1d ago

Google Maps blocks Gulf of America reviews after rename criticism

www.bbc.com Google Maps blocks Gulf of America reviews after rename criticism

It controversially updated the Gulf's name for US users after President Trump ordered it to be changed.

Summary

Google Maps has blocked reviews for the Gulf of Mexico after backlash over renaming it "Gulf of America" for U.S. users, following a Trump executive order.

Critics accused Google of censorship after it removed negative reviews. Google defended the move, citing policies against off-topic content.

Mexico’s President Sheinbaum opposed the change and may take legal action. Apple Maps also adopted the new name.

The controversy adds to concerns over tech companies aligning with Trump, following Meta’s rollback of fact-checking and diversity initiatives.

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2d ago

Google Maps blocks Gulf of America reviews after rename criticism

www.bbc.com /news/articles/crlky380wd7o

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68 comments

People need to stop using Google shit services. Like, seriously. There are so many other good services provided by other companies or even just people who make them for fun as a hobby.
- Google Maps has been hardest for me to replace. No one else seems to have the business directory aspect as good. Happy to hear suggestions!
  
  Yelp is pretty good in the USA, at least for people that live in areas where it's commonly used. Not sure about other countries. In Australia, Urban Spoon (which later became Zomato) used to be popular for restaurants, but it pretty much died off many years ago now.
  
  Hard disagree. Yelp is terrible in the US.
- Find me a replacement for Google Docs and I’m in.
  
  LibreOffice has just announced a wasm port of their suite, to run on and offline...
  
  I've been using CryptPad.fr and its ace!
  
  I just tried that actually.
  Not at all impressed with its integrated OnlyOffice. I want an alternative to MS office not a clone.
  
  I'm not sure that it has all the same features you'd need but protondrive exists
  
  Is that the same Proton who's ceo recently decided he wanted to throw his hat in the trump dick sucking ring... Despite not even being in the US?
- I'm all for dropping Google if you can, but this is not Google's fault, it's Trump's. Google is simply abiding by its policies of showing names chosen by a given country. If you're in Mexico, my understanding is that it still shows Gulf of Mexico.
  Ah, and as far as dropping Google maps... seriously, I can't find a valid alternative with real time traffic data as good as Google, free or paid, what do you suggest?
  
  I blame google. If it takes an act of congress to rename a post office then renaming the gulf should too.
  
  Still not Google's fault.
  
  Bull turkey.
  1st Amendment: Trump can't order Google what to call any particular location. He can ask, Google can follow along (or not), and we can tell Google to get bent (or not).
  
  I'm in Canada and it shows me the bullshit name. The way Google correctly handles highly temporary vanity bullshit is to limit the name change to just that country's users.
  
  It shows me Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).
  
  The article says that for the rest of the world it still shows "Gulf of Mexico" ... I'm in the USA so I can't check. Are you saying that you are not in the USA and it shows both names?
  
  Yes, here in Canada it shows both, with Gulf of America in brackets.
  
  Yes, it shows both, which is what makes it so ridiculous. The white nationalist government of one country on the entire planet refers to it by that name, the country that Google is based in, and everyone else in the world is forced to see it? You can't convince me that's not politically motivated.
  
  Yeah, that is ridiculous. I don't really have a lot of respect for Google already, but this erodes that but of respect I had left for them.
  
  NZ here, shows:
  
  In Germany it shows Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico)
  
  I find Waze has better real-time traffic info. Driving time estimates may vary a bit more, but I find it to be a more than adequate replacement for most tasks.
  You do have to gut check some of its suggestions, though: it seems to think some roads are slower, even when they’re not as busy, and will route around them.
  
  Thanks for the suggestion, but yeah, Waze is Google. Also, unless it improved a lot lately, I really didn't like it, personally.
  On Android, Organic Maps or OsmAnd are pretty good if traffic data is not needed, Magic Earth has "traffic" but it's not accurate and pales compared to gmaps. What else is there? sygic? tom tom? I tried them all a few years ago, they all had some big deal breaker. Maybe I should look at them again.
  
  Waze has been owned by Google since 2013.
  
  Isn't Waze owned by Google too?

68 comments