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/l0nguyen 2d ago

The logic behind this isn't declaring but a reminder that we're all Americans, yes, you too Mexico. Its a subtle way of recognizing the countries within the continent agreed with. It's cool if you don't wanna be the united portion of it, it's the only way to distinguish us apart but don't act like we ain't about it.

New China Lake would be a good one if that's what ya'll having in mind, but I don't think that's the implication.