Google APIs Console

by Kin Lane on 05/21/2011

The Google APIs Console is an interface for developers to manage and view traffic data, authentication, and billing information for up to 15 Google APIs, and more coming soon.

Developers can bundle a collection of APIs into a project, and manage the following project information:

Activated APIs - APIs can be activated to enable traffic monitoring, filtering, and billing, and API-specific project pages.
Traffic information - Console reports show traffic information for each activated API, and allow for capping or filtering of usage for each API.
Billing information - APIs now can have billing activated, allowing them to exceed the courtesy usage quota. Usage fees are billed using Google Checkout and charges are invoiced monthly.
Project keys - Each project can be identified by either an API key or an OAuth 2.0 token. Using this key/token in API requests will identify the project, and enable the recording of usage data, filtering restrictions, and bill usage to the proper project. Within the Console developers can generate or revoke API keys or OAuth 2.0 certificates for specific application.
Team members - Team members can be established with read, write, or ownership access to each project's Console page.

The Google APIs Console supports fifteen separate Google APIs:

The Google APIs Console provides a pretty comprehensive set of tools for developers and companies to manage their projects that integrate with various Google APIs.

The traffic control and billing tools provide a peek into the future of how billing and monetization will occur for APIs as they become more of a utility in our every day lives.