Setting up a Google Account and Maps API key does require a few more steps when compared to prior data services such as Bing Maps.

The first step is to go to https://console.cloud.google.com and set up an account . To proceed, you must have a credit card and Gmail account. If you have not set up cloud account with Google before you can set up a free trial for 90 days or $300 in services, whichever comes first.

You card will not be charged at the end of the trial.. If you choose to continue, you can activate the account for monthly billing with $200 in free services until charges are made. Typically, routing and geocoding services from Google are billed at $5 per thousand.

One the account is set up, you will need to assign a project and then create the API key. You must also enable the API services required for CDXZipStream to work. These service include the Routes API, Geocoding API, Directions API and Static Maps API. New accounts with Google start with all services disabled to prevent unwanted usage.

To help lead you thru this, we've created a detailed blog article covering the steps required along with illustrations.

We've also release an updated version of CDXZipStream that can check if all the required Google services are running. Download and run our latest installation file to get this update. This version checks all 4 services when setting up an API key. A button is also available in the CDXZipStream Google API Settings dialog to run this check at any time.