Google Maps API Prices Increase 9,000%

Posted by lcleveland in Map Software, MySLP SaaS, Store Locator Plus, WPSLP

How much did the Google Maps API prices increase? The true cost is hidden for many users of the ubiquitous Google Maps API as Google is weaning you onto a potential 9,000% price increase by giving everyone a $200 per-month credit towards API billing through September 2018. For many API users the true sticker shock will come when that $200 credit expires.

Google Maps API Prices Increase by 9,500% for our account in September.

Our fully managed locator service has already seen the impact. When the $200 credit expires our expenses will increase 9,570%

Up until July 2018 most users were able to get by with no official Google API key at all. Those that started a site in the past year needed an API key but likely fell under the “free usage limits” and never saw a bill; even if they enabled the older “Pay-As-You-Go” system under Google.

Load Locations From WordPress Sites

Posted by lcleveland in MySLP SaaS, Store Locator Plus, WPSLP

You can now load locations from WordPress sites directly into Store Locator Plus. This new feature makes it easier to migrate from self-managed WordPress plugins to our fully managed My Store Locator Plus service.

This is the first iteration and only provides fundamental location loading features.

The current version does not import category information and as such will not retain location:category associates. It will import contact fields, if you are using that with a Power add on, or feature and rank fields if you use the Experience add on.

The current version of the location loader will not check if locations already exist in your location list; as such it can create duplicate entries. It can also stall if the site that is being loaded from is slow to respond; it is important to check that your loaded list of locations matches the source site when the loading process is complete.

The location loader only supports loading locations from WordPress sites running the WordPress Store Locator Plus plugin. If you are using a locator or directory plugin other than Store Locator Plus, please contact us to discuss the possibility of beta testing the forthcoming “MySLP Location Connector” plugin.

Use this to migrate to MySLP

With MySLP, we worry about software updates and Google keys. You manage your business.

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Payment Updates For Managed Locator Service

Posted by lcleveland in Map Software, MySLP SaaS, Store Locator Plus

My Store Locator Plus was updated over the weekend to update payment processing. This does not affect billing on existing active accounts and is not related to the WordPress plugins.

Renewing Expired Accounts

For accounts that were canceled within 30 days, whether by choice or because a credit card payment could not be processed, the renew option is back online.

The option to renew a recently-expired accounts had been offline for the past 60 days due to a change in the programming interface at our payment processor. With the changes to the interface all renewed MySLP subscriptions will have a new subscription number. This will not impact your MySLP functionality but for those that keep track of transactions at Stripe (our payment processor) you will note two different subscriptions if you choose to renew your account.