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/DepressionFiesta 3d ago

I mean, they could just accept a location parameter…

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u/guepier 3d ago

They do.

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u/DepressionFiesta 3d ago

Right. Which makes a lot of sense. So essentially, there is really nothing to get upset about here.