Hi team, we’ve been spending more time recently attempting to limit operating expenses than developing new features so will temporarily switching off Google Maps integration when the free tier is consumed each month; costs jump to $40+ a day which is unsustainable.
Adsense content helps take the sting out of this cost but it is still a significant ongoing cost for any small business to carry.
Update (12/06): Google Maps integration has been switched off. We’ll switch to alternate mapping tools for the remainder of the month as able.
Update (14/06): Mission accomplished. Let’s get back to building new features!
How we have reduced costs
We’ve deployed a variety of means so far to reduce operating costs including:
- [x] Minimising our hosting server usage (now a 4 CPU, 12 GB RAM instance)
- [x] Using Mapbox as our primary mapping solution
- [x] Using the Google Maps free tier (up to $200 credit before costs are incurred)
- [x] Restricting access to non-Australian site visitors further extending our Google Maps and Mapbox free tier
How we are going to further reduce costs
Google Maps (Dynamic) is our primary expense in excess of $40 a day.
Here’s how we’ll make those Google Maps free tier credits last longer next month:
- [x] Apply separate API Keys to different page templates to better understand Google Maps usage
- [..] Use Google Maps (Static) on the Station template
- [x] Switch between Google Maps, Mapbox and other mapping tools free tiers during the calendar month
- [..] Switch to a self-hosted Open Street Maps (OSM) instance, or “community” license for our ongoing mapping needs
If you have any tips or suggestions we’re all ears.