Google Maps Faces Fury for Caving to Trump

[u/Effective_Salad_8381]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/google-maps-faces-fury-for-caving-to-trumps-lake-america-demand/

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[u/doctor6]

Remember when trump banned the Associated Press, perhaps the most neutral of journalists, because they refused to name it the gulf of America?

[u/arcbe → u/[deleted]]

Surprised? No. Angry? Yes.

[u/IlllllFan → u/arcbe]

I think Trump needs to be put in the Oval Office with his marker and a stack of maps that he “needs to fix” the names on.

Then when he’s done with that, he can have some Duplo and gold spray paint so he can “build his ballroom.”

That will keep him busy while the adults work. Too bad there aren’t any currently in the White House.

[u/Mikeytruant850 → u/IlllllFan]

I mean this is basically what’s already happening. The people in charge have him fulfill their P2025 agenda with his signature and in exchange he gets to build a ballroom, put his name on things, and tweet about celebrities.

[u/MobileArtist1371 → u/[deleted]]

Apple hasn't done it yet cause Tim Cook is like, "let's wait until next week to decide. What do you think, John?"

[u/jai151 → u/[deleted]]

For now at least Apple still shows Lake Ontario

[u/E-2theRescue → u/doctor6]

Remember when Nixon threatened to shut down PBS because they covered Watergate, calling it a "witch hunt"?

Then remember when Trump defunded PBS because they covered Russia and Epstein, calling it a "witch hunt"?

[u/MastodontFarmer → u/doctor6]

Should we rename Google Maps in Donalds Fragile Masculinity?

[u/tomsloat]

Fuck Google.

[u/PNDMike → u/tomsloat]

r/degoogle

[u/CreativelySeeking → u/PNDMike]

Mapquest properly shows "Gulf of Mexico" and "Lake Ontario," and I heard they aren't changing.

[u/Amazing-Insect442 → u/CreativelySeeking]

Checking this out right now. Don’t know why I didn’t think of checking Mapquest years ago when he wanted them to change it to gulf of A

[u/Shinyhaunches → u/Amazing-Insect442]

Apple Maps still has the correct name. Since I use both, I will just use Apple Maps now going forward.

[u/Amazing-Insect442 → u/Shinyhaunches]

It took them about 2 weeks to swap out Gulf of Mexico for Gulf of America on Apple Maps. I swapped to Apple Maps for a while when I was initially trying to get away from Google in part for their really quick cave-in on what Trump pushed for with the Gulf.

[u/duct_tape_jedi → u/Amazing-Insect442]

Apple Maps still shows "Gulf of Mexico", but adds "(Gulf of America)" after it. It's like subtitles for morons.

[u/princesspeeved → u/duct_tape_jedi]

Not on mine it doesn’t. It says Gulf of America in big, bold letters.

[u/duct_tape_jedi → u/princesspeeved]

Ah, my language/region is set to UK, it must default to the "new" names for the US only.

[u/uzlonewolf → u/CreativelySeeking]

They also have a fun "Gulf of Something" where you can name it whatever you want, gulfof(.)mapquest(.)com

[u/HawkeyeHero → u/PNDMike]

Googling degooglezation… hating what you find.

[u/Mysterious-Lie-1944 → u/HawkeyeHero]

"20,000 years of this; 7 more to go" feels less pessimistic by the day

[u/_Cambroth → u/Mysterious-Lie-1944]

Inside was released in 2021 so now we only have 2 years

[u/shitzpostarus → u/_Cambroth]

If you go by when he was recording it in his apartment, could be next year 🫡

[u/Bonk_No_Horni → u/HawkeyeHero]

Duckduck is actually much better these days without ai.

[u/TinWhis → u/Bonk_No_Horni]

DDG consistently cannot find things that Google can. It drives me crazy. DDG is my daily driver, but it cannot find word-for-word text in "quotes." If I'm looking for something specific, I have to switch over to Google and put up with its godawful interface.

[u/Effective_Contact173 → u/TinWhis]

I've been using DDG as my main search for a bit now, but yeah, I've had mixed results. DDG finds things that google hides, and google finds things that DDG doesn't.

[u/Mostly_Afloat → u/Effective_Contact173]

I'm just going to deal with the inconvenience and boycott companies that support what's happening to our country.

[u/jgilla2012 → u/Mostly_Afloat]

Same. Use a VPN and DDG and you will have some semblance of privacy too, so that’s good. I’ve been on that train for about a year and never want to give Google another dollar if I can help it. Proton Mail / Proton Drive / Proton Docs / Proton Authenticator all the way.

