๐บ๏ธ Your First Map
Whether you want to:
- create interactive maps for your website
- integrate maps into a business application
- create custom geospatial visualizations
- or use Google's geospatial APIs like address autocomplete, geocoding, directions etc.
you'll need a Maps Platform account and an API Key.
An API key is an alphanumeric set of characters that always starts with AIza, e.g.:
AIzaAyDWW5Ayx97mgG7ZKuE1-Xn0-dW1EvXpRQ
FYI, API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a set of protocols that enables communication between different software applications.
In the context of the Google Maps Platform, your API key is the primary form of credential (authentication + authorization) that you'll use to load the map and/or request other, map-related services from Google.
If you already have an API key, you can jump right to ๐ Creating a New Google Map .
If you don't have an API key, continue with ๐ Obtaining Your Maps API Key(s) .