to...
 What does the Maps product offer customers?
 What is geocoding and how can it be used?
 What APIs are available within Maps?
 What are some of the solutions provided by Maps?

Maps
Maps, a core product
Let’s take a closer look at Maps. This is where it all started and is commonly what most
people think of first when Google Maps comes to mind. Maps is a product offering that
allows users to visualize the world in rich digital detail and accuracy. Customers can
build customized experiences that bring the real world to their users with static and
dynamic maps, Street View imagery, and 360° views.

The benefits
Businesses can benefit from the countless possibilities that location-based contexts
provide them. The following are a few examples of these contexts:

Visualize your world with rich, accurate maps

Real-time data

Customize your maps

Build maps experiences throughout the world

360-degree street view

Geocoding
Now that you have learned about the many benefits that Google Maps offers, let’s take a
closer look at one of the many location services available via the Google Maps Platform
APIs: Geocoding. 

It's important to note that most of these services can be used either on the server side,
for example as part of a process running in a script, or on the client side as part of user-
facing code.
Play the video to learn a little more about Geocoding.

APIs and SDKs

An Application Programming Interface (API) is pre-packaged code that converts user
commands into usable functions, requests data from servers, forms the data into a
viewable format for the user, and even carries the data between applications that use
the same APIs. They are like pre-made building blocks of consistent coding used to
achieve specific tasks.

A Software Development Kit (SDK) usually contains APIs, but also code samples,
libraries, relevant documentation, processes, and tools. Tool developers and other third
parties can build software applications using SDKs by adapting and fitting the code and
APIs together. These developers tap into the power of APIs and make it much easier to
create new software that is functional and reliable.  
Maps APIs
Now that you have an understanding of what they are, let’s take a look at the SDKs and
APIs that are available for Maps.
Select each tab to find out more.

 Maps SDK
 Maps Static API
 Maps JavaScript API
 Street View Static API
 Embed API
With the Maps SDK for Android and iOS, customers can add maps based on Google
Maps data to their applications. The SDK automatically handles access to Google Maps
servers, data downloading, map display, and responses to map gestures. Customers
can also use API calls to add markers, lines, polygons, and overlays to a basic map and
to change the user's view of a particular map area. These objects provide additional
information for map locations and allow user interaction with the map.

Benefits: 
 Customers who want to leverage the power of an Android-enabled or iOS-enabled mobile
device can use the Maps SDK.
 Customers can have Google Maps at the touch of a finger on phones and other mobile
devices. 
 Users can create Street View panoramas, allowing imagery to be manipulated and
panned 360 degrees.

Example:

Maps use cases


 
UniCredit  

UniCredit is a successful pan-European Commercial Bank, with fully plugged-in

Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), delivering a unique Western, Central, and
Eastern European network to its extensive client franchise of 26 million clients. 

UniCredit offers both local and international expertise to its clients and provides them
with unparalleled access to leading banks in its 14 core markets through its European
banking network. Leveraging an international network of representative offices and
branches, UniCredit serves clients in another 18 countries worldwide.

Industries: Financial Services & Insurance

Location: Italy


Glitnir Ticketing 

Glitnir Ticketing provides a feature-rich ticketing software, integrating 360-degree seat

views, plus related services for athletic, performing arts, and multi-purpose venues
throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The company’s system
is recognized by MLB Advanced Media as an official ticketing vendor for its minor
league baseball system.

Industries: Technology
Location: United States


 


Allstate  

The Allstate Corporation is the largest publicly held personal lines property and casualty
insurer in America, serving more than 16 million households nationwide. Founded in
1931, Allstate has been dedicated to protecting their customers from life's uncertainties
and preparing them for the future for more than 87 years.

Industries: Financial Services & Insurance

Location: United States
Knowledge check
A customer wants to embed a Google Maps image on their web page without requiring
JavaScript or any dynamic page loading. Which two Maps APIs could they use?
Select the correct answers. 

Maps Static API

Maps JavaScript API

Street View

Maps Embed API

Places API

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
A customer wants to customize maps with their own content and imagery for display on
web pages and mobile devices. What Maps API should they use?
Select the correct answer. 

Maps JavaScript API

Street View API

Maps SDK for Android and iOS

Maps Embed API

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takea

Routes
The Google Maps Platform Piece by Piece: Module 3
Introduction
In this module...
You will learn what the Routes product within Google Maps Platform provides
customers, what APIs are used within the Routes category, and what types of solutions
have been used in different use cases across different industries.

You'll get answers to...

 What can businesses do with Routes?
  What are the different APIs within Routes used for?
 What are some of the solutions that have been provided with Routes?

Routes
The Routes product category
Routes presents users with the best way to get from A to B with high-quality directions
and real-time traffic updates. Users can determine the route a vehicle travels to create
precise itineraries. Let’s take a look at the benefits provide by the Routes APIs and look
at each of them in a little more detail.

The benefits
Let's explore how Routes can be used across different industries and look at some of
the benefits it provides.

A world on the move

Lower costs and improve experiences

Optimize the workforce

Reliable directions, globally

Rely on Google to scale as you grow
Building on the same infrastructure that serves billions of Google Maps users and
delivers over 800 million routes a day, count on a platform that will scale and flex as you
do.

Routes APIs
Now we'll look at how APIs for Routes enable businesses to provide users with the best
way to get from A to B with high-quality directions and real-time traffic updates. This is
location data at its richest and most intuitive—helping businesses expand, optimize, and
increase efficiency. 

The three Routes APIs we will look at now are Directions API, Distance Matrix
API, and Roads API.

Directions API
The Directions API calculates directions between locations using an HTTP web
interface.

Benefits:

 Users can incorporate real-time or predictive travel time from point A to point B.
 Businesses can choose faster routes or re-allocate deliveries to workers based on real-
time traffic conditions.
 Businesses can use predictive traffic models to plan ahead, keeping their workers out of
slow-downs while decreasing late deliveries.

With the Directions API, users can:

 Search for directions for several modes of transportation, including transit, driving,
walking, or cycling. Return multi-part directions using a series of waypoints.
 Specify origins, destinations, and waypoints as text strings (e.g., "Chicago, IL" or "Darwin,
NT, Australia"), or as latitude/longitude coordinates, or as place IDs.
  Optimize the provided route by automatically rearranging the waypoints in a more
efficient order.
 Influence routes with stopover and pass-through points.

Watch this MapsZen Not Lost video where Ankur Kotwal uncovers the Directions APIs. 
Distance Matrix API
The Distance Matrix API provides travel distance and time for a matrix of origins and
destinations.

The Distance Matrix API returns information based on the recommended route between
start and end points, as calculated by the Google Maps Directions API, and consists of
rows that contain duration and distance values for each pair. The Distance Matrix API
leverages real-time traffic information to provide the most applicable responses.

Benefits:
Imagine a user in a city looking for a Starbucks coffee shop. They can use their position
and the 5 closest (by direct distance) Starbucks as their Distance Matrix set, and then
calculate and rank actual travel distances to each Starbucks. This is extremely powerful
because, for example, if a user just looked at the straight-line distance, they might
choose a Starbucks that is across a river, necessitating a walk 20 minutes away to find
a bridge—so it wasn't really the closest.

With the Distance Matrix API, users can:

 Make multiple directions calls, including traffic and/or modality, in one call.
 Determine the distances to X number of locations around them, and also factor in how
long it will take to get to each location.

Example: 

Roads API
The Roads API identifies the roads a vehicle is traveling on and provides additional
metadata about those roads, such as speed limits. Additionally, Roads API allows users
to map GPS coordinates to the geometry of the road and to determine the speed limit
along those road segments.

Benefits:
The Roads API uses GPS points collected along a route to snap to the most likely roads
the vehicle was traveling on, giving the user a better idea of where they are. 
With the Roads API, users can:
 Map GPS coordinates to the geometry of the road and receive an interpolated path
matching the best fit. 
 Determine the speed limit for a specific PlaceId (road segment) or coordinate, path of
coordinates or list of PlaceIds.
 Find out how fast they are traveling.
 Identify the roads that a vehicle is traveling on.

Example:

Routes use cases


honestbee 

honestbee is Asia's leading online concierge and delivery service, with the goal of
making life easier by taking care of its customers' time-consuming daily chores. Since
its founding in 2014, honestbee has grown to serve 8 cities across 36 partners and
deliver more than 90,000 products.

Industries: Retail & Consumer Goods

Location: Singapore


 
Mozio 

Founded in 2012, Mozio was born out of CEO David Litwak’s experiences traveling to
over 60 countries and struggling to find the best local options for getting around. A
technology company at heart, Mozio is focused on helping connect customers, local
companies, and global travel brands to turn what can be one of the most confusing
parts of any trip—getting to and from the airport—into a delightful experience.

Industries: Travel & Hospitality

Location: United States


Results 

 Drivers spend less time on the road, with employee overtime reduced by 25%.
 Customers can track details about driving habits, which has led to a 50%
decrease in inefficient driving.
 Companies have been able to reduce the number of deliveries to incorrect
addresses by 20%.
Knowledge check
Which API allows users to map GPS coordinates to the geometry of the road and to
determine the speed limit along those road segments??

Select the correct answer. 

Distance Matrix API

Roads API 
Directions API

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
Which API returns information based on the recommended route between start and end
points, as calculated by the Google Maps Directions API, and consists of rows that
contain duration and distance values for each pair of points?
Select the correct answer. 

Distance Matrix API 

Directions API

Roads API

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 Routes allows users to determine the best route to travel and to create precise
itineraries.

 Routes uses location data at its richest and most intuitive—helping businesses expand,
optimize and increase efficiency.

 The three APIs that support Routes are Directions API, Distance Matrix API, and Roads
API. 

 Routes APIs enable businesses to provide users with the best way to get from A to B,
with high-quality directions and real-time traffic updates.
Additional resources
Google Maps Solutions ↗
Google Maps Solutions Customer Reference ↗

Directions API ↗

Distance Matrix API  ↗

Roads API ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Routes module of the Google Maps Tech Credential. If you
ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click the button below
to close this window and return to the course main menu.

Places
The Google Maps Platform Piece by Piece: Module 4
Introduction
In this module...
You'll learn about the product features that Places provides customers, what APIs are
used within Places, and finally, the business situations and types of solutions that have
been used across different industries.
You'll get answers to...
 What can businesses do with Places?
 What are the different APIs within Places used for?
 What are some solutions that have been provided with Places?

Places
The Places product category
The final product category of Google Maps Platform is Places. Users can discover the
world with rich location data for over 100 million places, enabling them to find specific
places using phone numbers, addresses, and real-time signals.

The benefits
Lets explore just some of what Places can do and look at the many ways it enhances
user experiences. 

Keep up with constant change

Exploring the world around them

Build with comprehensive location data all over the globe 

Powerful location detection capabilities 

Automatically suggest addresses as users type

Find specific places 

Places APIs
The following tabs provide an overview of the different Places APIs and the features
and benefits available to users and list some examples where these APIs can be used. 
Select each tab to find out more.

 Android/iOS SDK
 Places Library
 Places API
 Geocoding API
 Geolocation API
 Time zone API
The Places SDK for Android and iOS allows users to build location-aware apps that
respond contextually to the local businesses and other places near the device. This
means they can build rich apps based on places that mean something to the user.
 
A place is defined as a physical space that has a name. Another way of thinking about a
place is that it's anything you can find on a map. Examples include local businesses,
points of interest, and geographic locations. In the API, a place is represented by the
GMSPlace Class Reference. It includes information such as the name of the place and
its address, geographical location, place ID, phone number, place type, and website URL.
 
