Google Map Calls - Prevent Mischief Calls to API driving up usage costs

Question

I have an application that currently uses google maps and address search. I am about to switch to a higher tier of usage, but wanted to know what safeguards (if any) are in place to prevent a mischievous party from flooding the API call with my API key, therefore running up my usage numbers (even though it is not legitimate).

I know that google has some control in place where the user has to answer a captcha if google detects too much traffic coming from a certain IP address. In this case, would this help prevent the issue? If so, what is the rate at which someone could still hammer google with my API key?

Answer 1

You can set rate limits (per user) in the API console, for each API.