[u/saved_by_the_keeper → u/TinWhis]

I run into the same issues with DDG, but at least I don't get targeted ads anymore

[u/Fuck-Inflation → u/TinWhis]

Firefox browser. DDG search engine. For the few searches it doesn’t get, I’ll use Google through DDG and remain hopeful it will continue to improve until it catches up. #degoogle

[u/JesseParsin → u/HawkeyeHero]

That unapparent summer air in early fall

[u/likamuka → u/PNDMike]

I do not ever to hear anyone here asking "How could ordinary Germans in 1933 just accept it."

America 2026 proved that they accepted it FASTER than the Germans did in 1933.

[u/I_Am_Become_Air → u/[deleted]]

...have you heard about the disease outbreak at the ICE facility in Aurora, CO? The local Health Department is being denied entry.

Sounds like a repeat of the Japanese concentration camps in Colorado and elsewhere. The camp personnel let disease run rampant while they held Japanese American citizens in f'ing HORSE stalls.

[u/Dr100percent → u/I_Am_Become_Air]

Homeland security and local officials shut down Occupy Wall Street protests with false claims that there was a flu outbreak in the encampments. Now they show they never cared about disease in the first place.

[u/Saymynaian → u/[deleted]]

Doesn't the US currently have concentration camps, except they're full of brown people ICE wants to kill or deport? There's a literal rape epidemic in the women and girls camp, and many many people have died.

[u/CelerMortis → u/[deleted]]

Many knew and ignored it but also don’t forget there was an active resistance from the left. They were just all shut down or killed.

[u/CarrieNoir → u/CelerMortis]

Here in Northern California, we have a “great house” from the Belle Epoque era, Filoli, which is is now a tourist destination. If you google about it, you will learn:

“Teikichi Taga (1880–1963) was a trusted Issei butler who worked for the Roth family at the historic Filoli estate in Woodside, California, from 1917 to 1959.

Life and Career at Filoli
Emigration: Taga moved from Japan to California in 1906 and initially worked as a laundryman in San Francisco.

Service: He first served as a butler for Lillie Low Matson (the mother of Lurline Roth) before transitioning to work for William P. and Lurline Roth at Filoli.

World War II Incarceration: During World War II, Taga, along with his wife and American-born daughter, was forcibly relocated and incarcerated in a U.S. concentration camp. The Roth family maintained a supportive relationship with him, and Taga returned to his duties at Filoli after the war ended, serving until his retirement in 1959.”

What is left out of this is that Mrs. Roth fucking drove them to the internment camp herself!

Insane….

Edited to emphasize the inhumanity.

[u/moosemune → u/CarrieNoir]

What is left out of this is that Mrs. Roth fucking drove them to the internment camp herself!

Spend about 2 minutes in any right wing space and you'll see this very same attitude is alive and well.

Nevermind much worse.

[u/JarethCutestoryJuD → u/tomsloat]

As a Canadian I can say I am legitimately never buying another google product.

Every company that prostrates themselves for him, is on the eternal shitlist.

[u/thekbob → u/JarethCutestoryJuD]

Unless you go smartphone free, it's either Google, who does this shit, or Apple, who literally gave gold to the orange fucker.

[u/PNDMike → u/thekbob]

Ironically, Google Pixels are some of the easiest phones to Degoogle

[u/SeriousBusiness67 → u/thekbob]

Tim Cook personally gave Trump a million dollars.

[u/manny_b_hanz → u/JarethCutestoryJuD]

Do you use an iPhone or Android? Windows, Mac OS?

Cause they all capitulate to Trump regularly.

I fucking hate it. Short of going full Linux there's no real solution.

[u/GPFlag_Guy1 → u/manny_b_hanz]

You should actually do a full transfer to Linux. I would rather support a grassroots open-source community over Big Tech™️®️©️ any day. Firefox is fantastic as well.

[u/manny_b_hanz → u/GPFlag_Guy1]

I'm already on Firefox, made the switch years ago in anticipation of Manifest V3. I'd go full Arch Linux, Libre Office and Immich if I thought my family could handle it. Already moved to GrapheneOS as well, still getting used to that.

[u/icy-winter-ghost → u/tomsloat]

I started using Ecosia last year, haven't gone back since. Built in Europe, plants trees with each search (and you can check out their progress!), and AI is optional when searching.

Fuck Google.

[u/PupScent → u/tomsloat]

I've walked away from Windows. Google is next. 

[u/EverbodyHatesHugo → u/tomsloat]

Agreed, but sadly, boycotting their Maps app or their search engine isn’t enough to make a difference. Google makes most of its money through online advertising (paid ads in Google), Google workspace subscriptions (B2B), and subscriptions for services like Google Cloud and YouTube Premium. Google’s business partners would need to decide they no longer want to be associated with them, and unfortunately, their biggest partners are probably also capitulating to this administration.

