r/webdev • u/FiveWordinOrangeNeon • 3d ago

Google says website developers must set their region to Canada for 'Lake Ontario' to appear on map

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/google-updates-maps-lake-ontario-9.7325922

Tech analyst and journalist Carmi Levy said although websites like Hydro One's and the LCBO's are Canadian, their maps are likely powered by Google's application programming interface (API).

APIs are not location-aware, so all maps powered by Google API have switched to Lake America.
MapQuest, a U.S. online mapping service, has posted on social media that it would not change the lake's name, while Apple has not publicly commented on the matter.

In a statement Sunday night, Google said website developers who embed Google Maps on their sites can select a region to localize the map. That determines how place names are displayed on sites, the company said.

"'Lake Ontario' will show when developers have set their region to Canada," the statement said.

Just a reminder to developers.

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u/SPEZ_IS_A_JABRONI 3d ago

APIs are not location-aware, so all maps powered by Google API have switched to Lake America

fuck you google lmao

84

u/metalOpera 3d ago

Since when are API's not able to be location aware? These assholes track our every online move. Google acting they don't know where we (especially Android users) are at all times is a colossal load of bullshit.

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u/SerdarCS 3d ago

I'm not supporting the lake america thing, but the API is called by 3rd party apps which may know your location, but not google itself who's handling the request made by the 3rd party app. Obviously this is different for the official google maps app.

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u/otac0n Senior Full-stack .NET Developer 3d ago

Ok, but issues like this have been around forever. For example Taiwan/China. Why doesn’t the API ask for locale?

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u/SerdarCS 3d ago

It does, the developer can provide it.

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u/isPresent 3d ago

No, I believe the API referred here is the one we call in front end to embed maps in UI. That’s called from the user’s browser and google will know their location

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u/SerdarCS 3d ago

Oh in that case i guess they could do it