Hide / Remove Info Window / Bubble for Embedded Google Maps

A quick note added in February 2011. Google has now removed the iwloc part of the url in most cases. To remove the pin, you can now add &iwloc=near to the end of the iframe src attribute. So….

<iframe width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=manchester&aq=&sll=53.41654,-2.236788&sspn=0.033864,0.090294&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Manchester&t=h&z=12&ll=53.480712,-2.234376&output=embed“></iframe>

…would become…

<iframe width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=manchester&aq=&sll=53.41654,-2.236788&sspn=0.033864,0.090294&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Manchester&t=h&z=12&ll=53.480712,-2.234376&output=embed&iwloc=near“></iframe>

Thanks to John below for pointing this out

Old information:

Google have tweaked things again. Here is the latest way (March 2009) to embed a map including a location pin without the annoying info window or info bubble showing above it and ruining the maps centre location.

This is particularly important if you are using a small sized map less than around 400px square.

1. Go to google maps or google maps uk
2. Do a search to find (and pin) the location you want to embed a map of.
3. Click the text link, which you will find top right of the main map.
4. Click Customise and preview embedded map
5. Change the dimensions of the map as required and drag the pin to the centre of the map using your mouse.
6. Copy the embed code.
5. In your embed code find the src of the iframe tag ( <iframe src=”http ) and replace 

iwloc=addr

or 

iwloc=A

with 

iwloc=near

6. Stick the embed code into your website and marvel at seeing a pin but no info window.

Before view:

Before iframe code:

<iframe width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=manchester&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=21.613333,29.619141&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=53.492131,-2.228851&spn=0.122552,0.205994&z=11&iwloc=A&output=embed”></iframe>

After view:

After iframe code:

<iframe width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=manchester&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=21.613333,29.619141&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=53.492131,-2.228851&spn=0.122552,0.205994&z=11&iwloc=near&output=embed”></iframe>

Posted by at 1:33 pm on February 12th, 2009. 101 comments... »
Categories: Google, The Web.

101 comments.

  1. Brilliant!

    Just what I needed. Thanks!

    Posted by Joelene on February 24th, 2009.

  2. Thanks! Many a website’s directions will benefit from this now.

    I’ve found that it doesn’t work (or the variable is different) if the map is displaying a “business” instead of a simple address, however – say the info window is pointing to a localized business instead of an address.
    But I rebuilt the map using just the address of the business, not the business marker, and it works just as well for the purposes of the contact page.

    Thanks again.

    Posted by Émilie Bee on February 27th, 2009.

  3. I couldn’t get this to work i don’t know if this has anything to do with it but in the original code it didn’t give me iwloc=addr&amp it only gave me iwloc=addr.
    so here is what google maps gave me:
    <a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=40+E+Simmons+St,+Galesburg,+IL%E2%80%8E&sll=40.963888,-90.378976&sspn=0.075701,0.181961&ie=UTF8&ll=40.955335,-90.36624&spn=0.012964,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=addr” rel=”nofollow”>View Larger Map</a>

    and when i changed iwloc=addr to iwloc=near&addr& it didn’t change anything please help i hate the bubble

    Posted by jenny on March 10th, 2009.

  4. Hi Jenny,

    All you posted there was the second part of the code google supply you with.

    The important part starts with <iframe

    To post code in a readable way to comments you must replace < with &lt; and > with &gt;

    If you can only find iwloc=addr then replace it with iwloc=near&addr

    Posted by Harry on March 10th, 2009.

  5. Post updated to clarify the steps needed for this to work.

    Posted by Harry on March 10th, 2009.

  6. I posted the entire thing the but somehow when i submitted it it disappeared. the map still doesn’t work even without the &addr i put my original code between so hopefully it works:

    <!– View Larger Map >

    Posted by jenny on March 10th, 2009.

  7. Posting code into comments on this blog is only possible if you replace all < (less than) symbols in the code with &lt; (ampersand l t semicolon) and all > (greater than) symbols in the code with &gt; (ampersand g t semicolon)
    So <iframe> would need to be posted as &lt;iframe&gt;

    As for whether the method above works. It does.

    In the embed code is an iframe tag.
    In the iframe tag is an src=”" section.
    In the src section is iwloc=addr
    replace it with iwloc=near&addr

    If you are doing this by searching for a business then I cannot confirm it will work.

    The method above works if you search a place or location, not a business.

    Posted by Harry on March 10th, 2009.

