What are the best practices for integrating the Google Places API with a WordPress plugin?

When integrating the Google Places API with a WordPress plugin, it is important to securely store API keys and properly handle API requests to avoid exposing sensitive information. One best practice is to use WordPress' built-in options API to store the API key securely.

// Store API key securely using WordPress options API
function store_google_places_api_key() {
    $api_key = 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE';
    update_option('google_places_api_key', $api_key);
}
add_action('init', 'store_google_places_api_key');