[u/wepopu → u/EverbodyHatesHugo]

Ad blocker says hello. Even works on YouTube.

[u/RosalieMoon → u/wepopu]

Ublock and revanced YouTube. Haven't bothered with ads in years lol

[u/spaltedsplinters]

What in the actual fuck

[u/NarcolepticMan → u/spaltedsplinters]

It's wildly disturbing how quickly these companies bow to fascists.

[u/Chaos-Cortex → u/NarcolepticMan]

Google goes where fascist swings. It’s a techno bro company who wants techno fuedalism.

[u/boston_homo → u/Chaos-Cortex]

Remember “don’t be evil”? I would think having all that fuck you money would make it easier to stick to your ideals, I guess not.

[u/syynapt1k → u/boston_homo]

These people all stood with Trump at his inauguration. They are very much on board with all of this.

[u/Living-Breakfast-464 → u/syynapt1k]

Wall street is all in on the convicted felon as well. They don't care if he's a pedo or nukes Iran and kills millions of people. Just as long as they continue to believe they will make more money with him and pay less taxes.

[u/MrBrawn → u/syynapt1k]

Worse, they paid for the inauguration.

[u/TheSoCalledExpert → u/MrBrawn]

Nope, the taxpayers paid for the inauguration. The tech bros paid to be trump’s fanboys.

[u/BasvanS → u/TheSoCalledExpert]

Yeah, they paid the bribes, not the inauguration.

[u/xmagusx → u/boston_homo]

I would think having all that fuck you money would make it easier to stick to your ideals

It does.

They are.

[u/Hands → u/boston_homo]

Google quietly scrubbed all mentions of that phrase from its employee handbook and corporate guidelines 8 years ago lol.

[u/SaneMadHatter → u/Hands]

The phrase never really applied to Google anyway. lol

[u/PussyStapler → u/boston_homo]

They removed that in 2015-2018

[u/relevantelephant00 → u/boston_homo]

Never is. Ever. These people who are consumed by greed and more, more, more. They will bow to whoever allows them to make more.

[u/pretendstoknow → u/boston_homo]

They dropped that a long time ago

[u/awkwardlyherdingcats → u/Chaos-Cortex]

The guys who read dystopian sci-fi as kids and decided as long as they’re at the top it looks like a pretty good idea.

[u/Vaticancameos221 → u/awkwardlyherdingcats]

Always comes back to that classic:

Sci-Fi Author: "In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale."

Tech Company: "At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus."

[u/swaded805 → u/Chaos-Cortex]

Do you remember a few years back there was calls for Google to be broken up into smaller companies? Funny how we never hear about that anymore.

[u/Mad_Aeric → u/swaded805]

We've moved on to calling for the executives to be broken into smaller pieces.

[u/Zeliose → u/NarcolepticMan]

Disturbing? Yes.

Surprising? No.

[u/LuckyandBrownie → u/NarcolepticMan]

Corporations were the fascists the whole time. They bought the government.

[u/Romboteryx → u/NarcolepticMan]

Not surprising to those who have studied the rise of the Third Reich. Many private companies gladly embraced the nazis because they feared unions and socialist revolutions more.

[u/Whole-Dig-9915 → u/Romboteryx]

Didn't IBM actively assist?

[u/Letstalkreaper → u/Whole-Dig-9915]

Yes.

[u/SouthFromGranada → u/Whole-Dig-9915]

Bayer, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Siemens, and any other large German Corporation you can think of was a enthusiastic participant of Nazism. Facisim is good for business and they know it.

[u/coconutpiecrust → u/NarcolepticMan]

They don’t bow to them. They enable them. 

[u/SharkSheppard → u/coconutpiecrust]

Exactly. No pressure was asserted. They didnt even pretend to fight back. They did this happily because they thought it would buy them some favor in the future.

[u/ForbiddenButtStuff → u/NarcolepticMan]

MapQuest specifically announced they aren't changing it

[u/ComprehensiveAd1855 → u/ForbiddenButtStuff]

+1 For MapQuest then

[u/Mostly-Moo-Cow → u/ForbiddenButtStuff]

Going back to printing my directions I guess

[u/KnowMatter → u/NarcolepticMan]

Go watch Trumps inauguration where he gave better seats to all the tech billionaires than his family and cabinet.

They aren’t capitulating they are actively funding and directing the fascism.

[u/DrunkAndHornyGuy → u/KnowMatter]

Yea turns out the Tech Bros are just a bunch of white supremacist authoritarians who are cool with fascism.

[u/KnowMatter → u/DrunkAndHornyGuy]

They all have god complexes and think the world would better if they ran it and are actively trying to collapse existing power structures so they can buy everything.

