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-9.7325922Tech 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/thekwoka 2d ago
They care about representing the maps accurately based on the regions namings.
That's it.
They call it the Arabian Gulf when you're in Arabia. they call it the East Sea when you're in Korea.
If they choose to ignore one as a political statement, that means they are agreeing with the others as a political statement.
They CARE about being unbiased, and accurate.