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 wee...
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