Google has announced that heavy users of the Google maps application will now be charged - it will be interesting to see if this move from a zero price targeted at websites that make extensive use of the Google Maps coding will affect demand for the program.

Small web sites that attract little traffic will not be affected as the first 25,000 Google map-loads a day are free. but for sites that get more than 100,000 users every 24 hours, there will be an extra expense of $300 a day, over $2000 a week and possibly a fee north of $100,000 per year!

For Google it is all about monetising their content and services and generating a return on the heavy investment in developing the applications.

Guardian: Google puts a limit on free Google Maps API: over 25,000 daily and you pay

Google’s quarterly profits in the three months to the end of September 2011 were $2.73 billion with a surge in advertising revenue. Revenue for the search engine giant was up 33 percent year on year with $9,72 billion of revenue in the three months to the end of September.