API Key

Google has recently announced that even a free usage of API (up to a certain number of API calls per month) requires to enable billing on your Google account

In order to get the correct API for the HotSpots to work properly, you should include the following API into your project

Let us explain how to get a proper API key for your HotSPots

1. visit Get API Key URL

2. click on the "Get Started" button in the first step on that page
   

3. on the new page that will open, select all three products and click on the Continue button
   

4. on next page of the wizard, enter your project name and click on the Next button
   

5. wait until Google finishes project preparation
   

6. In case you don't have billing enabled already on the account, do it in the next step
   

7. go through the billing process. We won't explain this process here because it is really a straightforward

8. when you finish setting up the billing process, you will be asked to enable Google Maps Platform so click on the Next button
   

9. after few moments, you should see the following, showing your API key. Click on the Done
   

10. open HotSpots Options in HotSpots Dashboard and input the API key generated in the previous step

11. If you have followed the process, you will get all the Google Maps API included. For HotSpots, you don't need all of them. You just need the following API enabled
    

12. The rest of them, which are not needed, can be disabled for this project by clicking on the Details link next to each API
    

13. one the API specific page click on the Disable link
    

14. Disabled API will be moved into the Additional APIS section list
    

15. repeat steps 12 - 14 for all the APIs which you don't need

16. In the end, you should leave the following APIs enabled

    1. Directions API

    2. Geocoding API

    3. Maps JavaScript API

    4. Street View Static API