Google Maps blocks Gulf of America opinions after rename criticism

Google Maps has blocked opinions for the Gulf of Mexico, after criticism of its determination to label it “Gulf of America” for customers within the US.

The tech large up to date the title of the situation 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 be aware saying “posting is at present turned off”.

Google additionally seems to have deleted some detrimental opinions left within the wake of its title change.

The BBC has requested the corporate for remark.

“Some kinds of locations usually tend to obtain posts, like opinions, that violate Google’s insurance policies,” the label added to the Gulf end result states.

“To forestall this, Google has turned off posting.”

The newest overview left for the situation end result on Google Maps now seems to be from a month in the past.

Some customers are claiming on social media that detrimental opinions they posted to object to the change have been eliminated, and have accused Google of “censorship.”

So-called “review-bombing” has change into a well-liked type of on-line protest towards corporations or companies that seem in Google Search or Maps outcomes.

The tactic has additionally been deployed to govern an app’s scores on cellular marketplaces.

In 2020, individuals used it to criticise President Trump’s then-proposal to ban TikTok – reportedly leaving tons of of vital 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 resembling Robinhood that launched buying and selling restrictions amid the 2021 market upset.

Google says it takes motion to forestall abuse of its overview mechanisms through the use of automated strategies to detect “uncommon patterns” of exercise – resembling a location or enterprise having a sudden spike in a single star opinions.

It provides motion might embody briefly disabling contributions to listings or eradicating “policy-violating content material” to forestall abuse of its instruments or faux opinions.

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 submit 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.

In the meantime, Apple has additionally modified the title for US customers of its personal Maps app.

The White Home highlighted it in a submit on X (previously Twitter) on Wednesday – with a picture of Apple Maps displaying “Gulf of America” as an alternative of Gulf of Mexico.