[u/johnfkay → u/NarcolepticMan]

They ARE also fascists…it’s one system

[u/Fast_Preparation2752 → u/johnfkay]

Yes, people think the top shareholders aren't the same people for all theses companies. Thats why I scream the Republican party and thier donors are traitors to the United States of America.

[u/YF422 → u/NarcolepticMan]

These fuckers were all behind Trump at his inauguration. They're at worst likely the ones who are encouraging this dementia addled buffoon and are part of the problem.

Get the Dems back into power and regulate the fuck out of these corrupt bastards as they likely have shit to answer for as well.

[u/cactus22minus1 → u/YF422]

Correction: get progressive dems and social democrats into power by reforming the Democratic Party and regulate the fuck out these people.

[u/lilb1190 → u/NarcolepticMan]

What's disturbing is that people still think any of these giant companies that constantly monitor and profit off of our lives are somehow inherently good.

[u/Bitter_Procedure260 → u/NarcolepticMan]

These same companies have been giving bribes to foreign dictatorships for forever. They only pretend to act ethically because that is the law in the western world.

[u/JP76 → u/spaltedsplinters]

Google already did this before with Gulf of Mexico.

[u/BeforeDawn → u/JP76]

Came here to say this. Also slightly bewildered by how many people are acting like this is the moment Google Maps finally crossed the line. Did “Gulf of America” not quite do it?

[u/meryl_gear → u/BeforeDawn]

"That's OK because it was just Mexico"

[u/onlyanactor → u/BeforeDawn]

They didn’t know/weren’t paying attention.

[u/RizzwindTheWizzard → u/BeforeDawn]

Google also only changed the name for Americans which is pretty consistent with what they've done in the past. You won't see the West Philippine Sea if you're accessing Google Maps from China and the Sea of Japan will have a different name in Korea. As much as I dislike Google, they've localised maps based on political decisions for years.

[u/steinbruchfluss → u/RizzwindTheWizzard]

No, they have added this stupid name in many more foreign countries. Here in Germany it says „Golf von Mexiko (Golf von Amerika)“.

Thats not how the official German nomenclature is.

[u/Sufficient-Food934 → u/JP76]

Yes we know, which is what makes this automatic capitulation to unwashed diaper's whims even more angering. They jump up anytime he has a new item on his wishlist.

[u/AlsoOneLastThing → u/JP76]

In Canada it's listed as "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)". What's particularly disturbing to me is they did not do the same thing for Lake Ontario. It's just named as Lake America. This is an intentional choice, showing that Google does not respect Canada as a sovereign nation.

[u/tanrock2003 → u/spaltedsplinters]

FYI, Google maps in Canada still says Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico is still the Gulf of Mexico (with Gulf of America in parentheses)

[u/IPromisedNoPosts → u/tanrock2003]

Google classified the US as a "Sensitive Country" (ironic) to show Americans something different.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/01/28/google-reclassifies-us-as-sensitive-country-like-china-russia-.html

[u/mais_souffle → u/IPromisedNoPosts]

Yeah, they're the land of snowflakes

[u/girlikecupcake → u/tanrock2003]

Yeah people noticed a long while back that it depended on where Google thought you were viewing from. Turning on my VPN set to UK doesn't change what I see as an American in the app, but I can go to the Google maps website (.com and .co.uk) and it'll show the proper Lake Ontario name. Turn off VPN and it changes to the bs "new" name.

[u/cedg32 → u/spaltedsplinters]

Don’t they just use whatever data is in the USGS database, which was what Trump changed?

[u/radiodmr → u/spaltedsplinters]

Nothing new. They did the same for the Gulf of America thing. From what I understand it only shows for US users. This thing about geographic place names is a touchy subject and there's a long history of such things, not just in North America but around the world.

[u/SweetAlyssumm]

They are all in the billionaire boys' club. I expect nothing from rich tech bros except this kind of thing. They probably didn't think twice.

[u/ShrimpieAC → u/SweetAlyssumm]

These giant tech companies have realized they basically shape the world around us, and they can bend us to their will. The right has embraced this, and that’s why the tech billionaires were front and center at Trump’s inauguration. They are all in on AI mass surveillance. That’s the future they see for us. One of unfettered control that would make China jealous.

That’s why these billionaires are getting so brazen. They pretty much feel like they’re gonna have us under their thumb for a very long time and there will be nothing that we can do to stop them. That’s why Musk feels so safe constantly agitating the working class without fear they will come for his head.

[u/euro127 → u/ShrimpieAC]

Until they do. These kind of things historically end in war, famine or revolution. Personally I favor the latter

[u/WetFishStink → u/ShrimpieAC]

China is starting to look like a land of unparalleled freedom compared the US, which is rapidly descending into something like the fall of the Soviet Union.

Exactly how Putin needs America to be.

