Backlash against Google Maps for its decision to rename a lake on the US-Canada border after an executive order from President Donald Trump has continued to grow, with MapQuest rising to the top of the download charts.
Amid trade tension between the US and Canada, Mr Trump last week signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario, which sits between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US, as “Lake America”.
Caught in the middle are technology giants Apple and Google, which control most of the smartphone operating systems, the gateways to mapping apps in billions of pockets around the world.
Google quickly changed the name to Lake America for US users. In Canada, it remains Lake Ontario. For users elsewhere, Google Maps shows both the Lake Ontario and Lake America labels.
It is not the first time Mr Trump has tried to rename a large body of water. Earlier in his second term, he signed a similar order to change the name “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America”.
Mr Trump took the recent actions at a time when his approval ratings have reached historic lows, as prices for petrol, food and other items remain high amid the increasingly unpopular war with Iran.
MapQuest takes a Lake Ontario victory lap
MapQuest, the dominant navigation website during the earliest days of the internet, seems to be benefitting from the Lake Ontario controversy.
Last week, it indicated it wouldn't be changing the name of Lake Ontario.
“We're not changing the name of Lake Ontario. Name it whatever you want at your leisure,” it said in a post on X.
The post has been reshared thousands of times, with many users saying they would start using the platform. On Tuesday, MapQuest hit number one on Apple's iPhone App Store.
“The people have spoken,” the company said in a post showing a screengrab of mobile app download charts, with MapQuest ahead of ChatGPT, ESPN, TikTok and Claude.
But blogger Chris Carley urged caution over MapQuest's sudden comeback.
“If MapQuest is smart, they’ll recognise that the increased traffic they’re seeing today is highly transient,” he wrote on Threads.
“They shouldn’t plan any major, long-term change to their business model or priorities based on any current influx.”
Google caves
In explaining its decision to rename the lake, Alphabet-owned Google said it was merely following long-standing policy.
Google said that in the US, it largely labels its maps based on the data from the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
“These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now,” the company's statement read.
While Mr Trump's supporters celebrated the Google Maps update, opponents expressed anger over the decision.
In a social media post on Threads, technology analyst and podcaster Kara Swisher said that the company decided to “act like quislings to whatever senior moment lunacy Trump pumps out”, adding that its executives “please no one and shame themselves” by changing the name of Lake Ontario.
Technology entrepreneur Tom Herman echoed those sentiments.
“Google tripping over itself to follow Trump’s absurd renaming of Lake Ontario, before the official announcement is even published is enough for me,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
“I work for a Canadian company, I drink sparkling water every day, and I rather like the original meaning of 'Ontario', sparkling water.” He added that he would not be using Google's Maps app any more.
Downington, Pennsylvania, Mayor Erica Deuso, a Democrat, challenged the logic behind Google's explanation.
“If I issue an executive order renaming the Brandywine Creek to Downingtown Creek, how long until you change Google Maps?” she asked the company.
“Do all elected executives get to rename geographic features by decree, or is that special customer service reserved for fascist wannabe dictators with a Sharpie and an ego problem?”
Google has not yet responded to The National's request for comment.
Apple on the fence
Apple, meanwhile, hasn't budged.
Some are celebrating the move, but others are remaining cautious, in part because of how the company has responded in the past.
Last year, it changed the name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America following Mr Trump's executive order.
Like Google, it has also been known to rely on data from the US GNIS to label its map software.
Apple also has not responded to The National's request for comment. New chief executive John Ternus has only just started and some are speculating that Apple does not want him involved with such a controversial topic so early.
“If the first newsworthy thing to happen at Apple under Ternus is changing the label in Apple Maps to Lake America, I may just rage-quit writing about Apple entirely,” technology blogger Eshu Marneedi said on Threads.
Timothy Kneeland, a political scientist and public policy historian at Nazareth University in western New York, said that while it's not unprecedented for US presidents to name and sometimes rename US lakes, rivers and mountains, Mr Trump likely skipped a few steps in his decision to rename Lake Ontario.
"Typically the name change follows after they receive input from the US Board on Geographic Names, the Secretary of the Interior, and other constituents," he said, noting Mr Trump's habit of disregarding norms while governing.
Prof Kneeland also said that he speculates it won't be the last name change effort pushed by the White House.
"It is likely he has more ideas ahead for renaming things, but the question really is when will he name something for himself?"