  8. Sorry about asking so many questions. I still can’t get this to work. so here is my code straight off of the maps website, i now get what you are saying about replacing the greater than and less than symbols.:
    <iframe width=”425″ height=”350″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40+E+Simmons+St,+Galesburg,+IL%E2%80%8E&sll=40.970594,-90.391492&sspn=0.074657,0.180588&ie=UTF8&z=14&iwloc=addr&ll=40.955335,-90.36624&output=embed&s=AARTsJoZTbmzSE6EvsoDTH4fpoWKyfhvPg”></iframe><br /><small><a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=40+E+Simmons+St,+Galesburg,+IL%E2%80%8E&sll=40.970594,-90.391492&sspn=0.074657,0.180588&ie=UTF8&z=14&iwloc=addr&ll=40.955335,-90.36624″ style=”color:#0000FF;text-align:left”>View Larger Map</a></small>

    i noticed after the iframe tag google gives me more code that gives a link to a larger map and i wasn’t sure if i was suppose to delete this or not. the iwloc that i was changing at first was not in the iframe tag it was in a different tag after the iframe tag, so there were two iwloc sections in the code. i deleted everything after the iframe tag and changed the iwloc section that was in the iframe tag and that changed the view to show the google map search bar. I read my previous posts and they sounded a bit demanding i was not meaning to be demanding sorry ): If you can get the coding that i posted to work i would be grateful, thanks.

    Posted by jenny on March 11th, 2009.

  9. by the way this location is 40 E Simmons St, Galesburg, IL‎

    Posted by jenny on March 11th, 2009.

  10. Ok. Congrats on posting the code.
    You can indeed ignore the part after the iframe. It’s a link to the same map on the google site.

    Look carefully at your code and you will see that iwloc=addr appears as part of the iframes src=”" attribute
    Replace it as I suggest in the article and the info bubble will disappear. (I just tried it with your code and it worked)
    The pin however will now be positioned near the bottom of the map. To fix this you need to drag the pin to the centre of the map when you are at the Customise and preview embedded map stage.

    So follow the steps in the article and I can confirm (even using your code) that they work.

    Posted by Harry on March 11th, 2009.

  11. sorry but i cant get it to work can you change my original code from above to make it work?
    here is what my complete html code:

    <html>
    <body>
    <iframe width=”300″ height=”200″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40+E+Simmons+St,+Galesburg,+IL&sll=40.970594,-90.391492&sspn=0.074657,0.180588&ie=UTF8&s=AARTsJoRFHALlDB_JUODzIkq-H9TDPsO2Q&ll=40.947038,-90.370617&spn=0.012966,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=near&addr;output=embed”></iframe>
    </body>
    </html>

    i save it on notepad as an html and then it comes up in mozilla firefox as showing me the search bar on the google maps page with the address typed in. sorry for being a pain

    Posted by jenny on March 11th, 2009.

  12. I’m a big believer in showing people how rather than doing it for them.

    In your comment posted above, near the end of the code is “iwloc=near&addr;output=embed”

    The semi colon ( ; ) should be an ampersand ( & )

    1) Copy the google maps embed code to your clipboard
    2) find all occurrences of iwloc=addr and replace with iwloc=near&addr

    I really can’t make it any simpler.

    Posted by Harry on March 11th, 2009.

  13. the ampersand and amp fixed everything thanks for all the help. i swear i tried it like that before and it didn’t work now i feel pretty stupid. thanks for all your help i appreciate it:)

    Posted by jenny on March 12th, 2009.

  14. Hey Harry, in my code there is no ‘iwloc’ inside the i-frame tag.. do you know why and what can I do?

    Cant understand why google does not make it simple..
    thanks for sharing

    Posted by Daniel on March 17th, 2009.

  15. Thank you so much! Worked like a charm!

    Posted by witwolf on March 17th, 2009.

  16. @Daniel

    Did you find the location using a standard search, or did you click on a business?
    This method only works with location search and not business search.

    Posted by Harry on March 17th, 2009.

  17. Excellent stuff, worked a treat.
    Thanks

    Posted by Rob on March 19th, 2009.

  18. time saver. thanks

    Posted by robert on March 27th, 2009.

  19. I had this problem too, and here’s what I figured out:

    1) Google isn’t using iwloc=addr anymore. Now it’s iwloc=A. But iwloc=near&A works.
    2) Before you click Link, make sure the location marker is selected (with the bubble open).
    3) Daniel: Leave the bubble open while choosing map size and centering the map. If you close the bubble, the iwloc option disappears from the code….

    Posted by Ersan on May 6th, 2009.

  20. (btw, it works for me using standard or business search)

    Posted by Ersan on May 6th, 2009.

