Policies and attributions for Roads API

Page Summary

• Applications using the Roads API must provide publicly accessible Terms of Use and a Privacy Policy that comply with Google's guidelines, including referencing Google's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

• Content pre-fetching, caching, or storage is generally restricted, except for place IDs, which can be stored indefinitely.

• Roads API results can be displayed on Google Maps but are prohibited on non-Google maps.

• Applications must display the Google logo and attribution, either on the map or separately if data is shown without a map, following specific guidelines.

• Asset tracking applications using the Roads API may require a specific license, and usage is further detailed in the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.

This document lists requirements for applications developed with the Roads API. Note that use of the Roads API is governed by your Agreement with Google.

Policies

This section describes policies relevant to Roads API. Policies provide practical implementation guidelines and requirements to help you use the Service correctly and in line with Google Maps Platform's expectations.

Data storage, caching, and scraping

When using Google Maps Content in your application, follow the data handling requirements in Section 3.2.3 of the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service and the Google Maps Platform Service Specific Terms:

• Caching and scraping restrictions (Section 3.2.3(a) and (b)): Cache or store Google Maps Content only as expressly permitted under the Google Maps Platform Service Specific Terms. Don't export, extract, or scrape Google Maps Content for use outside the Services. For example, don't pre-fetch, index, store, or redistribute Google Maps Content outside the Services; bulk download map tiles, Street View images, geocodes, directions, distance matrix results, roads information, places information, elevation values, or time zone details; or copy and save business names, addresses, or user reviews.
• Derived content restrictions (Section 3.2.3(c)): Use Google Maps Content within your application as permitted by the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service. Don't create content based on Google Maps Content. For example, don't trace or digitize features from satellite imagery, build 3D or terrain models, use Places latitude and longitude values as input for point-in-polygon analysis, construct a location index from Street View imagery, or convert text-based driving times into synthesized speech.

To reduce latency and billing costs without caching restricted data, use field masks or field lists to request only the fields that your user interface needs. Store exempt identifiers such as the place ID to fetch fresh details when a user interacts with a place.

Google technical support engineers can't provide legal advice or grant exceptions to the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service. Consult your legal counsel to determine whether your implementation complies with the terms, or contact Sales if your use case requires custom licensing.

Exceptions from caching restrictions

The Google Maps Platform Service Specific Terms grant the following limited caching exceptions:

• Place IDs: The place ID, used to uniquely identify a place, is exempt from the caching restrictions. You can therefore store place ID values indefinitely. Place IDs are returned in the id or place_id field in API responses. Learn how to save, refresh, and manage place IDs in the Place IDs guide.
• Latitude and longitude coordinates: You can temporarily cache latitude (latitude) and longitude (longitude) values for up to 30 consecutive calendar days, after which you must delete the cached coordinates, when using services that grant this exception in the Google Maps Platform Service Specific Terms:
  • Routes API, Route Optimization API, Directions API (Legacy), and Roads API
  • Geocoding API, Geolocation API, and Address Validation API
  • Places API, Places UI Kit, and Navigation SDK
• Service-specific caching periods: The Google Maps Platform Service Specific Terms also define field-specific caching periods and permitted purposes for the Address Validation API, Air Quality API, Pollen API, Solar API, Weather API, and Places Aggregate API.

Implementation restrictions

If you intend to use the Roads API as part of an asset tracking application, you may be required to purchase an asset tracking license. Contact sales for more information. For details of allowed usage, consult the License section of the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.

European Economic Area countries and territories

This product has different Terms of Service for customers with a billing address in the European Economic Area (EEA), and it may also have different functionality. Before building with Google Maps Platform, review the following EEA-specific terms and information:

• Google Maps Platform EEA Terms of Service
• Google Maps Platform EEA Service Specific Terms
• EEA frequently asked questions (FAQ)
• Google Maps Platform Road Safety Requirements

If your billing address is not in the EEA, the following terms of service apply to you:

• Google Maps Platform Terms of Service
• Google Maps Platform Service Specific Terms

Google Maps attribution requirements

This section provides attribution requirements and guidelines for displaying Google Maps and Content through your applications.

Note: The following updated attribution requirements now use "Google Maps" instead of only "Google." We acknowledge that your existing implementations may use the attribution of "Google," in alignment with prior guidance, and you may continue using "Google" as an attribution for now. For new implementations, use "Google Maps" as described in this section. In the future, we will provide timelines and instructions to help you transition existing "Google" attributions to "Google Maps" attributions.

