Field Note
The Map Everyone Builds On Is Not Google's
Google's place data needs a key and cannot be kept. Open map data downloads whole and can be. That one rule decides which map almost every tool outside Google is built on.
The setup.
This site needed a source of real estate office records to build a directory across four states. There are two serious maps of where businesses are. Google's is the one everybody pictures. It was out of the running before the work started, and not for quality reasons.
The finding.
Google Maps Platform needs a key. Every look is billed. The terms do not allow keeping a copy or building a separate database out of it. So a directory, a dataset, or any tool that has to hold records cannot use it.
Open map data has the opposite shape. It downloads whole, costs nothing, and may be kept as long as it is credited. That is why it sits underneath so much software that is not Google.
Then we read the open copy properly. Across the four covered states it carries 969 real estate office records. 470 of them have the website field filled in. That is 49 percent, and it swings from 41 percent in Florida to 75 percent in Georgia.
That number describes the open records. It does not describe those businesses. A company can be easy to find in Google and still have a thin entry in the open copy, because the two records are kept by different people.
| Open map data | Google Maps Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Key required | No | Yes |
| Cost per look | None | Billed per request |
| Download the whole set | Yes | No |
| Keep a copy | Yes, with credit | Limited by the terms |
| Build a separate database from it | Yes | Not permitted |
| State | Office records | With a website field | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 616 | 251 | 41% |
| Georgia | 75 | 56 | 75% |
| North Carolina | 143 | 81 | 57% |
| South Carolina | 135 | 82 | 61% |
| All four | 969 | 470 | 49% |
The change.
Open map data was moved to a smaller job in this directory. It supplies coordinates and a clearly labeled public office list near the bottom of a place page. It is never used as a measure of how visible a business is, and the pages now say that in plain words.
The licensing point itself was missing from every page on this site. The directory explained what the open list is not. Nothing explained why the open copy matters at all, which left a reader with a warning and no reason. It now lives in the glossary.
The share of open map office records carrying a website field across these four states, currently 49 percent. The next pull is due around the end of December 2026. A rise means the open copy fills in on its own over time. A flat line means it only moves when somebody edits it on purpose.
More real work, shown
Every field note is one finding from a live website, the data behind it, and the metric we are watching next.