[u/dragons_fire77 → u/SweetAlyssumm]

When Google changed away from its motto of "Don't be Evil", that was when tides against them should have started.

Also r/degoogle is a helpful sub

[u/JoEdGus → u/SweetAlyssumm]

Just remember who was invited to the WH for inauguration, dinners, etc. Pretty sure it was a bunch of tech Bros, right? Or should I say "Reich?"

[u/SG_wormsblink]

I just checked the name on Google maps… it’s called “Lake America” in the USA and “Lake Ontario (Lake America)” for the rest of the world.

This is pathetic, the EO isn’t even a week old and Google is busy renaming parts of the world to capitulate to trump.

Edit: it’s called “Lake Ontario” in Canada only, here’s google’s blog post: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/maps/gnis-lake-ontario-lake-america-name-change/

[u/mjkionc → u/SG_wormsblink]

I’m not seeing Lake Ontario at all, just Lake America. What’s worse, when you search for Lake Ontario, rather than going straight to it, it gives you a zoomed out view of the Midwest and suggests pins for 7 lakes (including the actual Lake Ontario) like “did you mean…” Capitulating fascist ball-guzzlers

[u/SG_wormsblink → u/mjkionc]

Yup it’s completely censored in the USA to “Lake America” while the rest of us in the world are forced to read the propagandized name of “Lake Ontario (Lake America)”.

Edit: Google has put out a blog post, it’s only going to be called “Lake Ontario” in Canada:

https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/maps/gnis-lake-ontario-lake-america-name-change/

[u/Supermite → u/SG_wormsblink]

Google can still fuck themselves sideways for capitulating to fascists.  They are trying to play both sides.  That just means they’re comfortable with fascists being in charge.

Neutrality isn’t a stance when one side is for freedom and the other is actively committing human rights violations.  Fence sitting is a choice that supports fascism.

[u/WillSmiff → u/Supermite]

I'm just pirating everything from now on. I'm never paying for anything American that I can just take with minimal to no consequence. Particularly anything digital/tech. I'm curious how I can take from Google.

[u/Supermite → u/WillSmiff]

My biggest headache is that I utilize a lot of their stuff.  Like Drive and Docs and Slides.

All the viable alternatives are just as quickly lining up to suck trump’s mushroom cap as Google is.

[u/lazyFer → u/Supermite]

They aren't trying to play both sides, they're fascists 100%

[u/Lodgik → u/SG_wormsblink]

I'm Canadian.

I don't give a shit about what America and Trump calls Lake Ontario. It's annoying, but it's also stupid and petty compared to everything else.

I don't even care if Google maps calls it only Lake America in America.

...but it actually kind of annoys me that Google is even entertaining the idea in other countries.

[u/gtsomething → u/Lodgik]

Canadian living in Japan. Seeing it renamed on our Google maps here pissed me off a touch.

[u/Exodys03 → u/Lodgik]

As an American, this is what you get with fascists. Serve up an outrage everyday so people become immune and desensitized to it. When true fascist political moves occur, people are numb to it.

It's what Steve Bannon calls "flooding the zone". They are thrilled to have people angry over the name change of a lake while everyone forgets they're plotting to steal an election.

Edited to say: I'm not saying Canadians shouldn't be pissed off at the stupid name change. It's BS but it obscures far worse shit still to come.

[u/Booklet-of-Wisdom → u/mjkionc]

Bing maps says Lake Ontario.

Time to switch to Microsoft Edge and Bing maps!

Microsoft sucks too, I just can't deal with looking at Lake America on a map.

[u/AINonsense → u/Booklet-of-Wisdom]

Time to switch to Microsoft Edge and Bing!

Has it really come to that?

[u/No_Tax_Timmy → u/AINonsense]

Mapquest.

Actually not joking. It's good.

[u/DrifterBG → u/No_Tax_Timmy]

I would love if Mapquest made a comeback. Would send a message to other corporations that bending the knee isn't in their best interest.

[u/DrGoblinator → u/DrifterBG]

Mapquest said straight out, yeah we ain't changing that. I downloaded it.

[u/CorgiMonsoon → u/Booklet-of-Wisdom]

Apple Maps is also Lake Ontario (for now)

[u/kaiyotic → u/SG_wormsblink]

It's just Lake Ontario on my google maps (Belgium)

[u/evilbert79 → u/kaiyotic]

this morning it was the same here in the netherlands, now it reads Lake Ontario (Lake America) so i guess its some type of caching

[u/TOKEN616 → u/evilbert79]

Lake ontario (lake america) here in ireland. Fuck sake

[u/Immediate_Quiet4354 → u/SG_wormsblink]

Just like the Gulf of Mexico. Outside the US it's Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America). But let's be real, for everybody around the world, now I'm and in the future, the Gulf of Mexico its still the Gulf of Mexico and lake Ontario it's still lake Ontario, nobody cares about what that idiot says.

