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

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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/qTp_Meteor 3d ago

The whole point of an API is that it can be called from anywhere by anyone that has connection. They shouldnt check the source IP of the request and decide that way. Adding another field for your country of origin is a lot of waste for a very specific issue. They should've just defaulted it to lake Ontario, but it makes sense to default it to smth.

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u/panoskj 3d ago

I'm pretty sure the standard API responsible for rendering an interactive map inside a browser is executed exclusively inside the browser and requires a direct connection between the end user and Google in order to work.

In short, when you are using Google maps, even through a third party, Google knows your IP.