  21. I have to search for my address using latitude & longitude because the city recently changed the address and Google puts the pin in the wrong place. I had to tweak the L&L to get the pin in the right spot, and I have no iwloc=addr in my code. Is that because I’m using L&L to get the map? This is what I get:

    <iframe width=”425″ height=”350″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%2B47%C2%B0+37′+38.64%22,+-122%C2%B0+8′+12.84%22+&sll=47.620973,-122.347276&sspn=0.720151,1.820984&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=47.633817,-122.132692&output=embed”></iframe>

    Posted by Robin S on May 7th, 2009.

  22. I posted too soon. I got the pin in the right spot using the regular address this time, but the code I got from Google had iwloc=A in the iframe, not iwloc=addr as noted above. I went ahead and inserted near& in front of A and it works! Doing the dance of joy!

    Posted by Robin S on May 7th, 2009.

  23. You can just replace

    iwloc=addr

    with

    iwloc=near

    there is no need for the

    &addr

    you may find this list of options helpful
    http://mapki.com/wiki/Google_Map_Parameters

    Posted by Mark N on May 18th, 2009.

  24. i have no ‘iwloc’ in my embedded map? – any ideas?

    Posted by al on June 9th, 2009.

  25. Thanks Harry and Ersan for the update “1) Google isn’t using iwloc=addr anymore. Now it’s iwloc=A. But iwloc=near&A works.”

    Very much appreciated.

    Posted by mlmiller on June 17th, 2009.

  26. Al – this got me too. You need to ensure the bubble is open when you copy the html to embed. If you close it the iwloc tag is removed. If it’s removed Google default to putting it back in.

    Thanks for sharing this tip!

    Posted by Morgan on July 21st, 2009.

  27. Anyone know how to get rid of the account name from the address bubble, I know its possible as I heard of it doen before.
    Thanks
    T

    Posted by Tom on July 26th, 2009.

  28. This simple trick worked for me, thanks for sharing!

    Posted by Stephan ten Kate on August 11th, 2009.

  29. [...] Hide / Remove Info Window / Bubble for Embedded Google Maps | Harry Bailey (tags: google maps embed trick) [...]

    Posted by links for 2009-09-01 | pollas.dk [permanent meta] » Blog Archive on September 2nd, 2009.

  30. Hi I looked at my code and could not find: iwloc=

    However, I am happy to say that you have given me enough information to solve the problem.

    First find the code:
    output=embed”>

    Second type:
    iwloc=near&amp
    right in front of it, make sure you separate out your inserted code with semicolons.

    Third double check your code it should look like: &iwloc=near&output=embed”>
    and check it out on your favorite browser.

    Thank you so much for pointing me in the correct direction!

    Posted by Fred Andrews on September 4th, 2009.

  31. very helpful, thanks!

    Posted by daniel janisch on September 5th, 2009.

  32. Excellent!
    Thanks a lot

    Posted by web copy on September 8th, 2009.

  33. Thank you, I’ve been wanting a nice fix for this problem.

    Posted by Bryan Hoyt on October 9th, 2009.

  34. thank you for the tip, very useful :)

    Posted by charly on December 2nd, 2009.

  35. Thank for the tips…I was sure it was possible to do… The best would be Google allow users to simply choose in the custom view if they want or not add this bubble with a checkbox…but I imagine this will not serve they business :-)

    Happy News Years 2010

    Posted by Marc on December 31st, 2009.

  36. Thanks, just what I was looking for!

    Posted by Michael Urspringer on January 2nd, 2010.

  37. gracias! very helpful info…

    Posted by jam on February 6th, 2010.

  38. THANK YOU! I just spent like an hour searching for this info. Everything I found explained how to remove the bubble, but not how to fix the centering. I had no idea that dragging the preview map around affected the iframe SRC. :o

    Posted by Josh L on February 19th, 2010.

  39. That was straightforward! In the Wiki it is somehow ambiguous:

    iwloc=near will place it over the big green arrow if that’s currently displayed

    from here: http://mapki.com/wiki/Google_Map_Parameters#Info_Windows

    Posted by fish on March 7th, 2010.

  40. Muito Obrigado, realmente o que eu estava precisando.

    Posted by Rodrigo on March 25th, 2010.

  41. I cant find the code to take out?? is this the same for google.com and .ca?

    Posted by Roch on June 10th, 2010.

  42. Hi Roch,

    Yeah, same code. I just checked myself on .ca and found the code

    iwloc=A

    replacing it with

    iwloc=near

    gives the expected outcome.

    Harry

    Posted by Harry on June 16th, 2010.

  43. Has Google updated their embed codes to remove iwloc?

    I just copied directly from Google and this tag wasn’t included

    Posted by Greyholme on June 23rd, 2010.

