I'm working on a web app that lets users save their favorite businesses and shows them on a map. I've been checking out an app called Beli, which does something similar. It has a map interface where you can search for a specific area and see your favorite restaurants as well as those others have reviewed.
I'm trying to figure out how they're operating without violating any terms of service from their mapping providers. I suspect they're using Apple Maps for the map display since it seems similar, but there's no attribution, which would typically violate Apple's ToS. For the autocomplete search feature, I think they might be using Google Maps, and again, they haven't given credit.
It appears that they don't have their own restaurant data, because the only way to achieve that would be to either ask users for detailed info—which they don't do, pay for a business data provider's license (which seems unlikely given that some places aren't listed on popular platforms), or use open-source data (which isn't the case either).
This leads me to wonder how they're able to display multiple businesses quickly within the searched area. Initially, I thought just storing the longitude and latitude in a database would be sufficient, but it turns out that storing that information is restricted. You're only allowed to keep the place ID returned by the API, meaning I'd have to call the API for each favorite place to get coordinates and check if they're in view. This feels impractical for scaling. However, Beli appears to pull data really quickly. The terms state that caching of location data is allowed for 30 days, so could I create a system that updates this data every 30 days? Would that be in violation? It feels like a lot of hassle to manage that turnover. I'm eager to build my own service, but navigating these terms is confusing. Any insights would be appreciated, along with other similar apps I could look into.
4 Answers
Just remember, companies often leverage legal gray areas. Beli could be using other mapping systems or open data, and they might have negotiated special terms with Google or Apple if they have enough resources.
There are plenty of alternative mapping systems and open datasets available, so it’s possible Beli established their own usage terms. Making assumptions can lead to confusion. If caching is allowed for 30 days, you could always refresh your data regularly to stay within bounds. That’s standard practice for developers.
Have you thought about the possibility that they might not even be following the terms? It’s entirely possible they’re taking a few shortcuts for convenience!
Or they could be just so small that nobody's paying attention yet. Who knows!
Totally, I wonder about the quality of the data they use too. Can they keep those coordinates forever?
Good question! It's definitely vague.
Yeah, it's wild to think about! But you'd think they'd get caught eventually.