When I click the link in the settings to generate the Google Maps API key for my Google Analytics account I get the following message:

Note: The Google Maps Javascript API Version 2 has been officially deprecated as of May 19, 2010. Version 3 does not require an API key. The V2 API will continue to work as per our deprecation policy, but we encourage you to migrate your code to version 3 of the Maps Javascript API.

Is the API key still required for the product?

Currently the API key is still needed. It is quite possible that the next update to Vendor Tools and Clubs will use the latest API from Google and not require the key.

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Nathan Freedenberg
Director - Product Support
Drive Thru Online

Thanks.

One other question... what happens if it is not included? ie, whether advertiser URLs are sitemapped isn't our highest priority.

If not included a warning box will pop up informing the user that the data cannot be found when they try to go to a map view which is the default.

Obtaining the API Key is very easy and does not cost anything,

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Nathan Freedenberg
Director - Product Support
Drive Thru Online