  44. Many thanx for the tip… just what I needed to kick off my weekend!

    Posted by Oscar Peters on July 30th, 2010.

  45. Hi Greyholme,

    Nope. Still the same code in most cases. Do you have steps to reproduce where you don’t get the code?

    Posted by Harry on August 11th, 2010.

  46. Thank you! I am so novice but it was so easy. Thank YOU!!!! You Rule!

    Posted by nobu on August 20th, 2010.

  47. Great!
    Thanks for the solution of the bubble problem :) ))

    Dieter

    Posted by Dieter on October 1st, 2010.

  48. thanks, worked for me!

    Posted by Arun on October 6th, 2010.

  49. Perfect! Just what I needed! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Posted by Lila on October 19th, 2010.

  50. You are awesome. That bubble has be bugging me for years.

    Posted by Jesse on October 23rd, 2010.

  51. I noticed, after much toiling, that DW CS4 displays the map with the bubble. But after I uploaded it, it displayed fine. Thought that might help some of you. Dw show the bubble when it is not “live”.

    -nice tips

    Posted by David on October 30th, 2010.

  52. Hi Harry,
    Thanks for you tips here. I’m hoping you can help.

    I’m using PrettyPhoto [iframe] to load a Google map and came upon your site when searching on how to remove the address on a google map.

    Basically, my window opens, Google map shows up, but the info (address etc) shows in the left pane. The user can click an arrow to slide the content closed, which brings the map into full view, which is okay, but not ideal.

    Is there a way to set the code so that the info doesn’t show up on the left – just the map? Basically, the default is to show the info of the business on the left. Is there a toggle or way to change this default so the user would have to ‘click to expand’ vs the opposite?

    I hope this is clear.

    Thank you in advance!

    Posted by mike on November 27th, 2010.

  53. I’m afraid it doesn’t look like that’s possible mike.

    The address bar isn’t altered when you click / expand / close the left column, so I don’t think even a clever url would allow it.

    Posted by Harry on November 27th, 2010.

  54. Hi Mike,

    I did it by adding &output=embed to the end of the url. This brings up the map only.

    Joe

    Posted by Joe on November 29th, 2010.

  55. Great tip, thanks.

    I had the same problem as Greyholme, so I thought I’d try rather than replace anything with the code just add “&iwloc=near” to the string, and it worked like a charm! Hope this helps someone!

    Cheers,
    John

    Posted by John on November 30th, 2010.

  56. Hi John,

    I believe that only works because of the way Google parses the url of the map. The later value wins if there are two iwloc values.

    Harry

    Posted by Harry on November 30th, 2010.

  57. Blooming Brilliant just what I needed and so simple when you no how.

    Posted by Tracey on December 14th, 2010.

  58. Google no longer includes iwloc in the embed code, at least not in the US version of maps. However, John is correct when saying appending &iwloc=near to the end of the embed code will in fact kill the bubble. Thanks to him for the help on that one.

    Posted by Matt on February 4th, 2011.

  59. Wonderful, just sent off a coffee by PayPal, many thanks

    Posted by Meron on March 7th, 2011.

  60. Thanks. I have been looking for this for over an hour!

    Posted by Gareth on April 13th, 2011.

  61. Hi there Harry,

    Excuse the daft query, but has something changed again? I’ve been hunting around for a solution to this and this seems to be the most recent. I’ve created my own map, followed the instructions and can’t seem to get rid of the bubble, in fact the link you have provided to the fixed code (map of manchester) it still shows a bubble.

    I am wondering if I am being a completed loon? or missing something?

    my map http://cargocollective.com/studioeleven#1323647/Contact-us

    Posted by Nate on April 19th, 2011.

  62. Hi Nate,

    The ‘after’ iframe above still looks correct to me, with no bubble.
    Your map is also bubble free.

    Harry

    Posted by Harry on April 19th, 2011.

  63. Hi Harry, Appreciate the swift response.

    It’s interesting you are not seeing a bubble, I thought maybe as I was logged into google and I created the map it was only me seeing it, but I logged out and I still see this http://dev.mymindseye.co.uk/junk/bubble.png

    Very odd. I am sure the code is ok as I’ve checked and checked.

    Posted by Nate on April 19th, 2011.

  64. Hi Harry,

    Wanted to thank you for the code you offered above to add iwloc=near to get rid of that nasty Google map bubble! THANKS! :-)

    Question for you… do you know how to remove the business labels that appear when you grab that iframe code?

    I want to embed maps on customers sites, but don’t want my customers competitors showing! That would be “bad” :-)

    Thanks!

    - Cynthia

    Posted by Cynthia on May 2nd, 2011.

