Google static map API getting 403 forbidden when loading from img tag

This has gotten quite a lot of views, so I'm adding my solution to the problem here:

When using the new API, make sure you generate a Key for browser apps (with referers) and also make sure the patterns match your URL.

E.g. when requesting from example.com your pattern should be

  example.com/*

When you're requesting from www.example.com:

  *.example.com/*

So make sure you check whether a subdomain is present and allow both patterns in the developer console.

1. Visit the Developer Console.
2. Under API Keys, click the pencil icon to edit.
3. Under "Key restrictions", ensure that you have an entry for example.com/*, *.example.com/*, and any local testing domains you might want.

I had this same problem but my solution was different. I had the V2 maps api enabled, but not the static maps api (I thought this was V2). I enabled the static maps api and it worked.

There seems to be some confusion here, and since this thread is highly ranked on Google, it seems relevant to clarify.

Google has a couple of different API's to use for their maps service:

Javascript API

The old version of this API was version 2, which required a key. This version is deprecated, and it is recommended to upgrade to the newer version 3. Note that the documentation still states that you need a key for this to function, except if you're using "Google Maps API for Business".

Static Maps API

This is a whole different story. Static maps is a service that does not require any javascript. You simply call an url, and Google will return a maps image, making it possible to insert the URL directly into your <img> tag. The newest version is version 2, and this requires a key to function because a usage limit is applied.

A key can be requested here: https://code.google.com/apis/console

And the key should be added to the request for the correct image to be generated:

http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=New+York,NY&zoom=13&size=600x300&key=API_console_key

I hope this clears up some confusion.