I’m just going to play devil’s advocate because it was essentially mandated that they change it. What does google say outside of the US though? If they changed it for Canadians or non-US, then absolutely they deserve all the pitchforks. If it’s just in US, well, we shouldn’t be mad at them for this one.
They’re picking their battles. They could go against this, but what would they win? Mild PR from users? They have a lot more to lose. I have no love for google but this was never going to be a fight they were going to make.
It would be a solid PR move to ignore the orange pedophile’s tantrums, but all of silicon valley is just another head of the same grotesque chimera that is the US ruling class.
Eh I don’t think it would. The vast majority of American’s don’t care, or eyeroll. The blame right now isn’t on google, it’s on the one who signed the order. Those who do care are a very small minority. So maybe Google gets a bit of PR? But they also piss off the white house, and valiant or not we’ve seen how petty they can be there.
Maps are political. Their accuracy is only defined by politics. According to the us gov, that is now accurate. If you von into canada it also shows as accurate.
I’m just going to play devil’s advocate because it was essentially mandated that they change it. What does google say outside of the US though? If they changed it for Canadians or non-US, then absolutely they deserve all the pitchforks. If it’s just in US, well, we shouldn’t be mad at them for this one.
It’s an executive order, no business has to follow it.
They’re picking their battles. They could go against this, but what would they win? Mild PR from users? They have a lot more to lose. I have no love for google but this was never going to be a fight they were going to make.
It would be a solid PR move to ignore the orange pedophile’s tantrums, but all of silicon valley is just another head of the same grotesque chimera that is the US ruling class.
Eh I don’t think it would. The vast majority of American’s don’t care, or eyeroll. The blame right now isn’t on google, it’s on the one who signed the order. Those who do care are a very small minority. So maybe Google gets a bit of PR? But they also piss off the white house, and valiant or not we’ve seen how petty they can be there.
Heh, turns out it was a solid PR move.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/mapquests-app-surges-to-no-1-in-navigation-after-refusing-to-rename-lake-ontario/
Accuracy. Literally the #1 thing I value in maps. Changing the name tells me that they care about political appeasement more than accuracy.
Maps are political. Their accuracy is only defined by politics. According to the us gov, that is now accurate. If you von into canada it also shows as accurate.
European here just checked it still says Ontario on mine. Checked gmaps on android and ios as well as Apple Maps, all say Ontario here.
Thanks for checking! Yup makes sense. In that case I see it purely as they flipped it in the US, it’s not their fight to have.
Can executive orders force private companies to change how they name something? It sounds like a First Amendment issue.