  65. thx , coffee is not good for your health :P

    Posted by Neo85 on May 5th, 2011.

  66. just remove “amp;”output=embed

    Posted by amr ghanem on June 4th, 2011.

  67. Works brilliantly. Thanks!

    Posted by Cavan on June 5th, 2011.

  68. Thanks! Much appreciated…

    Posted by Caron on July 21st, 2011.

  69. Hai Harry,
    please help me, i have a wordpress site. in my contact section i am displying Google map with my address. everthing works fine. but i need to show Directions in new window from address bubble. is there any possible to do that.

    Thanks in advance.

    Posted by Agaran on July 23rd, 2011.

  70. Hello Harry

    Great tutorial, I removed the bubble no problem but can’t get the pin text that shows up when you hover over the marker to dissapear, heres my code

    [Code Missing!]

    Posted by flypark on September 16th, 2011.

  71. Thank you… couldn’t find this info elsewhere… :)

    Posted by lisa on October 3rd, 2011.

  72. Thanks for the tip, that really helped me out!

    Posted by John on October 6th, 2011.

  73. Awesome, that’s exactly what I need

    Posted by Krecik on November 2nd, 2011.

  74. Thanks, just what I needed!

    Posted by Niels on November 11th, 2011.

  75. Thanks a lot, great job !

    Posted by Pascal on December 1st, 2011.

  76. Thanks, it works just fine to add the &iwloc=near on the end. Especially useful for some business where Google displays aggregated information that a business might not want to appear there. It also moves the center of the map as you mentioned (also annoying). Thanks again..

    Posted by Jacob Schweitzer on December 14th, 2011.

  77. Its really helping.. Nice post…. Thanks a lot.

    Posted by Jitender on December 29th, 2011.

  78. Love your work!

    Posted by Neil on January 5th, 2012.

  79. Thanks for this, good explanation – works a treat

    Posted by Gavin Bates on February 2nd, 2012.

  80. Great, thank you! That was really what I was looking for!

    Posted by Stefano on February 21st, 2012.

  81. Worked Great! Thank you :)

    Posted by Rishi on March 4th, 2012.

  82. Perfect information, thanks so much!

    Posted by JE on March 6th, 2012.

  83. One year later and I was still able to tack this code on! For the record, our code was so outdated that I had to tack on all of “&output=embed&iwloc=near” for anyone wondering.

    Posted by Steve on April 5th, 2012.

  84. Thanks, I’ve always wondered how I go about that. It works like a treat.

    Posted by Flo No Geek on May 1st, 2012.

  85. Thank you so much for that. I’m working on a Google Site and thought I was just stuck with that bubble – dropping that piece of code into the html works a treat! Many many thanks!

    Posted by Mike on May 22nd, 2012.

  86. Cheers! Just what I needed :)

    Posted by Chris on June 22nd, 2012.

  87. Excellent tip!

    Posted by Devin Walker on June 30th, 2012.

  88. Great! Works like a charm! Thanks.

    Posted by Olivier on July 3rd, 2012.

  89. great article, very helpful, thanks! would be nice to have a list of all those parameters’ meanings..

    Posted by livesets on July 20th, 2012.

  90. Thank you so much! I needed a small map but the bubble was driving me crazy!

    Posted by Steve on July 31st, 2012.

  91. Thank You!

    Posted by J. on August 17th, 2012.

  92. Thanks so much – been trying to figure this out for the last few days! super job!

    Posted by wendy on August 19th, 2012.

  93. Thanks’ this fixes my small map right up.

    Posted by s1owmo on September 10th, 2012.

  94. Thanks mate. It worked. That bubble was driving me crazy.

    Posted by Satya Thakur on September 14th, 2012.

  95. Perfect! Thanks :)

    Posted by Jessica on September 19th, 2012.

  96. Thanks for the tip – awesome!

    Posted by Cameron on October 25th, 2012.

  97. Thanks! I don’t have the iwloc on my iframe string, and putting &iwloc=near after it, it works great.

    Posted by Benny on December 27th, 2012.

  98. Finally a way to remove that annoying square bubble.

    Thanks a lot Harry.

    Posted by Joana on January 7th, 2013.

  99. Yippee, your trick still works.

    Posted by kld on February 22nd, 2013.

  100. Thanks, works perfectly!!

    Posted by Victoro on March 9th, 2013.

  101. I was just looking at this board for the info. Not sure if google has changed anything, but the map code doesn’t seem to include the iwloc anymore as I was trying to make changes and cannot find the code:

     View Larger Map

    if anyone has some tips, i would absolutely appreciate your help!

    Posted by Maria on March 9th, 2013.

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