MapQuest refuses to rename Lake Ontario as App Store downloads surge

No.1 navigation app in the US

Refusing change can pay off. MapQuest, one of the earliest internet mapping services, has declined to follow the White House’s unilateral renamings of Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico — rebadged “Lake America” and “Gulf of America” — and downloads have surged as a result. 

The app is the No. 1 Navigation app in the US Apple App Store and the No. 2 overall free app in Canada, with usage running roughly 50 times its normal rate since Thursday.

“We took the same approach we did with the Gulf of Mexico: be part of the conversation, and give people an app that keeps the names they’re familiar with,” said Doug Berger, General Manager of MapQuest. “Hundreds of thousands of people signaled to us this weekend that we got it right, by downloading our app.”

The company has leaned into the debate — notably on X — as rivals react to the US President’s demands. 

Google Maps now relies on a user’s IP address to show the new names only to people in the United States. Bing Maps still displays “Lake Ontario” but opts for “Gulf of America” when viewed from the US, while Waze has refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico and, for now, is ignoring requests relating to Lake Ontario.

MapQuest also appears to be benefiting from familiarity built up over three decades, since the service launched online in 1996.