Lake Fiasco, Apple Ads, Websites Matter, Meta Settles, Google Wants It All

Lake Ontario Fiasco

As trade negotiations with Canada fell apart, Trump issued an order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” A petty rebuke, it follows a similar episode in January 2024, when Trump took aim at another North American neighbor and renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” At that time, Google and Apple changed their maps to reflect the ridiculous name change. And despite no legal requirement to do so, Google has done it again, embracing “Lake America” (Apple hasn’t yet). Google says it relies on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to determine place names and so when a name changes in that database, it changes on Google Maps. Facing immediate and significant blowback, however, the company sheepishly tried to explain its position as a purely “technical” decision. People across social media weren’t having it. Other mapping providers at this point haven’t followed Google’s lead. In addition to Apple (so far), Bing Maps, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap and, especially Mapquest, haven’t adopted “Lake America.” Mapquest has been the most explicit: “We’re not changing it,” read a company post earlier today. As a result, Mapquest has captured national coverage, burnished its brand and driven significant app downloads. It’s currently number 6 in the App Store, ahead of Google itself. By “showing a spine,” Mapquest scored a major brand win. But it’s another cringeworthy brand misstep for Google.