Benefits: 
 Users can discover more about the place around them—shops, restaurants, places of
interest, etc.—from Android or iOS devices in the palms of their hands.
 Developers can unleash their creativity and make their apps intelligently adapt their
behavior based on the user's location and what is around them.
 
Example: Unlocking Location Context with the Android Places API

Places use cases


Great!Schools
GreatSchools is the leading national nonprofit empowering parents to unlock
educational opportunities for their children. GreatSchools' trusted ratings and school
information help parents find the right school for their family and improve schools in
their communities. The thousands of articles, tips, and interactive tools help parents
support their children's learning and wellbeing every day. Families, community leaders,
and policy-makers turn to GreatSchools for the school information they need to guide
children to great futures.

Industries: Non-profit
Location: United States


Tripping 

Tripping.com, headquartered in San Francisco, is the world's largest site for vacation
homes and short-term rentals. With over 12 million properties in 190 countries,
tripping.com makes it easy to compare vacation rentals from dozens of top sites,
including HomeAway, TripAdvisor, and Booking.com. Tripping.com's mission is to help
travelers find the perfect place to stay on their next trip.

Industries: Travel & Hospitality

Location: United States
Knowledge check
Which of the following allows users to build location-aware apps that respond
contextually to the local businesses and other places near the device?
Select the correct answer. 

Places Library
Places SDK for Android and iOS 

Time Zone API

Distance Matrix API

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
Which of the following APIs uses HTTP requests to return information about
establishments, geographic locations, or prominent points of interest?

Select the correct answer. 

Distance Matrix API 

Places API

Routes API

Roads API

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 The Places product category gives users the ability to discover the world with rich
location data for over 100 million places.

 Places enables users to find specific places using phone numbers, addresses, and real-
time signals.
  Places features include Place Details, Current Place, Find Place, Geocoding, Geolocation,
and TimeZone. More information about Google Maps Platform can be found at
this website.

Additional resources
Google Maps Solutions ↗

Google Maps Solutions Customer References ↗

Places SDK for Android ↗

Places SDK for iOS ↗

Places Library (Maps JavaScript API) ↗

Places API ↗

Geocoding API ↗

Geolocation API ↗

Time Zone API ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Places module of the Google Maps Tech Credential. If you
ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click the button below
to close this window and return to the course main menu.
 The Benefits of a
Google Cloud
and Maps Platform
Ecosystem
The Google Maps Platform Piece by Piece: Module 5
Introduction
In this module...
You'll examine the ways that Google Maps Platform integrates with Google Cloud
Platform and how to have a relevant conversation with a customer on this topic.
You'll get answers to...
 What are the features, advantages, and benefits of integrating Google Cloud Platform
with Google Maps Platform?

Understanding the Google Maps and Cloud

relationship
So far, you have learned about the three core components that make up the Google
Maps Platform; Maps, Routes, and Places.

As a Google Maps Customer Engineer (CE), it is key that you understand the features,
advantages, and benefits of these Google Maps Platform components when integrated
with the Google Cloud Platform. Similarly, you need a clear understanding of the
differentiated competitive advantage this integrated solution offers. Finally, you should
be able to recognize the differences between content  and infrastructure  to ensure
compliance with Google’s Terms of Service (ToS). 

In many instances, a customer’s immediate needs will be a part of a larger requirement

being fulfilled by the Google Cloud Platform. Conversely, it might be to both our and the
customer's benefit to integrate both capabilities, because of the many advantages that
can provide the customer.

Compelling benefits
As you’ve seen, the Google Maps Platform allow customers to have access to rich
content, such as address data, local business data, routing and traffic algorithms, and
maps visualizations. What Google Cloud Platform provides is an extensive range of
products for high-performance infrastructure, scalable storage, and machine
learning (ML) capabilities.  

This intersection is what makes our offering so compelling relative to that of our
competitors. 

Integrating GCP and Maps Platform

The benefits
Let’s learn a bit more about the benefits that integrating Google Cloud Platform and
Google Maps Platform can provide to businesses.

Secure high-performance infrastructure

A platform that will flex and scale as businesses do

Get a better ROI from your data

Securely manage and analyze IoT devices

Seamless experience

Maps on Google Cloud Platform, solutions

that can scale

Crisis Maps 
In the Crisis Map example below, you can see Google Maps Platform working with
Google Cloud Platform seamlessly to provide an integrated solution that can scale in
real time to supply its users with a reliable solution when it matters most.

With the open-source Crisis Maps application, Google has proven that we know how to
scale Maps to very high traffic levels and share critical information with the public. 

Crisis Maps is not a commercial application; it runs on App Engine and can be deployed
in a customer’s project if they want a private version, but at its core it is built on App
Engine, Google Cloud Storage, Cloud CDN, and Maps APIs and is a good example of
the types of architecture that a governmental (or commercial) agency should use when
they need to ensure that critical spatial data is accessible to their users.
Hurricane Sandy Crisis Map

During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, affected areas lost power for up to two weeks, and the
regional gasoline shortage during freezing temperatures saw people trying to find gas
for their generators. The Google Crisis Response team helped identify gas stations that
were either open or closed from the NJ OEM (which was just being released as a PDF
each day), and they created an interactive layer on the Sandy Crisis Map that was
dynamically updated by volunteers using Google Sheets.
 List of active gas stations

 Active gas stations represented on the crisis map

When it doesn't work...

When a platform isn't suited to the task it might struggle to perform as intended when
crisis strikes. Let’s take a look at an example of a non-GCP crisis map solution in a
similar situation.
Know Your Zone
Infamously, the failure mentioned above happened to the Virginia Department of
Emergency Management (VDEM). The agency built a simple GIS tool, “Know Your
Zone,” which lets citizens type in their address and then, via a point-in-polygon query, it
tells them what Hurricane Evacuation Zone they are in. This is critical information when
the Governor orders an evacuation of specific zones before hurricane landfall.

VDEM started tweeting about this tool as Hurricane Florence drew closer. The media
amplified this message on TV, radio, and social media, and very quickly this heavily
promoted critical tool went offline. The downtime continued for 24 hours.

Screenshot of the VDEM “Know Your Zone” tool  

Tweets regarding the deterioration of the Know Your Zone crisis map


 

Google Cloud Platform to the rescue

Meanwhile, the Google Cloud Public Sector and Crisis Response teams reached out to
VDEM and had the Zones hosted on Carto (a web GIS software-as-a-service partner that
runs on Google Cloud Platform), which had no issue serving the content to the Crisis
Map's millions of users.
Knowledge check
Now that you have learned about the advantages of combining Google Maps Platform
and Google Cloud Platform, let's apply your knowledge.

Which use case is the strongest indicator of a Google Cloud Platform + Maps use case?
Select the correct answer.

Your customer processes a lot of transactions with addresses and requires low latency.

Your customer wants to rebrand Google imagery with their logo.

Your customer purchases a lot of used vehicles.

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
As previously seen, one of the advantages of combining the Google Cloud Platform and
Maps is getting a better ROI from your data. 

Now, select one benefit that BigQuery can provide businesses. 

Select the correct answer.

Reduces the need for customers to manage their own data infrastructure.

Enables businesses to analyze and visualize geospatial data using familiar C#.
It’s the only data warehouse software that can be used.

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
Google Cloud Platform integrated with Google Maps Platform is a great match because
they’re co-located, and it can provide:

 A secure infrastructure

 Low latency

 Scalability

 Better ROI with your data

 Secure collection, visualization, and analysis of IoT data in real time

 One Google experience with everything on the same console

Additional resources
About Google Crisis Map ↗

Google Cloud solutions and products | Google Cloud site ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing The Benefits of a Google Cloud Platform and Maps Platform
Ecosystem module of the Google Maps Tech Credential. You can revisit this module at
any time. Click the button below to close this window and return to the course main
menu.
Technical Discovery
Let's Get Technical: Module 1
Introduction
0:00 / 1:33

In this module...
You'll learn how to conduct an effective technical discovery by reviewing the areas you
should cover during customer questioning and the types of questions you should
consider asking during the discovery process.

You'll get answers to...

 What process should be used to conduct a technical discovery?
 What questions should be covered during a technical discovery?
 What should be the reasoning behind your questions?
 What should be the main outcome of having a technical discovery?

The solution
Meet Doug and Kathy...
Read a story about Doug and Kathy of GoCabless, Inc. This story will be referenced
throughout the content. At the end of this module, you will conduct a conversation with
them regarding their needs.

Click the arrows to learn about Doug, the CMO, and Kathy, the CTO, and their situation...


 
Meet Doug...
Doug is the CMO for GoCabless, a transportation network company that offer taxi-
hailing and peer-to-peer ride-sharing services.

It’s time to revamp their current offering. Doug is interested in revolutionizing the way
that GoCabless does business. He wants to expand their application capabilities and
make GoCabless a big player in the ride-sharing market.

He is heading up a new initiative with Kathy to take their service to the next level. He
wants a cutting-edge product that will enable his company to increase their market
share in this space.
.

Getting started
So now that you know how to qualify a customer opportunity and what Google Cloud
Platform + Google Maps Platform offers, it's time to investigate how it might be
possible to integrate a Google solution into your customer's system.

This is where technical discovery comes into play. You have to ask specific questions
to try to spot possible enablers and roadblocks. During the technical discovery phase,
you will find out your customer's key requirements, explore their business and system
landscape, and dive deeper into any other contributing factors that will affect the
success of the project.

Technical and non-technical discovery

In order for technical discovery to begin, each of the following must be considered: 

 Budget: Will anyone invest in it?

 Authority: Has this been approved?
 Need: Does the customer genuinely need this?
 Timeframe: Has a specific timeline been set?
 Objections: What issues might arise?

Think back to Doug and Kathy. How might these questions apply to their situation?
When each of these categories has been satisfied, a technical discovery can go ahead. 
Although you will be focused on the technical discovery side of things, there will be a
non-technical discovery conducted by a sales representative, in which they will find out
the following:

Business
 Strategic importance/Vision     
 Impact
 Decision-making process
 Win strategy
 What are the primary use cases?
 What are the business pain points?
 What are the anticipated outcomes?

People
 Executive sponsorship
 Other stakeholders
 Influence map

Deployment
 Technical fit
 Success criteria
 Timeline
 Project staffing and partner selection

Technical discovery: The DUFS+S model 

The outcomes
The primary outcome of technical discovery is reaching a position where:

 One or more detailed solution options are proposed to the customer.

 The customer has enough confidence to select one option and enter a build phase to
deliver it.
The process Data, Users, Frontend, System, and Security
(DUFS+S)
Technical discovery is synonymous with conducting a "big picture" investigation, with a
clear analysis of the rationale and principles underpinning the findings.

The goal is to ask the right questions in a contextually meaningful way. Learn what to
ask based on the situation, underpinned by strong knowledge of which Google products
will help to qualify the customer in or out.

DUFS+S is an acronym to guide you through the process of identifying areas for
discovery. Let’s take a look at each area of DUFS in turn while paying attention to the
relevant security considerations (+S) along the way.

Data
 Goal
 Considerations
 Example questions
Google Maps Platform's strength is in visualizing customers' data and augmenting it
with Google's content.  

Therefore, your role is to discover what data the customer has and what data they may
need to fulfill their use case.  

Most importantly, it’s critical to understand why mapping of this data is important to

them and what information they want to derive from viewing it on a map.

Users
Types
Any system can have a number of different users and roles that can be provided by
humans or by internal/external hardware systems.  

It’s important to define the user and what role they play in the system. Focus on defining
their workflow.  What is a “day in the life” like for them? What happens when things go
wrong and don’t follow the optimal path?
User example questions
Some questions you should be looking at, and why.

Where are the users located?  Are they in a prohibited territory?

