Google map not displaying on iplookup webpage; time for alternative?

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mirror176
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Joined: Thu May 06, 2021 10:14 pm

Google map not displaying on iplookup webpage; time for alternative?

Post by mirror176 » Thu May 06, 2021 10:23 pm

When clicking on the flag I get taken to a page that shows text based specifications but looks like it tries to request a google map and just gives a common error instead: "Google Maps Platform rejected your request. This IP, site or mobile application is not authorized to use this API key..." Reminds me of the fallout as Google revised the terms to have a large price increase, require credit card number for small users in the 'free' window, etc. that I've seen on many websites of which many went to openstreetmap variants. If there is a blocker migrating to another service and if this isn't a temporary issue, could it offer a link to take someone to google maps website directly or does that too violate their current terms?

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rleeden
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Re: Google map not displaying on iplookup webpage; time for alternative?

Post by rleeden » Fri May 07, 2021 7:44 am

Thanks for your post. I've had one other report of this happening, but have been unable to reproduce this issue. I can also see in the Google Map API dashboard that the vast majority of requests are working but slightly less than 1% are failing with a 4xx error. Which suggests some kind of authentication issue, which is what you seem to be seeing.

The google maps displayed on the iplookup.flagfox.net website depends on a valid API key being passed via javascript from your browser. The key is authenticated via the http refererer. So the map will only display if the request is coming from a valid URL - i.e. the iplookup.flagfox.net website. So are you perhaps somehow blocking http referers, either wih an add-on or by changing settings in about:config? Does this happen in a clean firefox profile or in a different browser?

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rleeden
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Re: Google map not displaying on iplookup webpage; time for alternative?

Post by rleeden » Fri May 07, 2021 10:12 am

I have now been able to recreate this issue with several referer blocking add-ons avaiable for Firefox (such as Smart Referer).

I have made an adjustment to how the authentication works which may help in some cases.

hugolopolus
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Re: Google map not displaying on iplookup webpage; time for alternative?

Post by hugolopolus » Wed May 19, 2021 4:43 pm

@rleeden, you sir, are a gentleman

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