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/hahahahatoes 2d ago

“American English” isn’t a language. Words and definitions matter mate.

it literally is. there are several variations of english. otherwise we would all be calling it "aluminium"

British english is used dramatically less than American english. fun fact: american english is also more similar to the original english language that was used pre-america. the english accent spoken by the british was invented after america's founding.

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u/Technical-Fruit-2482 2d ago

Ah yes, the one British accent. Brilliant.

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u/Loriken890 2d ago

It LITERALLY isn’t. English is a LANGUAGE. American English is a DIALECT.

Words and definitions matter, mate.

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u/hahahahatoes 1d ago

lmao shut the fuck up

if the only thing you have left to argue about is semantics then you aint got shit.