Do the users have an always-on internet connection? Is a disconnected experience

important? If so, why?

How will each of these users be accessing the data? (Security)

How will the application first be exposed to the users?

Is this a change to an existing system? How might users be affected by the change? 

Frontend user interface

Goal
Now that you have a better understanding of the user type, it's easier to create the right
user experience. The user experience is crucial to user adoption and also helps define
the day-to-day workflow of the system. 
This is important to remember when having discovery conversations with your
customers, such as Doug and Cathy. 

At Google, we often say that "if you focus on building an amazing user experience, the
rest of the application will fall into place." Always keep this in mind. The user often
makes or breaks the success of an application, so focusing on their needs and the
experience they'll have with the application is critical to your and the customer's mutual
success.

Other considerations:
 How important is mobile usage? Hence, will the customer use the native SDK or rely on a
web app?
 Do users access the mobile app with high- or low- end devices?
 What browsers will be used?
 Is a map even required?

Frontend example questions

Some questions you should be looking at, and why.

What experience will the user have with the application?

What platforms are necessary to deliver this experience?

Why are these platforms important?

Is a mobile/desktop/tablet experience important?

What user interface have you seen that really "blows you away"?  
How will this interface be maintained?  How will new and changing data be visualized
on the interface?

Are there any specific functional user requirements?

Describe a user workflow

System
Goal
After you have identified who the user type is and what sort of interface your customer
wants to provide, you will also need to understand the constraints in which you have to
work.

These constraints may include how the application fits within the existing tech
environment, strategy, and/or vision:

 Enterprise architecture (EA)

 Existing applications/components and dependencies
 Platforms and APIs vs. thick client/on-premises
o JavaScript?  .NET?  C++?  Java?
 Corporate hardware and software constraints
 Form factors
 Non-functional requirements (availability, resiliency, etc.)

System example questions

Some questions you should be looking at, and why:

Is there an existing application?

Why are you replacing the current application? (Or why not?)
How much QPS does the customer need to guarantee high availability?

Are there any backend databases or services the application must interface with?

Do other systems/services depend on the application?

Use case: GeoDeny

Now that we have explored the DUFS+S model for identifying areas for discovery, let’s
apply it to a real customer.
 Profile
 Requirements
 Pain Points
 GeoDeny provides accurate location reporting across a variety of devices (mobile
devices, computers, telemetric) and monitoring tools that provide real-time insight into
location detection. For example, has a computer with access to sensitive records left its
territory?

 Their signature IP is anti-spoofing technology, which analyzes location data from

multiple sources to provide a best-in-class estimate of device location.  

 GeoDeny generates reports of device location for regulation and compliance purposes.
Example questions 
The following are examples of some of the questions to ask GeoDeny to better
understand their needs.  
Click on the + buttons below to learn more.



 












Example summary for GeoDeny

Remember, this is not the deployment phase; you are agreeing to requirements so you
can qualify them and validate a solution.

It’s helpful to use a structure like this to ensure that all aspects are considered. Don’t
just look at Geolocation API feature specifications and assume that every use case can
be met.

Objective/Summary

 Embed geolocation detection functionality in end devices.  

 Use geolocation to determine whether a device is in boundary or out of boundary.
 Use geolocation to determine address information, such as postal codes, for
reporting purposes.  
 Provide a “live dashboard” of device location to back-office workers.  
Click the tabs below to learn more.

Users




System requirements





Data





Frontend requirements





Knowledge check
Now that you have a better understanding of a technical discovery, let's test your
knowledge.

What is the acronym you can use to structure your technical discovery?

Select the correct answer.

DUFS+S

EDRM+S

BANTO
SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
You also explored the importance of creating a great customer experience. Test your
knowledge by filling in the blanks below.

The _________often makes or breaks the success of an application. Focusing on their 

______ and the ____________ they will have with the application is critical to your success.
Select the correct answer.

User, needs, experience 

Data, needs, graphics

Security, privacy, needs

SubmitShow Feedback

Conduct the conversation

Now it’s time to pull it all together. Remember Doug and Kathy from GoCabless?

You have a meeting with them to learn about their needs and concerns and to help them
understand how the Google Maps Platform can transform their app.
Choose the best question or statement to use throughout the conversation. 
Progress

0%

You are starting your conversation with Doug and Kathy. Read the conversation below,
select the best option, and watch the progress bar move with every correct answer. 

Doug: “As we discussed on the phone, I'm the CMO of GoCabless, and this is Kathy, our
CTO. User experience is a top priority for us, and we want to leverage Google Maps’
features to revolutionize the way our customers interact with our solution and to keep
up with the market and give the whole experience a real face-lift.”

Kathy: “Nice to meet you. I am interested in seeing what solutions Google Maps

Platform can provide to help us grow.”

You: “Great! I would be happy to help! I'd like to learn more about your current situation
and discuss how we can help.”
Select a question to get the conversation going.

Is there an example of a user interface that you’ve seen that really blows you away?Who is going to be
using the system? Are the users internal or external to the company?How many queries a day would
your app be getting? What are your peak times?

Try again from the startShow my choices

Recap

Top takeaways
The primary reason for conducting a technical discovery is:

 Asking the right questions, based on the customer's situation.

 Positioning, with enough level of detail, the value of our solutions to the customer.

 Ensuring that the customer has enough confidence to be able to select one option and
enter a build phase to deliver it.

 Having a good understanding of where Google products help and how to qualify each in
or out.
Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Technical Discovery module of the Google Maps Tech
Credential. You can revisit this module at any time. Click the button below to close this
window and return to the course main menu.

Solution Validation
and Architectures
Let's Get Technical: Module 2
Introduction
In this module...
You’ll learn how to proceed after conducting a technical discovery, using solution
validation techniques and guidance on how to ensure that you don’t get bogged down in
the process. You'll start with a high-level overview of typical components used in our
integrated Google Maps Platform and Google Cloud Platform solution, such as
a Track and Trace architecture. Finally, you'll look at some use cases and the APIs that
could be used to position solutions effectively.
You'll get answers to...
 What happens after conducting a technical discovery?
 What is the purpose of a solution validation?
 What comprises the architecture of a Geo application?
 How can you gain customer confidence through effective solution positioning?

The solution
Meet Kim and Barry...
Read a story about Kim and Barry of Wheelero, Inc. This story will be referenced
throughout the content. At the end of this module, you will conduct a conversation with
them regarding their needs.

Click the arrows to learn about Kim, the CMO, and Barry, the Head of Software
Development, and their situation.


Meet Kim...
Kim is the CMO for Wheelero, a bicycle rental company with an app that allows their
users to locate and rent bicycles.

Kim has performed in-depth market research on the current landscape and their
competitors and considers their app to be lacking. Kim is interested in revolutionizing
the way that Wheelero does business. Kim is concerned about the company’s growth,
with fewer users signing up for their service last quarter than ever before. She wants to
expand their service by upgrading their app’s capabilities to achieve a real boost in
market share for Wheelero.

She has met with Barry, and they have decided to proceed with a new initiative to take
their service to the next level. She wants a map-driven product that will enable their
users to have full visibility and access to their bikes.

Solution validation
What is it?
By conducting an effective technical discovery, we should already have a good
understanding of what the customer would like to achieve and have assessed whether
there is a match for Google products. So, what’s next? How do we move forward?

The clue is in the title: We are validating a solution, which is not the same as running
a trial or a proof of concept (POC). Later in the module, we'll discuss when the time is to
consider running a trial/POC of a product to help a customer validate the solution.

Goal
The goal is to get the customer to agree that the solution being proposed will meet their
needs and can be built using the proposed products and technology. 

Another important step of solution validation is to ensure that the customer is confident
that the deployment phase of the project will be successful. If they are confident that it
will come together in deployment, they’ll spend less time trying to do deployment
activities during solution validation.
Own it
Solution validation is mostly a technical phase, and as such is led by a Customer
Engineer (CE). Using their tools and experience, Customer Engineers should be able to
focus their attention on the right activities and get through this phase as quickly as
possible.

In this section, we will look at some technical discovery questions, and then we will
proceed to a high-level overview of some components that are typically used with the
Google Maps Platform.
Let's discuss some best practices and lessons we have learned about working with
customers. 

The art of solution validation

Validating the solution
The three tabs below explore the key areas to focus on to perfect the art of solution
validation. They also suggest some do's and don'ts when discussing this phase with
your customer.

You should also think back to Kim and Barry and how these key areas apply to their app
redesign project. 
Click the tabs below to learn more.

 Establish success criteria

 Don’t over-invest time
 Ensure that the customer understands
Collaborate with the customer to establish and agree on both a timescale and success
criteria. Have a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve and focus your and their
efforts.  

Typically, Customer Engineers (CEs) work with their prospect’s technical counterparts. It
is important that the agreed scope and timescale be shared with everyone involved.

When considering Google Maps products, it's common that a customer will want to see
most or all of their data on a map. This is a good time to stay focused and challenge the
customer about what they really need to see, which is probably an overview of the
process of getting data into the Google Maps Platform and how it's going to look on the
map. 

Having a selective set of their data imported and shown on a map should tell them
everything they need to know and make them confident of how it will work in
deployment.

Architectures
Purpose
In basic terms, an architecture describes the structure of the system to be built and how
that structure supports the business and service-level requirements. It’s a tool for
educating the customer on the solution and a tool for your and your team in building a
solution. 

You will often be presented with complex problems, and it will be up to you to document
and explain why your solution solves those problems.

Knowing what goes into a solution

Cloud components commonly used with Maps
Now that you know what topics to cover when validating the solution with your
customer, let's explore some of the Google Cloud Platform components that are
commonly used with Google Maps Platform. 
Click on each to see why they’re used with Google Maps SDKs and APIs.

Compute

Every Google Maps customer is building an application and needs a platform.

Storage

Google Maps Platform customers often collect significant amounts of data with
location attributes. Many also have large imagery datasets.

Big Data/ML

Location is critical for insight into many big data problems.

More components
You have seen industry use cases and some of the benefits of positioning Google Maps
Platform + Google Cloud Platform as an integrated solution. So, it’s good to know—at
least at a high level—the components that would go into a Google Cloud Platform +
Google Maps Platform solution and appreciate what effect these components can have
on your proposed solution. Here’s an example of such a solution: IoT Track and Trace.
Click to learn about each item.

Applying Maps APIs to solutions

Real estate

Data Stores and the

Role They Play
for Google Maps
Platform
A Powerful Way to Visualize Your Data: Module 1
 Introduction
0:00 / 0:58

In this module...
You'll explore the significance of databases for Maps implementations and be provided
with common examples.

You'll also get to look at a data visualization use case that uses one of these data
stores, BigQuery.
You'll get answers to...
 What data stores work with Google Maps Platform?
 What is each data storage solution used for?
 How do companies leverage data visualization for research purposes?

Google Maps, painting pictures with data

Let's look at some data stores
Now that we know that Maps can be such a powerful tool in visualizing data, let's dive a
little deeper into the types of data storage solutions that are behind a Maps
implementation. 

Listed below are the Google Cloud Platform solutions, although it's important to
remember that Google Maps Platform is agnostic about where data is stored.
Click on the solutions below to get a brief look at what they are, what they do, and what
they are used for.

Cloud SQL

BigQuery
Cloud Spanner

Cloud Storage

Cloud Datastore

Cloud Bigtable

Choosing a storage option

The flowchart below will help you to identify which storage solution fits your customer's
use case. You can learn more by visiting the Cloud Storage page of the Google Cloud
website.

Note that mobile SDKs in this context refers to mobile  storage SDKs.

 GO-JEK and BigQuery
As outlined above, BigQuery is best suited for interactive querying and analytics of
large-scale datasets.