[u/TokenTorkoal → u/Immediate_Quiet4354]

Trump can only order that the US government and its agencies recognize and refer to the lake as such.

The rest of the world, businesses, and citizens of the US are under no obligation whatsoever to call as such.

So Google doing it, twice now, is just to kiss the ring and honestly people shouldn’t be surprised. The leaders of Google and several other major corporations have literally been a part of this administration hand in hand the whole time.

We as a nation watched and allowed the Oligarchy to move from the shadows to being front and center as unelected officials. Unless you consider our dollars votes.

[u/oVtcovOgwUP0j5sMQx2F → u/SG_wormsblink]

holy shit seeing that actually made my stomach turn

[u/Booklet-of-Wisdom → u/oVtcovOgwUP0j5sMQx2F]

Yeah, the propaganda is getting out of control.

[u/BlackberryPi7 → u/SG_wormsblink]

In Canada.

It shows Lake America for me.

I'm so fucking disappointed with Americans.

Why the fuck 2/3s of the country was so incredibly stupid in 2024 is fucking beyond me.

Edit: BC here. The change just takes time to propagate to everyone. Could also be your cache if it still shows Lake Ontario for you.

[u/hypercosm_dot_net → u/BlackberryPi7]

As an angry American, I ask myself the same thing.

Life could have been headed in a better direction now, but people voted to be taken advantage of. It's like doing a group project with a bunch of morons who can't put in basic effort.

[u/murd3rsaurus → u/BlackberryPi7]

I got a sponsored post on FB from the US Consulate letting us know "where they are located"

Their thumbnail image was Toronto with a chunk of the lake showing their stupid name on it. The levels of petty keep growing.

[u/Prostatepam → u/[deleted]]

It’s still showing Lake Ontario for me (in Ontario).

I was at the Iron Maiden concert in Toronto last night and Bruce referred to it as “beautiful Lake Ontario” and said they flew over the Gulf of Mexico earlier and the crowd LOVED it.

[u/Raichu4u → u/BlackberryPi7]

Thank you for saying 2/3rds. Nonvoters and 3rd party voters are responsible for this too.

[u/inconspicuous_male → u/SG_wormsblink]

I checked this morning and it was Lake Ontario. I just opened the app back up and I watched the name blink from Ontario to America. 

[u/UsernameForgotten100]

They changed their slogan to “Be evil.”

[u/CitySeekerTron → u/UsernameForgotten100]

Canary's down. 

[u/thekbob → u/UsernameForgotten100]

"Don't, be evil."

[u/Mister_Pickl3s → u/UsernameForgotten100]

Shorter that way, brevity is king

A soul is just baggage

[u/PetticoatRule]

All Canadian federal and provincial governments should cancel any agreements, contracts, and services they have with Google. 

[u/MrLurid]

trump: "I signed this meaningless paper renaming this thing I have no business renaming, because I'm an asshole."

Google, before the ink is dry: "Done! We fixed it, did we do good?"

[u/FredFredrickson → u/MrLurid]

You forgot the part where Google gets on its knees and says, "please don't target us, please!"

[u/ShavedSavage]

It’s an executive order, it applies to the executive branch of the federal government, not a search engine/gps. Fucking gutless wonders.

[u/Supermite → u/ShavedSavage]

They aren’t gutless.  They’re choosing to legitimize this nonsense.

[u/lazyFer → u/Supermite]

I bet if the next dem administration signs an executive order renaming Google to "fascist fuckheads" Google would immediately run out and change their maps right?

[u/Oo__II__oO → u/lazyFer]

I prefer their rebrand to "The Pedophile enablers formerly known as Google"

[u/Fhack → u/ShavedSavage]

They're not gutless, they're complicit co-conspirators. 

[u/Tiny_Structure_7]

Google Maps is not bound by Trump's childish EOs. But they are afraid of Trump's lawfare and financial retaliation if they don't adhere to Trump's every whim. Wanna fight back? Stop using Google and start using other search engines, like Bing or Duck Duck Go.

[u/Itchy-Plastic → u/Tiny_Structure_7]

Google could crush Trump in a week. Change the algorithm so that any searches for Trump return nothing. Take away the attention he craves and Trump will implode. Of course the best time to do this was before he built ICE into his fascist enforcers.

[u/joshdoereddit → u/Itchy-Plastic]

This is the thing. These companies aren't caving. They simply don't give a shit. And rather than do what's right and take it to court and spend money, they just do what suits their bottom line because they it's cheap and they know it won't affect their bottom line.

We will continue to use Google and their products. There are so many companies, industries, and people we should turn our backs on and we don't.

