Know-how reporter
Getty PicturesGoogle Maps has blocked opinions for the Gulf of Mexico, after criticism of its resolution to label it “Gulf of America” for customers within the US.
The tech large up to date the title of the placement on Wednesday after President Donald Trump ordered it to be modified in official authorities paperwork.
Clicking on the label for the Gulf in Google Maps now brings up a notice saying “posting is at present turned off”.
Google additionally seems to have deleted some unfavorable opinions left within the wake of its title change.
The corporate has defended its resolution, saying it “commonly places protections on locations throughout instances once we anticipate an uptick of contributions which can be off-topic or unrelated to somebody’s direct expertise with the place.”
It additionally highlighted a 2023 weblog put up about the way it tackles “policy-violating content material”, equivalent to pretend opinions, and the when it disables contributions or removes content material to stop abuse of its instruments.
Customers on social media declare a whole bunch of 1 star opinions have been eliminated, and have accused Google of “censorship.”
The latest evaluation left for the placement consequence on Google Maps now seems to be from a month in the past.
Critics have since taken to posting unfavorable, one star scores of the Google Maps app itself on Apple’s App Retailer, with a number of describing the app and its labels as “factually inaccurate”.
So-called “review-bombing” has develop into a preferred type of on-line protest in opposition to firms or companies that seem in Google Search or Maps outcomes.
In December, Google eliminated derogatory opinions of a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania the place Luigi Mangione – the 26-year-old since charged with the homicide of United Healthcare boss Brian Thompson – had been arrested.
The tactic has additionally been deployed to control an app’s scores on cellular marketplaces.
In 2020, folks used it to criticise President Trump’s then-proposal to ban TikTok – reportedly leaving a whole bunch of important opinions on his re-election marketing campaign app on Apple’s App Retailer.
It was additionally utilized by GameStop merchants to hit again at stock-trading apps equivalent to Robinhood that launched buying and selling restrictions amid the 2021 market upset.
Forbes reported on Thursday that the corporate had “tacitly admitted” to eradicating opinions criticising the Gulf location’s renaming on Maps.
The BBC has requested Google to verify whether or not it has deleted them.
It comes after Google mentioned in a weblog put up on Monday that US customers would see “Gulf of America” change Gulf of Mexico on Maps.
It mentioned this adopted a “longstanding coverage” of reflecting title adjustments up to date in official US authorities sources.
The title would stay unchanged in Mexico and the remainder of the world would see “Gulf of America” added subsequent to its present title in brackets, Google added.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote a letter to the corporate asking them to not rename the Gulf in a letter in late January.
President Sheinbaum reportedly reiterated her considerations on Thursday – suggesting the nation may sue Google over the title change.
In the meantime, Apple has additionally modified the title for US customers of its personal Maps app.
Star Trek actor George Takei has inspired folks to “report” the renamed location on Apple Maps in a put up to his 1.1m followers on BlueSky.
“Please proceed to report,” he wrote above a screenshot of a viral put up on X (previously Twitter) of somebody showing to report the renamed location.
The White Home highlighted Apple Maps displaying “Gulf of America” as an alternative of Gulf of Mexico in a X put up on Wednesday.
Huge tech companies and their chief executives have been accused of making an attempt to “curry favour” with the Trump administration by way of controversial coverage adjustments.
Meta introduced it will ditch US fact-checkers and a few world content material insurance policies in January, and later joined a slew of companies together with Google and Amazon in scaling again range recruitment objectives.