By using BigQuery to query the data and Google Maps APIs to visualize the output, you
can quickly explore geographic patterns in your data without having to manage a
system to store and process huge datasets.

When these datasets get very large, they can be hard to query and visualize using
conventional tools. Let's now delve a little deeper into Big Query, and explore how GO-
JEK, a motorcycle ride-hailing phone service, used BigQuery Geo Viz to help visualize
their data and gain better insights.

This is a great example of the powerful data visualization that can be achieved through
the Google Maps Platform using BigQuery Geo Viz.
Click the arrow to learn more.


Established in 2010 as a motorcycle ride-hailing phone service, GO-JEK has evolved into
an on-demand mobile platform and a cutting-edge app, providing a wide range of
services that include transportation, logistics, mobile payments, and food delivery.

BigQuery GIS
BigQuery Geo Viz
Although BigQuery Geo Viz is not a tool to sell to customers, it is a way for CEs to
visualize the capabilities of BigQuery GIS. You've seen an example of BQ Geo Viz and
how it's used, but how does it actually work? 

BigQuery GIS uses BQ Geo Viz as a web tool for visualization of geospatial data using
Google Maps APIs.You can run a SQL query and display the results on an interactive
map. Flexible styling features allow you to analyze and explore your data.
BigQuery Geo Viz is not a fully featured GIS visualization tool. BQ Geo Viz is a
lightweight way for CEs to visualize the results of a GIS query on a map, one query at a
time. For large or more complex visualization, a custom Maps API visualization would
be required.

BigQuery GIS in use...

Here are two examples of simple visualizations you can carry out in BigQuery GIS.
Watch these demos to see how to visualize data using BigQuery.

After watching the videos, you can learn more about GIS by visiting Getting Started with
BigQuery GIS.
Knowledge check
You have learned about the data stores used by Google Cloud Platform, so now let's
test your knowledge. 

Which of the following services is a relational database in SQL for online analytical
processing (OLAP) that:
 Allows for complex queries, but not for transactions
 Has a data capacity in the petabyte range
 Has a unit size of 10 MB per row
Select the correct answer.

BigQuery

Cloud Bigtable

Cloud Spanner

Cloud SQL

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
Now that you have a better understanding of visualizing geospatial data in BigQuery
using Google Maps APIs, can you name a web tool to help you do this?

Select one answer. 

BigQuery Geo Viz

BigQuery Crystal Ball

Cloud Datastore

Target Maps

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 It's important to remember that because Google Maps is already built in to BigQuery and
BigQuery GIS, it won't drive any billable Maps usage. However, it extends the capability
of Google Cloud Platform to handle spatial data, and this may drive customer interest in
building custom visualization solutions that do require Maps Platform usage.
 Maps is a potent tool when visualizing the patterns in a dataset that is related to location
in some way. 
 As a Customer Engineer, if you have a good understanding of what data analytics or
asset tracking can do and what database they need for the job, you can select the right
tool for the customer. 
 A solid grasp of this relationship between Maps and the underlying database can
accelerate time to insights and leaving the complexities of data visualization behind with
Google Cloud Platform.
Additional resources
Big Data analytics ↗

Geo Viz Webtool ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Data Stores and the Role They Play for Google Maps
Platform module of the Google Maps Tech Credential. If you ever need a refresher, you
can return to this module at any time. Click the button below to close this window and
return to the course main menu.
END MODULE

Data Stores and the

Role They Play
for Google Maps
Platform
A Powerful Way to Visualize Your Data: Module 1
Introduction
0:00 / 0:58

In this module...
You'll explore the significance of databases for Maps implementations and be provided
with common examples.
You'll also get to look at a data visualization use case that uses one of these data
stores, BigQuery.
You'll get answers to...
 What data stores work with Google Maps Platform?
 What is each data storage solution used for?
 How do companies leverage data visualization for research purposes?

Google Maps, painting pictures with data

Let's look at some data stores
Now that we know that Maps can be such a powerful tool in visualizing data, let's dive a
little deeper into the types of data storage solutions that are behind a Maps
implementation. 

Listed below are the Google Cloud Platform solutions, although it's important to
remember that Google Maps Platform is agnostic about where data is stored.
Click on the solutions below to get a brief look at what they are, what they do, and what
they are used for.

Cloud SQL

BigQuery

Cloud Spanner
Cloud Storage

Cloud Datastore

Cloud Bigtable

Choosing a storage option

The flowchart below will help you to identify which storage solution fits your customer's
use case. You can learn more by visiting the Cloud Storage page of the Google Cloud
website.

Note that mobile SDKs in this context refers to mobile  storage SDKs.

GO-JEK and BigQuery

As outlined above, BigQuery is best suited for interactive querying and analytics of
large-scale datasets.

By using BigQuery to query the data and Google Maps APIs to visualize the output, you
can quickly explore geographic patterns in your data without having to manage a
system to store and process huge datasets.
When these datasets get very large, they can be hard to query and visualize using
conventional tools. Let's now delve a little deeper into Big Query, and explore how GO-
JEK, a motorcycle ride-hailing phone service, used BigQuery Geo Viz to help visualize
their data and gain better insights.

This is a great example of the powerful data visualization that can be achieved through
the Google Maps Platform using BigQuery Geo Viz.
Click the arrow to learn more.


Established in 2010 as a motorcycle ride-hailing phone service, GO-JEK has evolved into
an on-demand mobile platform and a cutting-edge app, providing a wide range of
services that include transportation, logistics, mobile payments, and food delivery.

BigQuery GIS
BigQuery Geo Viz
Although BigQuery Geo Viz is not a tool to sell to customers, it is a way for CEs to
visualize the capabilities of BigQuery GIS. You've seen an example of BQ Geo Viz and
how it's used, but how does it actually work? 

BigQuery GIS uses BQ Geo Viz as a web tool for visualization of geospatial data using
Google Maps APIs.You can run a SQL query and display the results on an interactive
map. Flexible styling features allow you to analyze and explore your data.

BigQuery Geo Viz is not a fully featured GIS visualization tool. BQ Geo Viz is a
lightweight way for CEs to visualize the results of a GIS query on a map, one query at a
time. For large or more complex visualization, a custom Maps API visualization would
be required.

BigQuery GIS in use...

Here are two examples of simple visualizations you can carry out in BigQuery GIS.
Watch these demos to see how to visualize data using BigQuery.

After watching the videos, you can learn more about GIS by visiting Getting Started with
BigQuery GIS.
Knowledge check
You have learned about the data stores used by Google Cloud Platform, so now let's
test your knowledge. 

Which of the following services is a relational database in SQL for online analytical
processing (OLAP) that:
 Allows for complex queries, but not for transactions
 Has a data capacity in the petabyte range
 Has a unit size of 10 MB per row
Select the correct answer.

BigQuery

Cloud Bigtable

Cloud Spanner

Cloud SQL

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
Now that you have a better understanding of visualizing geospatial data in BigQuery
using Google Maps APIs, can you name a web tool to help you do this?

Select one answer. 

BigQuery Geo Viz

BigQuery Crystal Ball

Cloud Datastore

Target Maps

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 It's important to remember that because Google Maps is already built in to BigQuery and
BigQuery GIS, it won't drive any billable Maps usage. However, it extends the capability
of Google Cloud Platform to handle spatial data, and this may drive customer interest in
building custom visualization solutions that do require Maps Platform usage.
 Maps is a potent tool when visualizing the patterns in a dataset that is related to location
in some way. 
 As a Customer Engineer, if you have a good understanding of what data analytics or
asset tracking can do and what database they need for the job, you can select the right
tool for the customer. 
 A solid grasp of this relationship between Maps and the underlying database can
accelerate time to insights and leaving the complexities of data visualization behind with
Google Cloud Platform.
Additional resources
Big Data analytics ↗

Geo Viz Webtool ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Data Stores and the Role They Play for Google Maps
Platform module of the Google Maps Tech Credential. If you ever need a refresher, you
can return to this module at any time. Click the button below to close this window and
return to the course main menu.
END MODULE

Delegate
Putting the APIs to Work: Module 2
Introduction
In this module...
You’ll gain knowledge about the first layer in the Google Maps Platform APIs developer
stack: Delegate. We’ll look at what features customers get and apply those features to
use cases to give them context. You will also investigate the coding used to implement
these features for both Android and iOS.
You'll get answers to...
 What exactly does Delegate mean?
 What features will customers have access to?
 What are some use case examples?
 What does the coding look like on both Android and iOS?

So what is the Delegate layer? 

Layer 1: Delegate “Let Google handle the maps”
Delegation is really about customers saying, “You know what, I need some mapping and
location intelligence in my app, and I need Google to handle it.” This could be for
development constraint reasons, or mapping might not be a core functionality within
their app.

There are plenty of reasons for taking this approach and allowing Google to take care of
maps.
 Google Maps' four key benefits
There are four great reasons for allowing Google to handle customer maps, which are
Google Maps Platforms' four key benefits: speed and scale, global coverage, and rich
real-time data, which are all provided by the instantly recognizable Google Maps that
users know and love.

Speed and scale

Speed and scale 

Google’s future-proof infrastructure operates at 99.9% reliability and availability.

It is secure, global, high-performing, and continuously improving.

Global coverage

Global coverage 

Over 99% of the world is mapped, with routes spanning 4 million miles of road in
more than 200 countries and territories. There are directions for biking, walking,
or public transit in more than 3.8 million stations, 20,000 towns/cities, and 78
countries.

Rich, real time data

Rich, real-time data 

Google can provide over 25 million daily updates to Maps data. Google Maps
Platform is built from more than 1,000 authoritative services, including public and
commercial mapping data, satellite, aerial, and street-level imagery, and user
 contributions. We calculate travel times based on real-time traffic data and
historical time-of-day and day-of-week traffic data.

Maps users love

Maps users love

Over one billion people around the world use Google Maps. On average, more
than 650 million miles are driven daily with Google Maps, and over 2 million
active websites and apps use the Google Maps API every week.

What features will customers have access to? 

Now that you have explored the four main benefits of Google Maps, let's look at
the features available with Delegate.

On both Android and iOS, users can:

 Load Maps.
 Search for businesses, restaurants, galleries, and hotels.
 Navigate to a destination. 
 Use Street View.

Now let’s explore these features further on Android and iOS through a couple of use
cases.
 

Examples on Android
Let’s focus on Android and look at a few examples where we can provide a variety of
solutions to a customer who is using very little code, not really doing any heavy lifting
with their app, and allowing Google to complete all the actions.
 Android
 Load Map
 Searches
 Navigation
 Street View
Android has a mechanism called an intent. You can intent  from one app to another app.
You can provide some additional context so that it can initialize that other app to
whatever you’re looking for.

Parity on iOS
We have looked closely at a Maps for Android use case. However, we can achieve the
same thing on iOS through a comparable feature set called urlScheme.  

The image below shows the iOS code called Objective C; there is more code because
the language syntax is more verbose, and a condition block will check whether the user
has the Google Maps app installed. 

With an Android device you can be confident that users will have the Google Maps app
pre-installed, but on iOS it’s a personal preference. 

Many users will have the app, but some users won’t, and so a piece of code like this ‘if
block’ statement checks whether the user has the app. If they don’t, they can fall back to
the browser and achieve the same things, or the check may act as a prompt for the user
to download the Google Maps app.

Knowledge check
You have learned how Google Maps Platform can provide a variety of solutions for
Android with very little code, using a mechanism called an intent.

But what do intents do?

Select the correct answer.

With intents, you can intent out to one app from another app.

With intents, you can create calendar entries that include maps.

With intents, you can plan out future journeys on an Android device.
SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
What’s Objective C?

Select the correct answer.

