Google Maps and Apple Maps have different names for the same body of water
In case you haven't noticed it yet, the Gulf of Mexico today has been officially renamed the Gulf of America in the U.S. on Google Maps. We first told you about the change at the end of last month, and now that the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has made the revision, it was time for Google to do likewise. In some countries, Google Maps will show two names, with the Gulf of Mexico as the primary name followed by the Gulf of America in parenthesis.
Apple, on the other hand, continues to refer to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico. We haven't seen Google Maps and Apple Maps call the same geographic area by different names since Apple Maps was released in September 2012 alongside the launch of iOS 6. Apple Maps had so many problems with some countries and streets mislabeled or missing. In Australia, Apple Maps was considered dangerous after it led some drivers to the Outback teeming with poisonous snakes, a temperature of 115 degree, and a lack of cell service.
We don't consider Apple's decision not to follow Google Maps to be a conscious effort to ignore President Trump's executive order. After all, tech firms seem more willing to get behind the president during this term. For some, like Google, it's a matter of self-preservation. As recently as last September, then-candidate Trump threatened to prosecute Google for Election Interference if returned to the White House.
Google Maps (L) shows the Gulf of America name in the US while Apple Maps continues to show the old moniker. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Trump complained that Google Search was showing only negative stories about him while listing only positive stories about his opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. You might recall that in 2018, during his first term, Google was accused by the president of "rigging" search results, so when users searched for "Trump news," 96% of the results came from the "National Left-Wing Media" according to Trump.
Besides Google, other tech companies that have shown support for President Trump in some manner include Amazon, Meta, and Apple. All three of these firms or their CEOs donated $1 million toward the president's inauguration. Most tech companies learned during Trump's first term that you kill more flies with honey. All four tech companies, Apple and Google particularly, might need help from Trump to avoid being prosecuted by the Justice Department for anti-trust violations.
So, if all it takes for Google to get on the president's good side is to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on the U.S. version of Google Maps, that's a small price for the company to pay. Also expected to get a name refresh soon is the Denali mountain in Alaska; the president has ordered that the mountain be called by its original name, "Mount McKinley."
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