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the "gulf of america" thing is Google pandering to Trump, they originally had a policy of only using the popular name in a given locale. > if a ruler announced
by riffraff 2y ago
the "gulf of america" thing is Google pandering to Trump, they originally had a policy of only using the popular name in a given locale.
> if a ruler announced that henceforth the Pacific Ocean would be named after her mother, we would not add that placemark unless and until the name came into common usage.
https://publicpolicy.googleblog.com/2008/04/how-google-determines-names-for-bodies.html https://publicpolicy.googleblog.com/2008/04/how-google-deter...
- neuronexmachina 2y agoI think they mostly started with geolocation-dependent names in the early 2010s, e.g. Kashmir and Palestine.
- riffraff 2y agothat's different, they had location-dependent names at the time of this article too, the issue is specifically about the fact that even if you have location-dependent names you'd use the name that is commonly used in that location, not an arbitrary regulation name.
- owlninja 2y agoI thought they used the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) from the USGS. If this buffoonery does pass, it will reflect in the government official data source - and thus on Google maps?
- andix 2y agoAnd nobody outside of the US cares about what's inside those official databases. If Trump changes the name of China to "Smelly Food Country" it might be required to change this in US Google Maps But if this propagates to Google Maps in other countries people will just laugh at them and might stop using it.