Programming Language used on iOS 

An iOS task manager

The condition required to initiate the urlScheme on iOS 

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 In the first layer, Delegation, the customer is not doing anything inside their app; they’re
letting Google handle it. 
 Customers have access to features such as Load Maps, Searches, Navigation, and
Street View.
 It’s possible to use Google Maps on both Android and iOS.
Additional resources
Google Maps Intents for Android | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Developers guide | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Delegate module of the Google Maps Tech Credential. If
you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click the button
below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE
 Incorporate
Putting the APIs to Work: Module 3
Introduction
In this module...
You’ll learn about Incorporate, the second layer in the Maps APIs stack. You'll look at
what services you get with the Incorporate layer and review examples of relevant use
cases, looking at how some code works and seeing how this applies to both Android
and iOS.
You'll get answers to...
 What exactly does Incorporate mean?
 What features and APIs will I have access to?
 What are some examples of use cases?
 What does the code look like on both Android and iOS?

What is the Incorporate layer? 

Layer 2: Incorporate “I just want a simple map”
In Layer 2, Incorporate, the customer/developer may want to add some additional
functionality, but they only want light features. We can provide them an out-of-the-box
familiar user experience that is powered by the Google APIs that they know is both
trustworthy and accurate.

What features do I have access to?

Now let's dig a little deeper into the features included in the Incorporate layer and
explore how they are used.
Click the arrows below to move through the images and find out more. 


 


Features

The features you’ll have access to on both Android and iOS are:

 Maps Static API

 Maps Embed API
 Place Autocomplete

Autocomplete on Android and IOS

Place Autocomplete
Now that you have a general overview of the Autocomplete feature and where it adds
value for users, let's explore how to implement it for both Android and iOS.  

The Autocomplete service in the Places SDK returns place predictions in response to
user search queries. As the user types, the Autocomplete service returns suggestions
for places such as businesses, addresses, and points of interest. 

You can get place predictions programmatically to create a customized user

experience; however, to save development time and ensure a consistent user
experience, you can also:

 Add autocomplete to your Android app using an autocomplete widget. 

 Add autocomplete to your iOS app using an autocomplete UI control.

Put simply, the autocomplete widget/UI control is a search dialog with built-in
autocomplete functionality. 
 Add an autocomplete widget (Android)
 Add an autocomplete UI control (iOS)
There are two options for adding the autocomplete widget to your app:

Option 1: Embed an AutocompleteSupportFragment.

To add an AutocompleteSupportFragment to your app, follow these steps:
1. Add a fragment to your activity's XML layout.
2. Add a listener to your activity or fragment.
Option 2: Use an intent to launch the autocomplete activity.
If you want your app to use a different navigational flow (for example, to trigger the
autocomplete experience from an icon instead of a search field), your app can launch
autocomplete by using an intent. 
To launch the autocomplete widget using an intent, follow these steps:
1. Use Autocomplete.IntentBuilder to create an intent, passing the desired Autocomplete
mode. The intent must call startActivityForResult and pass in a request code that
identifies your intent.
2. Override the onActivityResult callback to receive the selected place.

When the user makes a selection, a Place instance is returned, which your app can then
use to get details about the selected place.

More information: Add an Autocomplete widget

Now let's explore the coding behind the Autocomplete feature for both Android and iOS.
Autocomplete widget for Android 

In the example, the code specifies the place data types to return by passing an array
of Place.Fields in the FetchPlaceRequest, and then uses Autocomplete.IntentBuilder to
create an intent to launch the autocomplete widget. It then overrides
the onActivityResult callback for a notification to be received when a user has selected
a place.

Autocomplete UI control for iOS 

In this example, the code shown implements

the GMSAutocompleteViewControllerDelegate protocol when a button is pressed,
specifies the place data types to return by passing a GMSPlaceField, presents
the GMSAutocompleteViewController using [self presentViewController...], and handles
the user's selection in the didAutocompleteWithPlace delegate method.

Use case: Ride sharing 

Now that we have a better idea of the features included in Incorporate, let's take a look
at how developers are putting these features to work in the real world.
When you think about ride sharing, if you want to get picked up, you always have a place
to go—a destination. 

With a ride-sharing app, you will need to look up your destination. If you’re not a fan of
the keyboard on mobile devices and find it awkward to type in destinations accurately,
we have Place Autocomplete.

Place Autocomplete on Android and iOS is powered by the same magic that powers
Google Search and Google Maps—recognizing what your intent is with a few characters.
An autocomplete widget makes a lot of sense whenever you need to ask the user for an
address of any sort. A user can look by name, by address, or by latitude and longitude.

Use Case: Redfin upgrade

Let’s take a look at another example of how Place Autocomplete API can help your
customers by making their users’ lives easier.

REDFIN handles $20b worth of listings. Switching from geocoding to Place

Autocomplete reduced friction and boosted usability, causing user search failure to be
cut in half.

That was very important for first time users, as Redfin utilizes Place Autocomplete to
understand what users mean when they describe a place, a city, a district, or even a
point of interest like a city park.

This really matters in a hyper-competitive market in a company's effort retain expensive-

to-acquire users.

Knowledge check
What’s the difference between the Maps Static API and the Maps Embed API?
Select the correct answer.

The Maps Embed API allows you to embed an interactive map into your app, but the
Maps Static API does not.
The Maps Static API enables the user to search for establishments, but the Maps
Embed API does not.

You can place a Static Map in an iframe, but this is not possible with the Embed API.
SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
To initiate the Place Autocomplete widget on iOS, what should appear in the first line of
code?
Select the correct answer.

@objc func autocompleteClicked(_ sender: UIButton)

ac Controller.delegate = self;

(IBAction) Autocomplete Pressed:

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 There are some great features offered within the Incorporate layer, with Maps Static API,
Maps Embed API, and Autocomplete.
 We saw how easy it is to code features such as Place Autocomplete on Android and iOS.
 Incorporate means that the customer has some additional mapping functionality. It
means light features, yet can give them a familiar, out-of-the-box user experience.
Additional resources
Static Maps API | Google Maps Platform site ↗

API Key | Google Maps Platform site ↗

UI widget | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Incorporate module of the Google Maps Tech Credential.
If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click the button
below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
 END MODULE

Incorporate
Putting the APIs to Work: Module 3
Introduction
In this module...
You’ll learn about Incorporate, the second layer in the Maps APIs stack. You'll look at
what services you get with the Incorporate layer and review examples of relevant use
cases, looking at how some code works and seeing how this applies to both Android
and iOS.
You'll get answers to...
 What exactly does Incorporate mean?
 What features and APIs will I have access to?
 What are some examples of use cases?
 What does the code look like on both Android and iOS?

What is the Incorporate layer? 

Layer 2: Incorporate “I just want a simple map”
In Layer 2, Incorporate, the customer/developer may want to add some additional
functionality, but they only want light features. We can provide them an out-of-the-box
familiar user experience that is powered by the Google APIs that they know is both
trustworthy and accurate.

What features do I have access to?

Now let's dig a little deeper into the features included in the Incorporate layer and
explore how they are used.
Click the arrows below to move through the images and find out more. 
 


Features

The features you’ll have access to on both Android and iOS are:

 Maps Static API

 Maps Embed API
 Place Autocomplete

Autocomplete on Android and IOS

Place Autocomplete
Now that you have a general overview of the Autocomplete feature and where it adds
value for users, let's explore how to implement it for both Android and iOS.  

The Autocomplete service in the Places SDK returns place predictions in response to
user search queries. As the user types, the Autocomplete service returns suggestions
for places such as businesses, addresses, and points of interest. 

You can get place predictions programmatically to create a customized user

experience; however, to save development time and ensure a consistent user
experience, you can also:

 Add autocomplete to your Android app using an autocomplete widget. 

 Add autocomplete to your iOS app using an autocomplete UI control.

Put simply, the autocomplete widget/UI control is a search dialog with built-in
autocomplete functionality. 
 Add an autocomplete widget (Android)
 Add an autocomplete UI control (iOS)
There are two options for adding the autocomplete widget to your app:

Option 1: Embed an AutocompleteSupportFragment.

To add an AutocompleteSupportFragment to your app, follow these steps:
1. Add a fragment to your activity's XML layout.
2. Add a listener to your activity or fragment.

Option 2: Use an intent to launch the autocomplete activity.

If you want your app to use a different navigational flow (for example, to trigger the
autocomplete experience from an icon instead of a search field), your app can launch
autocomplete by using an intent. 
To launch the autocomplete widget using an intent, follow these steps:
1. Use Autocomplete.IntentBuilder to create an intent, passing the desired Autocomplete
mode. The intent must call startActivityForResult and pass in a request code that
identifies your intent.
2. Override the onActivityResult callback to receive the selected place.

When the user makes a selection, a Place instance is returned, which your app can then
use to get details about the selected place.

More information: Add an Autocomplete widget

Now let's explore the coding behind the Autocomplete feature for both Android and iOS.
Autocomplete widget for Android 

In the example, the code specifies the place data types to return by passing an array
of Place.Fields in the FetchPlaceRequest, and then uses Autocomplete.IntentBuilder to
create an intent to launch the autocomplete widget. It then overrides
the onActivityResult callback for a notification to be received when a user has selected
a place.

Autocomplete UI control for iOS 

In this example, the code shown implements

the GMSAutocompleteViewControllerDelegate protocol when a button is pressed,
specifies the place data types to return by passing a GMSPlaceField, presents
the GMSAutocompleteViewController using [self presentViewController...], and handles
the user's selection in the didAutocompleteWithPlace delegate method.
Use case: Ride sharing 
Now that we have a better idea of the features included in Incorporate, let's take a look
at how developers are putting these features to work in the real world.

When you think about ride sharing, if you want to get picked up, you always have a place
to go—a destination. 

With a ride-sharing app, you will need to look up your destination. If you’re not a fan of
the keyboard on mobile devices and find it awkward to type in destinations accurately,
we have Place Autocomplete.

Place Autocomplete on Android and iOS is powered by the same magic that powers
Google Search and Google Maps—recognizing what your intent is with a few characters.
An autocomplete widget makes a lot of sense whenever you need to ask the user for an
address of any sort. A user can look by name, by address, or by latitude and longitude.

Use Case: Redfin upgrade

Let’s take a look at another example of how Place Autocomplete API can help your
customers by making their users’ lives easier.

REDFIN handles $20b worth of listings. Switching from geocoding to Place

Autocomplete reduced friction and boosted usability, causing user search failure to be
cut in half.

That was very important for first time users, as Redfin utilizes Place Autocomplete to
understand what users mean when they describe a place, a city, a district, or even a
point of interest like a city park.

This really matters in a hyper-competitive market in a company's effort retain expensive-

to-acquire users.

Knowledge check
What’s the difference between the Maps Static API and the Maps Embed API?
Select the correct answer.
The Maps Embed API allows you to embed an interactive map into your app, but the
Maps Static API does not.

The Maps Static API enables the user to search for establishments, but the Maps
Embed API does not.

You can place a Static Map in an iframe, but this is not possible with the Embed API.
SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
To initiate the Place Autocomplete widget on iOS, what should appear in the first line of
code?
Select the correct answer.