Display Google Maps attribution

You must follow Google Maps attribution requirements when displaying Content from Google Maps Platform APIs in your app or website. You don't need to add extra attribution if the Content is shown on a Google Map where the attribution is already visible.

Included Google Maps attribution

For Google Maps attribution that is already provided by Google Maps Platform in the user interface, such as in Places UI Kit:

• Don't remove included attribution regardless of where it is displayed. Don't alter, hide, or obscure the attribution and make sure it is clearly visible against the background.
• Always visually distinguish Google Maps Platform Content from other content by using UI cues such as a border, background color, shadow, or sufficient whitespace.
• When making visual modifications, you must adhere to all Google Maps attribution requirements.

Google Maps logo and text attribution

Attribution should take the form of the Google Maps logo whenever possible. In cases where space is limited, the text Google Maps is acceptable. It must always be clear to end users which content is provided by Google Maps.

Left: Example of Google Maps logo attribution, Right: Example of Google Maps text attribution

Logo attribution

Follow these requirements for using the Google Maps logo in your app or website.

Examples of acceptable variations for Google Maps logo attribution

Download Google Maps logos

Use the official Google Maps logo files. Download the logos below, and follow the guidelines in this section.

Download the Google Maps attribution assets

When using the Google Maps logo, follow these guidelines.

• Don't modify the logo in any way.
• Maintain the aspect ratio of the logo to prevent distortion.
• Use the outlined logo on a busy background, like a map or image.
• Use the non-outlined logo on a plain background, like a solid color or subtle gradient.

Logo size specification

Follow these size specifications for the Google Maps logo:

• Minimum logo height: 16dp
• Maximum logo height: 19dp
• Minimum logo clear space: 10dp on left, right and top, 5dp on the bottom

To learn about dp, see Pixel density on the Material Design website.

Example of Google Maps logo showing minimum clear space and acceptable size range

Logo accessibility

Follow these accessibility requirements for the Google Maps logo:

• Maintain an accessible contrast between the logo and the background.
• Include an accessibility label with the text Google Maps.

Examples of unacceptable variations and accessibility issues for Google Maps logo attribution

Text attribution

If the size of your interface does not support using the Google Maps logo, you can spell out Google Maps in text. Follow these guidelines:

Examples of acceptable variations of the Google Maps text attribution

• Don't modify the text Google Maps in any way:
  
  • Don't change the capitalization of Google Maps
  • Don't wrap Google Maps onto multiple lines
  • Don't localize Google Maps into another language.
  • Prevent browsers from translating Google Maps by using the HTML attribute translate="no".

Examples of unacceptable variations of the Google Maps text attribution

• Style Google Maps text as described in the following table:

  Google Maps text-styling requirements
  Property	Style
  Font family	Roboto. Loading the font is optional.
  Fallback font family	Any sans serif body font already used in your product or "Sans-Serif" to invoke the default system font
  Font style	Normal
  Font weight	400
  Font color	White, black (#1F1F1F), or gray (#5E5E5E). Maintain accessible (4.5:1) contrast against the background.
  Font size	Minimum font size: 12sp Maximum font size: 16sp To learn about sp, see Font size units on the Material Design website.
  Letter spacing	Normal

Example CSS

The following CSS renders Google Maps with the appropriate typographic style and color on a white or light background.

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Roboto&display=swap');

.GMP-attribution {
font-family: Roboto, Sans-Serif;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 400;
font-size: 1rem;
letter-spacing: normal;
white-space: nowrap;
color: #5e5e5e;
}

Visual requirements

Follow these requirements for the visual treatment of Google Maps attribution.

• Position attribution near the top or bottom of the content, and within the same visual container. For a single line of content, attribution can be positioned to the right or left.

• Visually distinguish Google Maps Platform Content from other content by using UI cues such as a border, background color, shadow, or sufficient whitespace.

• Don't misrepresent Google Maps by attributing it with non-Google Maps Platform content.
• Verify that the attribution is always visible and legible. Never remove, hide, obscure, or modify it.

The following figures show examples of these visual requirements.

Example of Google Maps attribution positioned at the top, at the bottom, and to the side of the content

Example of two approaches to differentiating Google Maps Content (the place rating) from other content

Don't obscure the Google Maps attribution or mix it with content from other sources

Third-party data providers

Some of the data and images on our mapping products come from providers other than Google. For some products, such as Map Tiles API, we may provide you with the required attribution to the third-party data provider. When we do, the text of your attribution must say the name "Google Maps" and the relevant data provider(s), such as "Map data: Google, Maxar Technologies." When Google provides third-party attribution, only including "Google Maps" or the Google logo is not proper attribution.