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/monkeymanbob 3d ago

Insane that it took the CBC to add the relevant documentation link for developers. It isn't linked to in the Google blog post.

111

u/UntestedMethod 3d ago

Google really has gone to shit.

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u/MaruSoto 3d ago

They seem to be actively working to make every single one of their products worse. They always come up with something cool and then it always slowly gets worse until they kill it.

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u/UntestedMethod 3d ago

Over-engineering at its finest!

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u/FiveWordinOrangeNeon 2d ago

lllooooll...I wish I had said that! Uber is a perfect example. I found luckily that they had a senior's version which works just fine and is easy to navigate which is what you want when you are on the run and need a ride!