@objc func autocompleteClicked(_ sender: UIButton)

ac Controller.delegate = self;

(IBAction) Autocomplete Pressed:

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 There are some great features offered within the Incorporate layer, with Maps Static API,
Maps Embed API, and Autocomplete.
 We saw how easy it is to code features such as Place Autocomplete on Android and iOS.
 Incorporate means that the customer has some additional mapping functionality. It
means light features, yet can give them a familiar, out-of-the-box user experience.
Additional resources
Static Maps API | Google Maps Platform site ↗

API Key | Google Maps Platform site ↗

UI widget | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Incorporate module of the Google Maps Tech Credential.
If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click the button
below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE

Integrate
Putting the APIs to Work: Module 4
Introduction
In this module...
You’ll learn about Integrate, the third layer of the Google Maps API stack. You'll explore
the features by looking at three use cases: Bus Tracking, Real Estate, and Store
Locations. You will also explore the different functions within each use case, such as
custom styling, the Directions API, camera features, marker clustering, and heat maps.
Finally, you will see how all this works on both Android and iOS.
You'll get answers to...
 What exactly does Integrate mean?
 What features will I have access to?
 What are some examples of use cases?
 What does this look like on both Android and iOS?

What is the Integrate layer? 

Layer 3: Integrate “I want to customize the Google Maps
experience”
Many developers want to be able to write code and produce "magic." That’s what Layer
3, Integrate, is all about. It's about the customer saying, “hey you know what, this Maps
API, I want to use it, I want the data from it, but I also want to customize it. I want to
personalize it.”

Custom styling
What are the features of the Integrate layer, and where could these features be used?
Well, for example, fitness apps and driving/navigation apps can make use of the Maps
API, but we'll discuss this in the following sections. 
For now, just click the tabs below for more information about custom styling features. 

 Custom styling for Android and IOS

 More flexibility
 JSON files
The other cool feature of custom styling is that you specify your styles using
a JSON file. We provide a style wizard where you can see a map and get a host of
sliders and radio buttons; then you can custom style your map and export it as a JSON
file.

The nice thing about a JSON file is that it's the same format if you want to use custom
styling on the web, with Android, or with iOS. You can ship that JSON file on an app or
website or host it yourself, and at runtime dynamically pull in whatever the current style
is.

Use case: Bus tracker 

In order to fully understand the benefits of customizing and integrating the Maps API,
let's take a look at it in action in this next use case: Bus tracker.
Click the arrow to learn more.


Maps JavaScript API 

Being able to delve deeper into the API stack and create personalized user experiences
is a key functional capability for customers. This becomes immensely useful when they
want to visualize a map. Let's say the customer needs to pick up a large number of
people within a large area, and they are all going to the same place, like a conference or
a festival. The customer needs to organize buses to collect all these people, from hotels
or various pickup points around an area, and then drop them back to their pickup points
when the event is over. 

To create a bus tracker to do this, the customer can grab the usual Maps JavaScript API
and custom style it. They can put custom markers on it to represent buses and
hotels/pickup points. They can use polygons to draw the paths of the buses and have
some standard HTML elements to sit on top. That tells them where these buses are
going and where the stops are.

Use case: Real estate

Let's now look at mobile (iOS/Android) camera APIs. 

This allows you to change the user's viewpoint of the map by modifying the map's
camera. 

Camera API features can be useful for a variety of use cases: real estate, travel, town
planning, and even archaeology apps. 
Click the tabs below to find out more.

 The Camera
 Animate Camera API
This is a map of downtown Los Angeles in an Android app. It’s a style of map we are
familiar with, and you can see the heritage of paper maps coming through here. But
users are on a digital device, and if you are designing, for example, a real estate app,
and you want to show people what their next dream home could look like, showing them
some perspective of that map is a much better user experience than just viewing from
the top down. 

Depth, 3D buildings, and zoom and tilt features enhance the experience with rich and
varied visualizations. Google Maps has more details to offer in the map, making it easy
for end users to locate themselves anywhere in the world.

This is a useful asset for apps like real estate apps, and these features add a lot of
value to users. Accomplishing this is incredibly simple.

The code
Now that you have a general overview of the Camera API features and where it adds
value for users, let’s explore the coding behind it for both Android and iOS.
Android coding
When you specify a new camera position in Android, you have to create camera position
objects. A couple of methods can be used, with values you should recognize,
like target and zoom, and less recognizable values like bearing and tilt. 

Bearing allows you to turn the camera like a compass to see which direction you are
facing, and tilt enables viewing depth. 

Those extra values add so much more to the experience of the app.
 

iOS
On iOS, the same refinement can be achieved. With iOS Objective C, a GMS camera
position object is used instead. At the end of this list of parameters, you can
see bearing, and instead of tilt, on IOS it's called viewingAngle, which gives you the
same depth, 3D buildings, etc.

Use case: Store locators

Marker clustering
So far, you have learned about some really interesting features of the Integrate layer,
such as custom styling and the camera. Let's now look at Marker Clustering, another
cool feature available in the Integrate layer.

Store locators are much more than markers on a map. You can make them very rich and
useful beyond just one particular point. In this example, "Italian restaurants in Sydney"
was searched for, and there were many results. Just dropping markers where all these
Italian restaurants are doesn't make a great user experience. 

A better way to present this is something called Marker Clustering, which is

demonstrated below.

You see some clusters there, and as we zoom in, those clusters split apart, and you can
see more concentrations of these markers. But as we zoom out and they start to
overlap, we blend them, and they group back into clusters. Visually, we put a count on
each cluster and change its size so your user can see whether this is an important
cluster. This is part of an open source library, and you can customize all this.

Let's look at how much code is required to initiate Marker Clustering in your apps.
Click the arrow to learn more.


The first step in Gradle Config is to specify that you want to use the Maps Android API
Utility Library.
Heatmaps
Instead of clusters, we can also use heatmaps. The heatmap implementation looks
similar to clusters. We generate these heatmaps depending on zoom levels. As you
zoom in more and more, you start to see the heatmap split apart, and when you zoom
out, the heatmap merges again.

Coding  for heatmaps 

This is an open source library. The API itself allows you to change heatmap color, and
it’s effortless to do. The implementation for this is trivial. 

1. Again, the first task in your Gradle Config is to specify that you want to use the Maps
Android API Utility Library (utils). 

2. Add an interface to your data items, and then instantiate a heatmap tile provider. Add
the restaurants on the .data, and just that one line is going to manage it for us. 

3. Step three adds a tile overlay, which is then added to the map itself. 

That’s it! That’s the whole code for the heat map implementation. 
When it comes to creating deep integration, use visual metaphors where possible. For
example, when looking at techniques like custom styling or personalizing the
customer's maps, don’t overwhelm their users. Try to explore different ways to present
whatever data they want uniquely on a map.

Knowledge check
Now that you have learned about custom styling with the Integrate layer, let's apply your
knowledge.

What’s convenient about JSON files?

Select the correct answer.

JSON files are the same format when used for custom styling on the web or in Android or iOS.

JSON file sizes are only around 10 KB.

JSON files can store Routes and Places data.

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
You have learned about Marker Clustering and the necessary code to ensure that it
works in an app, so let's see if you can answer the following. 

When initiating Marker Clustering, what’s the first thing you need to do in your Gradle
config?
Select the correct answer.

Specify that you want to use the Maps Android API Utility Library.

Add the getPosition method.

Implement Cluster item interface in data class.

SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 Layer 3, Integrate, is about saying, "Hey you know what, this Maps API, I want to use it, I
want the data from it, and I want to customize it, and I want to personalize it." 

 You can begin to customize maps, for example, switching between night and day mode,
and between traditional map view and satellite. Change colors and the density of labels,
and turn landmarks on or off. 

 You’ve seen how the 3D and satellite features on the camera can enhance the user
experience for apps like Real Estate.

 You've explored ways of displaying search results in a more useful and user-friendly way
on the map. We’ve done this through Marker Clustering and Heatmaps.

 You've looked at some of the code that brings this all together.
Additional resources
Custom Styling | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Bus Tracker | Github site ↗

Marker Clusters | Google Maps Platform site ↗

 
Heat Maps  | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Animate Camera API Android ↗

Animate Camera API iOS ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Integrate module of the Google Maps Tech
Fundamentals course. If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any
time. Click the button below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE
 Orchestrate
Putting the APIs to Work: Module 5
Introduction
In this module...
You will step through Orchestrate, the fourth and final layer of the Google Maps
Platform APIs Developers Stack. We’ll explore the Orchestrate layer by looking at three
immensely powerful APIs: the Directions API, Roads API, and Places API.  We’ll examine
each of the APIs through use cases, look at the structure of the code, and finally, delve a
little deeper into the Places API and how it functions on Android and iOS.
You'll get answers to...
 What features does layer 4, Orchestrate, offer?
 What features or APIs will you have access to?
 What are some examples of use cases?
 Does this apply to both Android and iOS?

What is the Orchestrate layer?

Layer 4: Orchestrate  “Let me integrate my own data on
top of Google Maps.”
Perhaps a customer or a developer wants to manage everything. They want
to orchestrate all of it. They can do that. That’s what the Orchestrate layer is all about.
Google provides open access to Google Maps Platform APIs and lets users add their
data on top.

Directions API
As previously mentioned, three prevalent APIs are used within the Orchestrate layer:
the Directions API, Roads API, and Places API.  First, let’s take a look at the Directions
API and how it is used.
Directions API: A Routes product
The Directions API is available in our Routes product. The Directions API is a service
that calculates directions between locations using an HTTP web request.

With the Directions API, you can:

 Search for directions for several different modes of transportation, including
transit, driving, walking, and cycling.
 Return multi-part directions using a series of waypoints.
 Specify origins, destinations, and waypoints as text strings (e.g., "Chicago, IL" or
"Darwin, NT, Australia"), or as latitude/longitude coordinates, or as place IDs.

The API returns the most efficient routes when calculating directions. Travel time is the
primary factor optimized, but the API can also take into account other factors, such as
distance or number of turns, when deciding which route is the most efficient.
Find out more by watching this video (if you haven't already watched it in The Google
Maps Platform Piece by Piece: Module 3 - Routes).

Use case
Let’s explore how the Directions API is used and the benefits it provides to customers,
especially for fleet and asset tracking.
Click the arrow to learn more.


Fleet and asset tracking 

Typically, in fleet and asset tracking, vehicles provide delivery services that can benefit
from being optimized. We briefly talked about the Directions API before, but we’ll now
expand the topic. The Directions API is a web service, and as such it can be called on
any platform.
The Directions API provides access to Google's global directions and live traffic data. It
gives step-by-step directions and exact latitudes and longitudes (LatLng) to get users to
specific places. You can specify different travel modes, like driving in the asset tracker
use case, or you could be cycling. 

Roads API
Now that you have learned about the Directions API and how it can be used, let's look at
the next main API, the Roads API. The Roads API, as with the Directions API, is available
in our Routes product.
Roads API
The Roads API allows users to map GPS coordinates to the geometry of the road and to
determine the speed limit along those road segments. The API is available via a simple
HTTPS interface and exposes the following services:
 Snap to roads: This service returns the best-fit road geometry for a given set of GPS
coordinates. This service takes up to 100 GPS points collected along a route and returns
a similar set of data with the points snapped to the most likely roads the vehicle was
traveling along. Optionally, you can request that the points be interpolated, resulting in a
path that smoothly follows the geometry of the road.
 Nearest roads: This service returns individual road segments for a given set of GPS
coordinates. This service takes up to 100 GPS points and returns the closest road
segment for each point. The points passed do not need to be part of a continuous path.
 Speed limits: This service returns the posted speed limit for a road segment.
 
Play the video to find out more

Use case
Plotting a route 
Now that you know more about Routes and the services it provides, let's explore how
this API is used and the benefits it provides to customers, especially for plotting the
best route.
Click the arrow to learn more.


GPS problem
Something that surprises a lot of people is when they are told that the GPS on their
phones, regardless of what phone they have, is not very accurate. Unless there is a
perfect line of sight, it’s often not very accurate; it gives a range of values. Even though
you are driving along a straight road, you could get a GPS response that veers off roads,
through buildings or fields, and back onto the road. You can see the pattern and figure
out the route, but the actual data that GPS gives you is not necessarily straight.

