Google Maps blocks Gulf of America reviews after rename criticism

[Pelican Press 0]

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Maps blocks Gulf of America reviews after rename criticism

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Maps has blocked reviews for the Gulf of Mexico, after criticism of its decision to label it “Gulf of America” for users in the US.

The tech giant

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after President Donald Trump ordered it to be changed in official government documents.

Clicking on the label for the Gulf in

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Maps now brings up a note saying “posting is currently turned off”.

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also appears to have deleted some negative reviews left in the wake of its name change.

The BBC has asked the company for comment.

“Some types of places are more likely to receive posts, like reviews, that violate

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’s policies,” the label added to the Gulf result states.

“To prevent this,

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has turned off posting.”

The most recent review left

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now appears to be from a month ago.

Some users are

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that negative reviews they posted to object to the change have been removed, and have accused

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of “censorship.”

So-called “review-bombing” has become a popular form of online protest against companies or businesses that appear in

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Search or Maps results.

The tactic has also been deployed to manipulate an app’s ratings on mobile marketplaces.

In 2020, people used it to criticise President Trump’s then-proposal to ban TikTok –

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on his re-election campaign app on Apple’s App Store.

It was also used by GameStop traders to hit back at stock-trading apps such as Robinhood that introduced trading restrictions

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.

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it takes action to prevent abuse of its review mechanisms by using automated methods to detect “unusual patterns” of activity – such as a location or business having a sudden spike in one star reviews.

It adds action may include temporarily disabling contributions to listings or removing “policy-violating content” to prevent abuse of its tools or fake reviews.

Forbes

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on Thursday that the company had “tacitly admitted” to removing reviews criticising the Gulf location’s renaming on Maps.

The BBC has asked

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to confirm whether it has deleted them.

It comes after

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said in a

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on Monday that US users would see “Gulf of America” replace Gulf of Mexico on Maps.

It said this followed a “longstanding policy” of reflecting name changes updated in official US government sources.

The name would remain unchanged in Mexico and the rest of the world would see “Gulf of America” added next to its current name in brackets,

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added.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum

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asking them not to rename the Gulf in a letter in late January.

Meanwhile, Apple has also changed the name for US users of its own Maps app.

The White House highlighted it in a post on X (formerly

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) on Wednesday – with an image of Apple Maps

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.

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#

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#Maps #blocks #Gulf #America #reviews #rename #criticism

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