It's a real shame that Google have decided they no longer want to be the universal, free solution for maps. They were the standard for so long. I don't understand what they're doing, especially with the ridiculous pricing.
I don't quite understand why they are charging as much as they are (pretty much unaffordable for a low margin, high traffic business), but it does seem like the free ride had to end.
They could easily monetize it and still keep these customers. The scheme they have chosen seems all about making money in the short term. One thing they could do is open up local ads to 3rd party maps use in return for keeping them free. Also just charging a rate that sites can afford would be good, google has more than enough data to decide what the average site with high traffic can afford.
It's a real shame that Google have decided they no longer want to be the universal, free solution for maps. They were the standard for so long. I don't understand what they're doing, especially with the ridiculous pricing.