Places API
Now that you have learned about the Directions API and the Roads API, let's finally
explore the Places API. The Places API is available in our Places product. 
Places API
The following place requests are available with the Places API:
 Place Search returns a list of places based on a user's location or search string.
 Place Details returns more detailed information about a specific place, including user
reviews.
 Place Photos provides access to the millions of place-related photos stored in Google's
Place database.
 Place Autocomplete automatically fills in the name and address of a place as users type.
 Query Autocomplete provides a query prediction service for text-based geographic
searches and returns suggested queries as users type. 

Each of the services is accessed as an HTTP request and returns either a JSON or XML
response. All requests to a Places service must use the HTTP web protocol and include
an API key. The Places API uses a place ID to identify a place uniquely. 

The Places API is supplied as a web service as well as a native API on Android and iOS.
Play the video to find out more

Use case
Local discovery 
In the case of local discovery, we want to learn about other places around a particular
location: it may be a specific establishment, geographic location, or prominent point of
interest. 
Click the arrow to learn more.


 


Multi-story buildings 

With the Places API, you get lots of information about a place. Latitude and longitude
(LatLng) represent a point on Earth. In a multi-story building, you’re not going to get a
GPS location, because you're indoors and probably don’t have a direct line of sight to
receive GPS signals. Additionally, it not just about the latitude and longitude position;
you have to consider height. This is where the Places API can help. 

The Places API can tell the difference between your being on floor 3 of the building or
on floor 2. If you’re in a shopping mall, it can tell whether you’re at a café or a
hairdresser, even if they are next to each other. It does this by using information like
latitude and longitude, Bluetooth beacons, Wi-Fi access points, and assisted GPS, which
is triangulating cell phone tower information. But the great thing is, when you have a
place, it has lots of semantic information.

Places API on Android and iOS

Places API in use for Android and iOS
Now that we have seen how the Places API can be used for local discovery, let’s explore
some of the coding involved. 

For the Android and iOS API, we purpose-built the Places API for specific use cases.
Instead of being about searching anywhere in the world, we want to make this a lot
more contextual and about the places around you.

This example shows what happens when you use the sensors on the phone. We give
you a list of places the user is likely to be at and some values. You don’t need to see
these values specifically; know that these likelihood values are between 0 and 1. The
closest it is to 1, the more confident we are that the user is at that place. 

In the sequence on the right, we are driving along the 101, and you’ll see the list of the
places we're getting back changing—they’re moving up and down, and the likelihood is
also evolving as we move along that route. 

That’s where we can use this Place API. To determine where a user is, in that location
sharing example shown earlier with Place Autocomplete, the FindCurrentPlace is the
API that powers place autocomplete. If customers want to orchestrate it, they can do
that, it’s a bit more work, but certainly, it will give them all the data and information they
need to make a good user decision.
 

Knowledge check
Now that you have learned about the different APIs used within the Orchestrate
developer layer, let's test your knowledge. 

The Directions API is available in which of Google Maps Platform's core products?
Select the correct answer.

Routes

Maps

Places

SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
So now you know all about the Places API and how it's used on Android and IOS, but do
you know what the place_id is?

Select the correct answer.

The place_id is a unique identifier for every place in the world.

The place_id assists the Road API in snapping points along a navigation path.

The place_id is an API part of the Places product.

SubmitShow Feedback
 Recap

Top takeaways
 We looked at GMP's three core products, Maps, Routes, and Places, and focused
on some immensely powerful APIs available within the products.
 We explored the Directions API through a fleet and asset-tracking use case and
looked at how we’ve coded predictive delivery and travel times.
 We then looked at the Roads API and how we’ve solved the problem of
inaccurate GPS.
 And finally, we saw how the Places API can be used to do incredible things like
locate user position in a multi-story building in relation to which floor they’re on
and what business establishments they are close to.

Additional resources
Directions API | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Roads API | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Places API | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Orchestrate module of the Google Maps Tech Credential.
If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click the button
below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE

Pricing Deep Dive

Putting the APIs to Work: Module 6
Introduction
In this module...
You'll learn how to perform a forecast pricing calculation for a customer’s solution.
You'll be shown some conditional factors that can affect the price, such as platform and
query allowances, and you'll learn how to use the pricing calculator and pricing sheet to
estimate a forecast of monthly costs for the customer solution.
You'll get answers to...
 How can you identify the relevant APIs that need to be leveraged for any given
solution?
 What discounts exist that customers could benefit from?
 How can the pricing calculator be used to effectively forecast a customer
solution?

Query-level pricing for an on-demand world

Now you have an overview of how the Google Maps Platform works, and you know
about the products and how the APIs come together to form the Google Maps Platform.
You have seen how this is applied to real-world business scenarios, you have seen how
Google Maps interacts with Google Cloud, and you have stepped through the 4 levels of
the API stack used in application development.

Now it’s time to see how to price a deal. When you are selling a solution, both you and
your customer want to know exactly what the price implications are. Pricing can be
quite a complicated aspect of the sales process—one that any sales professional can
have trouble properly speaking to. You must be able to address the opportunities
present within Google Maps Platform so that your customer can understand exactly
what impact each facet of the solution will have on their bottom line.

Remember, it's important to be able to estimate a cost forecast, but it's equally
important to emphasize that this is an educated guess based on the available
information, and it is not exact. If your customer launches and then experiences an
unexpected spike in traffic, the cost of running their application will exceed the forecast
numbers. Similarly, though, if they do not have the traffic they expected, they can expect
proportional savings.

A couple of factors to remember

Google Maps Platform pricing comes down to the volume  and the value  of the data
being requested. This essentially means that basic queries are cheaper than data-rich
queries. Any price forecasting discussion will primarily be about providing the customer
with the query complexity that suits their needs best. It’s a discussion about value to the
customer, not just the cost that can be accrued.
Click the arrow to learn more.


All-you-can-eat Mobile SDKs 

We mentioned the cost for map loads, but there is one important point to note: If the
map is being loaded by one of Google’s mobile SDKs, that load is free. Mobile users can
load out-of-the-box Google maps, pan, and zoom as much as they want, and no charge
is applied. The pricing for mobile SDKs only starts when a query is sent out from
another Maps API, such as Distance Matrix, Places, or Directions.

Pricing example: Store locator

You have a customer that wants to build a store locator; what they are looking for is
functionality that allows the user to see a map with all of the customer's nearby store
locations. 

On a basic level, this would require some dynamic map loading. The customer is
building this locator into their website, and therefore it will be accessed via desktop.

They're expecting about 950 dynamic map loads a day (or 28,500 per month) in their
store locator. 

But today’s user expects a bit more from their user experience than a basic solution.
With this in mind, let’s recommend that the customer plug in a Places autocomplete
function to help the user in their effort to locate the stores.

Pricing Calculator
In order to plug in the autocomplete function, let's first explore how much including
additional functionality it will cost. 

This is where the really useful Google Maps Platform Pricing Calculator comes into
play. You can use our pricing calculator to get an estimate for your monthly costs. 

Note: Keep the calculator open as you move through the next section to help you
forecast the costs as you go. 

Google Maps Platform includes a monthly $200 free credit limit. If their traffic remains
limited to 28,500 dynamic map loads per month, they can maintain a cost-free store
locator.
Autocomplete (Places) calculation
As stated above, the customer already has 28,500 dynamic map loads per month. This
means that the monthly $200 free credit is used up and now the application has a cost. 

Let’s see what adding Places Autocomplete will do to the monthly price. For every user
session, we want to use the Autocomplete function. That means Autocomplete will also
be used 28,500 times per month. 

If you also input this in the Price Calculator, you can find the new monthly estimate for
your store locator. In this instance, we want the function to include places details, basic
data, and contact data.

Now add the Distance Matrix (Routes)

If you make this store locator, you will be able to see other nearby stores, which you will
be able to find easily using autocomplete. But how will users know which is actually the
quickest to get to? In this case, we would recommend that the customer take advantage
of the Distance Matrix service.

As you can see here, the image on the left shows marker 1. This is the shop closest to
this customer. This is true "as the crow flies"; however, it would not be the shop they can
get to most quickly. For that, you would need to use the Distance Matrix service to
calculate the distance via road. As you can see on the right image, the closest options
are entirely different when the reality of road travel is taken into consideration.
Now, if we return to our Pricing Calculator and input the additional matrix calls
generated by this additional functionality, we see what the price of the shop locator is
now: this app’s monthly running cost is estimated at about $712, in addition to their
$200 credit.

Knowledge check: Bike rental app

Remember Kim and Barry of Wheelero? Kim is the CMO, and Barry is the Head of
Software Development. You met with them previously, and during a series of meetings
you:

 Qualified the opportunity.

 Performed a thorough technical discovery.
 Worked with them to validate the solution.

Now it is time to discuss price forecasting. They are launching a new service for
Wheelero that allows users to locate their bikes where they are locked anywhere in the
city and rent them from there. To support this, they want a solution that can show the
location of available bikes and the walking route to any selected bike from the user's
current location.

Note: As you have previously discussed, Wheelero is also interested in streamlining

their registration process with Place Autocomplete. They've made an executive decision
to build this during the next CRM (customer relationship management) refresh cycle,
and they've asked for Places API to be excluded from price forecasting at this stage.

So let’s start pricing their new map!

They have 5,000 bikes with built-in GPS; the operation times of these bikes spike
intermittently through the day and night, especially through the weekends. They have
roughly 2,000 daily users, and their app is exclusively for mobile.

A user typically searches for bikes 1.75 times per day, and the application uses the
Distance Matrix each time the user searches to return the 3 closest bikes via walking.
The user then selects a bike and gets walking directions to that bike.
They want to have a map with an overlay showing the active areas in the city that a bike
can be used in, along with the location of each bike that is available and walking
directions to any selected bike.

With the information at hand, use the Pricing Calculator to perform a forecast

calculation for their monthly costs of running Google Maps APIs, assuming a 30-day
month.
Enter your answer in the box and click Submit:

.00

SubmitShow Feedback

Conduct the conversation

Okay let’s bring it all together. Remember Peter and Bethany of Profurniture? You have
arranged a meeting with Bethany, the Head of Sales, and Peter, the COO, to discuss the
pricing of their proposed solution. You met with them previously to discuss their online
store offering with the intention of driving smaller, more frequent, online purchases in
an attempt to turn the online store into a major revenue stream for the company. 

They are interested in integrating the Place Autocomplete Address Form to complete

the address information and streamline the registration process for their online store.
Additionally, you have identified that they are also interested in optimizing their fleet
using the Distance Matrix. You found out while qualifying the opportunity that they are
already tracking their vehicles using a basic geolocation solution, and that the
customer's trucks spend a lot of their time on the open road, so traffic is not a concern
for them. They intend to use Routes APIs to develop an offering that replaces their
current one to improve their fleet optimization capabilities.

So far you have:

 Qualified the opportunity.
 Performed a thorough technical discovery. 
 Worked with them to validate the solution.

Your sales colleague has asked you to meet the customer to discuss forecasting
pricing. Your meeting objective is to come out of the meeting with a good idea of deal
size potential and provide the customer with a pricing estimate.
Choose the best question or statement to use throughout the conversation. 
Progress

0%

You are starting your follow-up conversation with Bethany and Peter. Read the
conversation below, select the best option, and watch the progress bar move with
every correct answer. 

Bethany: “Hello, it’s good to see you again.”

Peter: “Hello again.”

You: “It’s good to see you guys again too, thanks for your time today. Let’s get straight
to figuring all this out. Let me ask you a question about your online store...”

