by devindotcom on 2/20/25, 2:32 AM
If you read it, you find the reasoning is this:
“Any reference to the ‘Gulf of America’ initiative on your Google Maps platform must be exclusively limited to the marine area under US jurisdiction,” the letter read. “Any extension beyond that zone exceeds the authority of any national government or private entity..."
So the issue is not the renaming per se, but that waters previously known collectively among all countries bordering it as the Gulf of Mexico have been wholly renamed.
The argument seems sound: America has no authority over waters beyond its territories, and its territories end some miles off the US coast. Beyond that border it is only logical for a company to refer to a body of water by the name more commonly accepted internationally.
by davidw on 2/20/25, 2:18 AM
Meanwhile AP News is being hung out to dry because they are continuing to use the commonly accepted name. "Free speech" indeed.
by montroser on 2/20/25, 2:43 AM
Okay, but Google has no legal obligation to anyone here, right? They're just a private company, and they can put whatever they please on their map. They could call it Gulf of Cuba, or Gulf of Poopy Pants, and no one would actually have any legal standing to sue, would they?
by emptybits on 2/20/25, 2:29 AM
For this Canadian user, both maps.google.ca and Apple Maps labels the body of water this way:
"Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)"
TBH, that parenthetical label outside jurisdiction or common usage seems like noise.
by Isamu on 2/20/25, 2:28 AM
Google post about the name update:
https://blog.google/products/maps/united-states-geographic-n...This legal threat is interesting because in Mexico you should see the name of the gulf unchanged, and only in the US is it exclusively the Gulf of America. So I’m not sure how that would work in court.
But the reality is map providers have to be prepared to conform to local rules and standards all the time.
by modeless on 2/20/25, 2:26 AM
Political threats over names on Google Maps are nothing new. Google has dealt with this issue over and over worldwide. Sometimes the solution is to show different names to people in different countries. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what eventually happens here.
by taimurkazmi on 2/20/25, 2:53 AM
Regardless of your opinion on this stupid naming thing with the Gulf of America/Mexico, if a lawsuit succeeds in any way it would be terrible for all international map websites. South Korea would sue over the Sea of Japan/East Sea and there would be trouble with the Persian/Arabian Gulf as well. Countries would sue over border disputes. The localization that Google Maps does allows it to be accessed and used in a variety of places. I think that’s worth protecting.
by PlunderBunny on 2/20/25, 3:00 AM
Shoutout to MapQuest, which lets you rename the gulf to whatever you want! (No one else sees this unless you send it to them):
https://gulfof.mapquest.com/
by lbrito on 2/20/25, 2:32 AM
How long until we see "Canada (contested)" above the 49th parallel?
by loeg on 2/20/25, 2:20 AM
Google displays different names for contested places in different polities. Of course it should show Mexico its preferred "Gulf of Mexico." It can still show US users the current US name.
by wakawaka28 on 2/20/25, 4:16 AM
Mexico is a country, so the new name is less nationalistic. I've actually met people from Latin America who call themselves "American" because they are in either North or South America. Besides, nobody owns the Gulf. If the US wanted to, it could easily take over the Gulf of America officially, and also annex Mexico as well.
by dmoy on 2/20/25, 2:20 AM
by stickfigure on 2/20/25, 3:57 AM
Google should label it as the
Gulf of Google and be done with it.
I am not joking.
by chasing on 2/20/25, 2:25 AM
I was about to call this "Gulf of America" fiasco the stupidest f---ing thing, but then I remembered everything else that's been going on...
by mrastro on 2/20/25, 2:34 AM
This entire issue is a waste of time, the executive order, the GNIS database update, subsequent lawsuits, and news articles like this.
How is this helping anyone? Is it a distraction for actual substantive changes (positive or negative) Trump is making?
by amazingamazing on 2/20/25, 2:37 AM
At the end of the day sadly the winners will dictate these things. If not, the territories in United States would all have Native American names (and some do, like Massachusetts).
by aiauthoritydev on 2/20/25, 2:42 AM
The kind of path US has taken, it might be sensible for Mexico to impose a fine on Google maps. We will see an increasing hostility towards American companies in other countries.
by c0wb0yc0d3r on 2/20/25, 5:10 AM
Anyone have any insight on why it seems Google is being singled out?
Apple Maps and Bing both show “Gulf of America.” OSM doesn’t seem to label the body of water at all.
by Aloha on 2/20/25, 2:40 AM
This is probably an unpopular opinion - but if you're going to rename the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of the Americas is a much better name than Gulf of America.
But its stupid, and Trump making a sideshow.
by knodi on 2/20/25, 2:41 AM
Idiots do idiot things, and then the world suffers the consequences of idiot things.
by oaththrowaway on 2/20/25, 2:20 AM
Isn't it fairly common to have different things named differently depending on where you're at in the world?
I'm assuming that Google didn't change it for how it shows in Mexico, so why do they care so much about what another country calls it? It's stupid for it to be renamed, don't get me wrong, but the outrage about it seems like it's because it came from Trump.
by bangaladore on 2/20/25, 2:20 AM
As much as "changing" the name is stupid, Google isn't here to pick battles between countries.
Quick check shows that google.com.mx shows it always as "Gulfo de Mexico". That's all that matters.
by whrGa on 2/20/25, 2:46 AM
The Don should rename the Bering Strait to "Strait of America", then build the TrumpStream pipeline between Siberia and Alaska and resell liquefied Russian gas to the EU at four times the price.
by Hobadee on 2/20/25, 3:34 AM
I don't speak Spanish, but I'm pretty sure Mexicans don't call it "The Gulf of Mexico"... Probably something along the lines of "El gulfo de Mexico". Can we just localize the translations?
by rmrf100 on 2/20/25, 2:59 AM
"Gulf of Trump"
by whatever1 on 2/20/25, 2:58 AM
Post war we at least had established some ground rules. Now Trump opened the Pandora box that I am not sure we can close (without a wide conflict).
Everything is up for grabs! Greenland, Canada, the Panama Canal, Ukraine, the Gazan Riviera, Taiwan. It is a revisionist’s wet dream.
Whatever you wish could be yours!
by jongjong on 2/20/25, 4:09 AM
Wow this is dumb. Do these people realize that the same places have different names in different languages? Don't Mexicans speak Spanish? Can't it still be called 'Gulf of Mexico' in Spanish and 'Gulf of America' in English?
For example, Germany is called Deutschland in German... Yet you don't see Germans demanding that we rename Germany to Dutchland to make it more consistent... They don't have jurisdiction over the English language.
I was also confused when Turkey made everyone rename it to Türkiye... I understand that they don't want to be confused for the Turkey bird but that 'u' letter with 2 dots doesn't even exist in English. WTF?
You look at Google maps and all the countries use English letters except one; Türkiye. WTF? Seems like English language is being appropriated.
by falaki on 2/20/25, 2:28 AM
How much money does Google make in Mexico?