When should I use an API geocoder class and when should I use the HTTP Geocoding Service?
Google provides two different techniques for performing geocoding. Each of the Maps APIs includes a class for performing geocoding and Google also provides a HTTP Geocoding Service. If the set of locations that your application will need to geocode is known and fixed, such as the properties on a real estate site, or the hotels on a travel site, you should use the HTTP Geocoding Service to geocode all of the addresses once, cache them server side, and serve the coordinates directly to users. This avoids the need for the same addresses to be repeatedly geocoded every time they are displayed, and improves site performance. By geocoding your addresses in this way you can also control the rate of requests and daily volume to ensure that none fail because too many queries were sent. If however your application requires geocoding in order to service users that are performing address searches on your site, the appropriate API geocoder class should be used. This ensures that the geocoding reque
