Topline
Google has tweaked some of its flagship products in an apparent response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders and the political environment, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” for U.S. users and no longer marking the start of cultural observances including Pride Month and Black History Month on Google Calendar.
Google Maps now lists “Gulf of America” for U.S. users.(Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)
Key Facts
Google began displaying the “Gulf of America” name for U.S. users Monday after the U.S. Board on Geographic Names formally updated the nomenclature, following Trump’s day-one executive order directing the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed.
Outside of the United States, users will see “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America),” while Mexican users will see “Gulf of Mexico.”
Google said after Trump’s executive order it would follow its “longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” noting it uses the official local name for users when territories are disputed.
A Google spokesperson told CNBC Monday its Google Calendar product no longer automatically marks the start of cultural observances including Pride Month and Black History Month because “maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable.”
Google told CNBC it began making these calendar changes in mid-2024 and now only displays holidays marked by timeanddate.com, a Norwegian website that lets users compare time zones and keep calendars.
Google also said it would revert Alaska’s Mount Denali to Mount McKinley once the name change is reflected in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, but the database still refers to the mountain as Denali as of Tuesday morning.
Forbes has reached out to Google for comment.
Did Google Roll Back Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Goals?
Yes, the company told employees last week it would no longer use diversity targets in hiring, and that it would evaluate its other DEI programs and whether it would continue releasing annual diversity reports. The company said it is “evaluating changes to our programs required to comply” with Trump’s executive orders on diversity. It said it would continue to operate resource groups for underrepresented employees. Google joined a growing list of companies that have walked back diversity goals in recent months, particularly since Trump’s election victory and anti-DEI executive orders, which also includes Amazon, Meta, Walmart, Target and McDonald’s.
Chief Critics
Some Google users have slammed the company through posts on its online help community forums, where Google users help one another with technical issues. One poster called it “disgraceful” for the company to remove cultural observances from Google Calendar, to which 258 users noted they “have the same question.”
Tangent
Google Maps displays disputed territories differently depending on where a user is accessing the Maps feature from, which has sometimes drawn controversy. In the Kashmir region, disputed between India and Pakistan, the territory appears fully under Indian control for Indian users, but elsewhere, the territorial dispute is acknowledged by a dotted line. Most Google Maps users see the “Sea of Japan,” but for South Korean users, the body of water is listed as the “East Sea.” A dotted line indicating the disputed Western Sahara territory, which Morocco claims, does not appear for Moroccan users.
Further Reading
Google Maps Will Show ‘Gulf Of America’ And ‘Mt. McKinley’ To US Users (Forbes)