Google Maps Admits Deleting Critical 'Gulf of America' Reviews | Hacker News Reader

Google Maps Admits Deleting Critical 'Gulf of America' Reviews

forbes.com

19 pointsnickcotter15 comments

So each country is now free to engage in this zero value games and cry foul when big tech doesn't heed or update quickly enough?

They always have been.

Falklands vs Malvinas, Bodensee vs Lake Konstanz, Lake Geneva vs Lac Léman, countless islands in South China, Sea (Philippines vs Chinese names), Japan vs Korean island names, Chine vs Russian names

and on and on.

Only uninformed people are surprised by this.

This is still a rather radical departure from the usual way USA handles these type of things....

It's great because it gives politicians a foreign enemy to deride, generates lots of online engagement, doesn't impact people's lives in any meaningful way, and when it's implemented, it's only visible to people in the country ordering the rename.

Canada sees "Gulf of Mexico (Golf of America)" in both Apple and Google maps.

Is this about the golfo de gringo loco?

Yes, and according to Golf Digest, his handicap is as low as 2.8. Can you believe it? Yeah, me neither.

I wonder why they don't give the US the same courtesy they give other nations and at least provide both names, one in parenthesis. Not that it matters much, this name thing is just distracting nonsense. I'll never stop calling it by its correct name anyway. It doesn't matter what Trump wants. He's not my boss.

I expect that if you’re in Mexico using Google Maps it will still show “Gulf of Mexico.”

Political boundaries vary in different countries and google maps shows the border differently between India and China depending on where you are using the app.

It’s just a variable name. Different countries call the same thing by different names.

Supposedly Apple is renaming it globally: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-11/apple-is-...

https://i.imgur.com/BslNOL0.png

They do, if you're not in the US and subject to Trump's whims.

I know. That's why I said that I wished they'd extend the US the same courtesy they extend other nations. Trump can't force them not to, they're choosing not to.

The UKs view of The Gulf Of Mexico in Google Maps is this, I should check which is first though.

> one in parenthesis

This is what I see. Estonian Google (possibly EU-wide?) shows 'Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)'. In Estonian, 'Mehhiko laht (Ameerika laht)'.

I don't see why any European version of Maps needs to show the American name at all.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mehhiko+laht+(Ameerika+lah...

The solution that would liberate Google and not generate confusion and hostility would be for Estonians to use a European mapping service. Better yet, an Estonian one.

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