Share Files And Add Maps, Places, And Routes To Your Business With Google

Most businesses already use Google every day, for documents, for maps, for finding customers and getting to them. What fewer people realize is that much of that is available as APIs, which let other software, or an AI assistant, do the work for you: share the right file with the right person, turn an address into a point on a map, or plan a delivery route. Google is a huge provider, so this post sticks to a few practical jobs. The full picture is on the Google profile on APIs.io.

What Google does

Google needs little introduction. The part of Google this profile describes is Google Docs, the online word processing and PDF editing tool inside Google Workspace, with real-time collaboration and Gemini features for drafting and formatting, offered to individuals, small businesses, startups, and enterprises. Beyond Workspace, Google publishes APIs across cloud, maps, places, and search. More at google.com.

What you can get done

Identity & Access Management

Who can see and edit which file. When a new client comes on, or a contractor leaves, sharing should change everywhere at once, not one document at a time.

• GET /files/{fileId}/permissions lists who has access to a file.
• POST /files/{fileId}/permissions shares a file with a person or group.
• GET /files/{fileId}/permissions/{permissionId} shows one person’s access.
• PATCH /files/{fileId}/permissions/{permissionId} changes that access, for example from editor to viewer.
• DELETE /files/{fileId}/permissions/{permissionId} removes someone’s access.

Maps, places, and routes

If your business delivers, visits customers, or helps people find a location, Google’s location APIs do the heavy lifting.

• The Geocoding API turns a street address into map coordinates, and back again.
• The Routes API plans how to get from one place to another.
• The Places Insights API and the Aggregate Places API help you understand the businesses and places in an area, useful when you are choosing where to open or advertise.
• The Elevation API and the Street View Imagery API add terrain and street-level views.

Running your own APIs

If your business publishes its own APIs, Google Cloud API Gateway puts a managed front door on them, handling who can call them and how.

Getting started

Google is listed as free with self-serve signup, though individual products have their own pricing once you go past free use. Start with the Google Maps Platform documentation, the Places Aggregate documentation, and the API Gateway reference. Browse the Google Maps API and everything else from the Google profile.

Pick the one repeated chore, sharing files or looking up addresses, and let software take it from there.