Select a question to continue the conversation. 

What is your average daily registration rate?

What percentage of your successful registrations translates into sales? And what is the average
profit earning per sale?

What is the highest number of registrations you have ever received in one day?

Try again from the startShow my choices

Let’s start calculating

Profurniture wants to implement Autocomplete API in their online store to streamline
their registration process, and they want to develop a solution to assist them in
optimizing their fleet based on the Distance Matrix.

With the information you gathered from the conversation you had with them above, use
the Pricing Calculator to perform a forecast calculation for their monthly costs of
running Google Maps APIs, assuming a 30-day month.
Enter your answer in the box and click Submit:

.00

SubmitShow Feedback
 Recap

Top takeaways
Now that you have gone "hands-on" with some pricing scenarios, you should have a
good grasp of the basics and should now be able to:
 Quickly identify the relevant APIs that need to be leveraged for any given solution.
 Discuss the discounts that the customer can benefit from, such as the $200 monthly
credit and the mobile SDK free map loads.
 Use the pricing calculator to effectively forecast a customer solution.
Additional resources
Pricing for Core Products | Google Maps Platform Site   ↗

Pricing Calculator | Google Maps Platform Site  ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Pricing deep dive module of the Google Maps Tech
Credential. If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time. Click
the button below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE

Administering the
Console
Putting the APIs to Work: Module 7
Introduction
In this module...
You'll learn how to use the Google Cloud Console to perform services such as creating
and managing projects, enabling APIs, generating API keys, billing, setting up alerts, and
monitoring with the use of Stackdriver.
You'll get answers to...
 How do I navigate the Console?
 How do I access my APIs and manage them?
 What metrics do I use for monitoring and alerts?
 How do I access and set up billing?

The Google Cloud Platform Console

So far, you have seen how Google Maps APIs fit together to provide great solutions, and
you have explored how to forecast pricing for a prospective customer. Now it is time to
step through the Google Cloud Platform Console to bring it all together for your
customer. 

As a Customer Engineer, you will need a good understanding of how to use the GCP
Console to perform services for customers such as enabling the Map APIs, creating and
managing projects, reviewing billing reports, and configuring user access.

You can manage Google Maps Platform from the Google Cloud Platform Console—the
same interface you use to manage and monitor other Google Cloud Platform services.
You can monitor individual API usage, establish usage quotas, configure alerts for more
visibility and control, and access billing reports. 

All Google Maps Platform customers receive free Google Maps Platform customer
support, which is accessed through the Google Cloud Platform Console.

Navigating the Console

The API Developers Console is available at https://console.cloud.google.com. Your
home screen may look similar to this or might be completely blank—in which case you
can access the menu at the upper-left corner to see all the services available. Let’s take
a look at the basic navigation of the Console. Click the hotspots on the screen to learn
more.
Click on the + buttons below to learn more.
 APIs & Services
Access APIs
You can access APIs in several ways. You can click on the API widget in your project
dashboard as shown in the previous example.

The API Manager can be accessed through the Navigation menu > APIs & Services. 

You can also access the API library by going to Navigation menu > Other Google
Solutions > Google Maps > APIs. This example is showing the Google Cloud Platform
and with the APIs available. 

Clicking on a specific API will let you see more detail.

API Manager Dashboard 

API Manager Dashboard
The API Manager Dashboard allows you to monitor and manage all of your active APIs.

Enabling APIs
The simplest way to enable an API for your project is to use the Google Cloud Platform
Console, although you can also enable an API using gcloud or using the Service Usage
API. You can find out more about these options in the Service Usage API docs.

To enable an API for your project using the Console:

 1. Go to the Google Cloud Platform Console API Library.
2. From the projects list, select a project or create a new one.
3. In the API Library, select the API you want to enable. If you need help finding the API, use
the search field or the filters.
4. On the API page, click Enable.

API keys
An API key is a simple encrypted string that identifies a Google Cloud Platform project
for quota, billing, and monitoring purposes. A developer generates an API key in a
project in the Google Cloud Platform Console and embeds that key in every call to your
API as a query parameter. To learn all about API keys, you can start here.

Enabling API with no access

When an API requires an API key and the API is associated with a Google Cloud
Platform project that you don't have access to, you have the following options to obtain
an API key:

 Option 1: Ask a member of the project team to create an API key for you.
 Option 2: Ask a member of the project team to grant you access to the project so that
you can create an API key in the same project that the API is associated with.
 Option 3: Ask a member of the project team to grant you access to enable the API in
your own Google Cloud Platform project so that you can create an API key.

If you used option 3 above and asked someone to grant you access to enable the
API, follow the steps (right) to enable the API in your own project.
To enable an API:

1. In the Google Cloud Platform Console, go to APIs & Services for your project.
2. On the Library page, click Private APIs. If you don't see the API listed, you haven't
been granted access to enable the API.
3. Click the API you want to enable. If you need help finding the API, use the search
field. A page displays information about the API.
4. Click Enable.

Monitoring and alerts for Maps APIs

Monitoring and alerting on usage
Now that you have learned about enabling and accessing the APIs, it is important that
you know how to monitor API usage. 

Like other APIs and services in the Console, the Maps Platform sends detailed telemetry
on your API usage. This can be useful to track overall consumption and to monitor
performance, and it can also help reveal negative interactions between customer
software and Google services. This can also can tell you whether Google Cloud services
are behaving abnormally and dramatically speed up resolution times if support is
needed from Google when troubleshooting problems. Learn more about monitoring
APIs.

You can view API metrics in two places: in the API Dashboard or in Stackdriver.

 The API Dashboard gives you a basic view of your usage, with pre-built charts on
each API detail page. Any metrics used in this page are also published to
Stackdriver.
 Stackdriver lets you configure robust monitoring for your application by adding
these metrics to custom dashboards and cross-referencing with other available
stats. Stackdriver gives you access to over 900 Monitoring metrics from Google
Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services. You can create your own custom
metrics and can organize your cloud resources using groups.

Stackdriver Monitoring can be accessed from the Navigation menu from within the GCP
Console as shown. Just click Monitoring.

Stackdriver
Stackdriver
The Stackdriver dashboard can potentially show you everything happening within your
application. You can configure the dashboard to display links to set alerting policies and
show any existing events that have been reported or resolved.

Using alerts
Alerting gives timely awareness to problems in cloud applications, so you can resolve
the problems quickly.
To create an alerting policy, you must describe the circumstances under which you want
to be alerted and how you want to be notified. Click to learn about alerting policies and
the concepts behind them.

Setting up a Stackdriver alert policy

Now that you understand the importance of setting up alerts for Cloud applications, let's
go through the steps of how to do it using Stackdriver. 
Click the blue arrow below to follow the steps 1 - 9.

Step 1

Select your project in the Console. 

https://console.cloud.google.com/home/dashboard?project=
Selecting metrics
Stackdriver supports different types of metrics for many products and services. The
metrics for all Google APIs, including Maps, are categorized and prefixed with
serviceruntime.googleapis.com, compared to say, appengine.googleapis.com, for
AppEngine. 

The APIs are monitored as part of the serviceruntime which contain metrics for
Google’s Cloud APIs.

For the Maps APIs, an important measurement is the request_count, because this

allows you to get information about the type of response code that can be used in
alerting. Further details are below:

api/request_count  The count of completed requests. Sampled every 10 seconds. After

GA Request sampling, data is not visible for up to 110 seconds. 
count 
DELTA, INT64, 1 protocol: The protocol of the request, e.g. "http", "grpc" 
response_code: The HTTP response code for HTTP requests, or HTTP
equivalent code for gRPC requests. 

response_code_class: The response code class for HTTP requests, or HTTP

equivalent class for gRPC requests, e.g. "2xx", "4xx" 
grpc_status_code: The numeric gRPC response code for gRPC requests, or
gRPC equivalent code for HTTP requests.

You can use Metrics Explorer to experiment with the metrics before creating an alert.
Email notifications
There are several notification options for the alerts. For monitoring Google Maps API,
you can get an alert based on the metrics set up and measured. This will trigger an alert
to the email that links back to the Stackdriver dashboard for analysis. The email will
allow you to acknowledge the alert.

Billing
Billing menu in the Console
You have seen how to monitor API usage using the GCP Console, so now this part of the
module will delve into how to use the Console for billing. We will now step through each
section under the Billing menu in the Console. 
Add a billing account
Let’s begin with how to add a billing account. You will first need to access the billing
settings to link a billing account. 
Click on the + buttons below to learn more.

Billing Dashboard (Online)

 After you link a billing account, the Billing dashboard opens. If you need to view
the project details, you can click on the Project name.

 The payment overview provides detailed information about Amount due,

Transactions, etc.

An overview of billing roles in Cloud IAM

Monitoring billing is not a solo operation. Multiple people need to monitor different
billing aspects of the Google Maps Platform solution. 

Shown below is a brief summary of Billing roles in Cloud IAM that can be granted to
users. You can set up these roles and access rights within IAM (via the Navigation
Menu in the GCP Console).

Billing Account Administrator

Billing Account Viewer

Billing Account User

Billing Account Creator

Project Billing Manager

Payments Contacts

Budget and alerts

 To help you with project planning and controlling costs, you can set a budget
alert. A budget alert lets you track how you spend and can alert you when the
budget is nearing a particular amount. Setting a budget does not cap API usage.

 Alerts prompt you to act to control your costs, but do not prevent the use of your
services.
Transactions
 The Transactions section contains details about your costs and payment
information. Here you can:
1. View transactions and sort by transaction types.
2. Sort your account's payment information.

The default view is of all transactions for the last 3 months; however, you can
also view a detailed transaction history or a summary:

 Detailed view allows you to see billing activity detailed by day.

 Summary view transactions are grouped by type so you can see
information like costs, payments, and adjustments at a glance.

 In the Transactions pane, you can also view specific details about each individual
transaction, such as:

 Usage breakdown
 Amount charged based on API calls

Billing navigation menu

The following three tabs are the final few buttons within the billing navigation menu that
we are going to explore in this module. 
Click each tab to learn more about each button. 

 Billing export
 Payment settings online
 Reports
Billing export to BigQuery enables you to export daily usage and cost estimates
automatically. You can access billing data from BigQuery. You can also export data to a
regular CSV or JSON file.

If you use regular file export, be aware that regular file export captures a smaller dataset
than export to BigQuery.

Knowledge check
What key monitoring metric allows you to find the response code for alerting purposes?
Select the correct answer.

request_count 

request_sizes

request_latencies
SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
Where does the setup of various billing roles take place?

Select the correct answer.

Cloud IAM

Cloud HAM

Cloud Endpoints
SubmitShow Feedback

Knowledge check
When an API key is created, it is associated with a ________. By identifying the calling
_________, an API key enables usage information to be associated with
that_____________, and the key allows Google Maps Platform APIs to reject calls from
other ____________s.
Which word could fill all of the blanks above? Select the correct answer.

project 

number
 picture
SubmitShow Feedback

Recap

Top takeaways
 You can manage Google Maps Platform from Google Cloud Console —the same
interface you use to manage and monitor other Google Cloud Platform services. 
 You can monitor individual API usage, establish usage quotas, configure alerts for more
visibility and control, access billing reports, and so much more.
Additional resources
Google Cloud Console | Google Cloud site ↗

API keys | Google Maps Platform site ↗

Overview of Billing Access Control | Google Cloud site ↗

 
Notifications | Google Cloud site ↗

Billing | Google Cloud site ↗

Metrics | Google Cloud site ↗

Congratulations!
Well done on completing the Administering the Console module of the Google Maps
Tech Credential. If you ever need a refresher, you can return to this module at any time.
Click the button below to close this window and return to the course main menu.
END MODULE