I'm party to this too. I'm not some self-righteous luddite. I use Amazon, shop at Walmart, and have subscription services for entertainment.

I have an idea of what we could do as a society. But it would take a lot of coordination. It would also be a difficult task to accomplish because there would be a lot of folks impacted financially. Hardworking people who don't deserve it.

Kind of like the government shutdown. When that's happened the last couple of times, everyone tells the Democrats to hold the line. I hardly come across any conversations showing concern for the workers who are going without a paycheck

[u/superxpro12 → u/joshdoereddit]

It's worse than not giving a shit. They are using the situation to keep their margins as high as possible.

Basically anytime they're involved ask yourself a simple question "would this help or hurt their bottom line"? And you will quickly get your answer.

They stopped "doing the right thing" about 10y ago

[u/canitplaycrisis → u/Tiny_Structure_7]

Ah yes Bing, which is owned by Microsoft.

[u/bethlabeth → u/Tiny_Structure_7]

Mapquest posted that they would not change it, and they never changed the Gulf of Mexico. They have an app!

[u/keirmeister]

Lest we forget, Google Maps is still showing “Gulf of America.”

It’s a simple question: why trust a source of information that would purposefully present inaccurate information just to placate a tyrant?

[u/RunawayHobbit → u/keirmeister]

So is Apple Maps. Are all of them? I’m not sure who the hell I could even switch to

[u/MezzoSoaprano → u/RunawayHobbit]

TomTom, Here, OpenStreetMaps, MapQuest

But no idea how they deal with the american nationalism and their maps

[u/ExoticDisaster0]

Oh for fucks sake.

[u/pareech]

Did a quick check with and without my VPN

• Canada with no VPN, it's Lake Ontario
• Germany with VPN, it's Lake Ontario
• Mexico with VPN, it's Lake Ontario
• United States with VPN, it's Lake America

Unlike the Gulf of Mexico, which is Gulf of America in the USA and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) everywhere else.

Fuck this whole administration. Let them wallow in their ignorance and be laughed at every time they say Lake America. If the idiots bring up with Canadian officials, they should ask where that lake is exactly, because it is not on any map they use.

[u/rosaUpodne → u/pareech]

Let’s rename the current administration to Swamp America.

[u/BellStreetWindows]

Cant fucking wait til the orange stain is removed from this beautiful country... what an absolute shame.

[u/forwhatitsworrh → u/BellStreetWindows]

Unfortunately him leaving office doesn’t alleviate the problem we all know exists now.

People need to vote in primaries to keep corporations and foreign countries out of our elections but they are all too lazy.

[u/zeusmeister]

I’m actually surprised they did it. In this case, the Trump administration was stupid and thought they were changing the name of a lake named after a Canadian province.

Instead, this lake has been so named for like 400 years and is an indigenous word. So they are essentially whitewashing a native people’s history, which I would think even a large corporation would think twice about doing.

[u/BasicPerson23 → u/zeusmeister]

Trump couldn’t care less about the origin of the name. He is just a childish bully, mad because the name is the same as a province (which was named after the lake).

[u/S14Ryan → u/zeusmeister]

You’ve never heard of Mount Denali? Wiping out Native American history is par for the trump course. 

[u/sweet_esiban → u/zeusmeister]

I would think even a large corporation would think twice about doing.

Indigenous person here. Anishinaabe to be specific. I appreciate your kind heart, but this isn't how the world works.

Erasing our names, languages, histories, and even some of our tribes, is par for the course in colonial North America. I won't pretend it's just a US thing - Canada's frequently awful about this too. People acting like this is "just Trump" are willfully blind.

Carney brought up the Wendat in his response to this, and while I was glad for that... it also rings rather hollow, when his government is taking away funding from so many Indigenous language revitalization programs. Like, so you'll use our languages as a political football, but you don't actually support us keeping them alive. Cool. Not to mention the land rights issues...

I'm not personally angry about the Lake Ontario thing. My reaction was more like Premier Wab Kinew's (who also happens to be Anishinaabe)... like, oh goodness, this is just pathetic. Like, for better or worse, the US was once had this thing called "dignity" and now... that's a foreign word down there.

[u/Round_Safety9510]

Mapquest has an app now and doesn’t cave to renaming tantrums.

[u/racedownhill → u/Round_Safety9510]

Never thought I’d see the day where I replaced Google Maps with Mapquest… but here we are.

[u/christo3161]

There is a feedback option in the app. Would be a shame if they got overloaded with feedback requests about this

[u/Lamon72 → u/christo3161]

I left them one this morning

[u/socalspawn]

fucking stupid policy

When the Trump signed the executive order, it directed the Department of the Interior to update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)—the official federal database that standardizes geographic names in the United States.

