Google Maps has made a significant change regarding this for users within the United States, completely changing “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America,” both on the web and mobile applications.
This was inspired by the Trump administration’s decision to stray from established naming conventions for the Gulf. This most recent change conforms to the naming conventions of the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database.
The original name “Gulf of Mexico” remains on the maps without any changes for users in Mexico. International users, for all, practices and purposes, will continue to see “Gulf of Mexico,” but in parentheses will include “Gulf of America” to reflect the U.S. perspective.
Google’s methodology for determining a user’s location is a combination of mobile operating systems which include SIM card details and certain network data. For all users from the desktop version of Google Maps, the displayed name varies depending on the user’s search settings or the physical location of the device if such information is not provided explicitly.
Apple has not yet made any change to its mapping offering, which is Apple Maps. Other mapping firms such as MapQuest have not gone ahead and adopted the new name. Hence, on Waze, which is owned by Google, a user will perform a search for the name “Gulf of Mexico” and find both names, but on the other hand when one searches specifically using “Gulf of America,” the application does not respond. This scenario vividly illustrates the conflict-fraught nature of this recent naming change and its implications concerning mapping services across many platforms.