title: Recreating Standard Google Map embed with Google Maps API
body: <p>So, having been recently somewhat dissapointed with lack of customizability of the regular google maps "embed" (iframe) code; I have started tinkering with the Google Maps API v3.  Really, all I want to do is show a marker for a business on the map, so that you can click it and go to that "place" at mapsgoogle.com.</p>
  
  <p>So pretty much, I just want to recreate the functionality of the iframe code below.  I put in about an hour of reading the docs, but it seems extremely complicated just to get the marker associated with a 'place'</p>
  
  <p><strong>The place</strong></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?cid=1311411133662139490" rel="nofollow">https://maps.google.com/maps?cid=1311411133662139490</a></p>
  
  <p><strong>The <em>standard</em> Embed</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps?cid=1311411133662139490&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;hq=&amp;amp;hnear=&amp;amp;t=m&amp;amp;iwloc=A&amp;amp;ll=41.097905,-73.405006&amp;amp;spn=0.006295,0.006295&amp;amp;output=embed"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?cid=1311411133662139490&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;hq=&amp;amp;hnear=&amp;amp;t=m&amp;amp;iwloc=A&amp;amp;ll=41.097905,-73.405006&amp;amp;spn=0.006295,0.006295&amp;amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left"&gt;View Larger Map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>It appears as though there is no functionality in the api to use the <code>cid</code>.</p>
  
  <p><strong>To Elaborate a little</strong></p>
  
  <p>Generally I would use this just for small business websites.  I was frustrated with the regular iframe embed and lack of customizability.  Essentially I want a starting point from which I can play with stuff and heavily customize the look/feel, but have been unable to put a marker in that's associated with the data for a "place" - allowing for the little pop-up window, etc..</p>
  
  <p>Honestly, I didn't really do enough research before asking this question - and came in with some misconceptions.  <em>I think</em>, and I may be wrong, that the API is still what I want to be using ultimately, but had I know about the functionality in Rick's answer, I probably would have settled on that and procrastinated longer on learning the gmaps API.</p>