Google maintains a strict policy for map rendering: when an official government source updates a designation, Google maps it to reflect that country's official administrative data. They did the exact same thing when the administration renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America".

To handle the obvious geopolitical friction, Google relies on localized rendering views rather than a single global name:

• In the U.S.: Users see "Lake America" because it aligns with the updated U.S. federal database (GNIS).
• In Canada: Users still see "Lake Ontario", adhering to Canadian geographic standards.
• Rest of the World: Maps display both names.

Google pretends it's just following protocol, but really, they just folded like a cheap suit and gave the administration its vanity label for U.S. users.

[u/BlackberryPi7]

Odd, it shows Lake America on the marker but when you click the marker it still shows Lake Ontario on the info popup.

Christ. The US is such a fucking embarrassment.

[u/PauseNatural]

Why stop there? There is a city called Ontario in California. Theres an Ontario international airport in California ffs.

There’s 3 Victorias in the U.S. There are 3 Hamiltons in the U.S.

FFS, there are even two Montreals in the U.S.

Let’s rename everything!!! Just go from one America town to the next!

[u/War1today]

Bankrupt ethics and morality for profit are trademarks of corporations in the USA. Trump is corrupt, criminal, treasonous, racist, incompetent, petty, reckless, dishonest and a narcissist, and knowing all that Google has been all-in on the Trump presidency:

1) Google contributed $1 million to the 2025 presidential inauguration fund.

2) A landmark Department of Justice antitrust case concluded with penalties that allowed Google to avoid a forced corporate breakup. CEO Sundar Pichai publicly thanked the administration for its leadership and dialogue during the resolution.

3) The General Services Administration partnered with Google to provide federal agencies access to Google Gemini and other AI tools.

4) Google rolled back internal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies and shifted its stance on military and surveillance AI use.

5) The $200 million Pentagon Frontier AI Contract was awarded to Google by the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. This contract allows the military to deploy Google's agentic AI, large language models, and infrastructure across the contiguous USA.

6) The $48 million Defense Logistics Agency Cloud Contract was awarded to Google Public Sector to integrate and scale Google Cloud services across defense logistics networks.

[u/What_a_fat_one]

I'm a New Yorker near Lake Ontario. I already switched to MapQuest and I'm digging it. Fuck Google. I'm also getting Graphene and completely dumping every one of their products. Been on their ecosystem since Android came out.

[u/GuttiG]

It’s so deeply pathetic the way these fucking corps bend over to get fucked raw by a shambling pedophilic corpse just to make some extra dollars. I almost appreciate Trump in a strange way for shining a light on how deeply evil and morally bankrupt we knew they always were

[u/CharmingCrust]

If the loyalty of a US Brand is to the US administration instead of to its customers, worldwide, then why would consumers choose that company brand?

[u/jim_cap → u/CharmingCrust]

To be clear, you’re not Google’s customer.

[u/No_Celery_5373]

Qobuz for music out of Canada

Organic Maps is a good replacement for Google Maps

If they want to be a Trump business, they can get treated like one.

[u/Zulmoka531]

I can’t even suggest an edit on google maps anymore. They are quite happy to plug their ears and ignore us in favor of the oligarchs.

Fuck Google!

[u/tylagersign]

Already deleted and downloaded Mapquest, I suggest everyone does the same.

[u/spewing_honey_badger → u/tylagersign]

It’s messing with me that mapquest even has something to download (besides directions!). I haven’t used it since it was browser based and I had no idea they were still in business.

[u/EconomistOfDeath → u/tylagersign]

I haven't used this in over a decade - how's it going?

[u/tylagersign → u/EconomistOfDeath]

It’s great, and they have publicly posted they will not change Lake Ontario or Gulf of Mexico

[u/EconomistOfDeath → u/tylagersign]

I heard that! Definitely looking at switching from Google.

[u/ntwild97]

Corporations have no soul. They embraced lgbtq when the left was in power, then bow to fascist idiot now. Anything to stay on the man's good side, values be damned

[u/Master-of_None]

PSA Mapquest still exists and and taking a stance against this shit. They still show the Gulf of Mexico

[u/win_awards]

Again. Caves to Trump again. Just like with the Gulf of Mexico nonsense. Anyone who is surprised by this has the memory of a goldfish.

[u/ga9213]

Mapquest gonna be making a comeback

[u/Street_Anon]

Who knew Google would be helping in the Cultural Genocide and erasing of thousands of years of American history..This is beyond shameful.

[u/ChooseWisely83]

Just switched to Mapquest, fuck Google for caving to Trump.

[u/flcinusa]

Who knew Executive Orders were the be all and end all... Turns out 250 years of having a congress and senate was merely pointless political theatre