MapQuest Refuses to Rename Lake Ontario, Downloads Surge 300%

MapQuest has staged a surprise cultural comeback by publicly defying President Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario as 'Lake America,' watching its downloads spike over 300% and briefly becoming the top navigation app in the App Store. The company's general manager Doug Berger called the decision 'easy,' noting that millions of users are newly realizing they have a choice in which mapping app they use. MapQuest pulled the same move earlier in 2025 when Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America' — and is now doubling down with a crowd-pleasing strategy: letting users generate their own custom names for the lake online. At one point the company cheekily labeled it 'Lake Are We Doing This Again?'

Trump signed the Lake Ontario executive order on August 27, framing the renaming as recognition of the lake's role in American commerce, energy, and military logistics after trade negotiations with Canada collapsed and both countries imposed retaliatory tariffs. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was directed to update the federal Geographic Names Information System, and the White House argued that because the majority of the lake's volume sits in U.S. territory, the new name reflects its American significance. Trump also personally called Apple in an effort to get the company to update its maps.

Google Maps complied, displaying 'Lake America' to U.S.-based users while showing 'Lake Ontario' to Canadian users and a dual label internationally — consistent with its approach to the Gulf of Mexico renaming. MapQuest, by contrast, has made resistance a brand identity, drawing both praise and criticism.

The pushback isn't only from tech companies. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney noted that the name 'Ontario' derives from the Wendat word 'Ontari'io,' meaning roughly 'great lake' or 'shining waters,' and predates both Canada and the United States by centuries — over 400 years of recorded use. Indigenous leaders have also objected, pointing to the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's deep historical ties to the region. Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries called the renaming 'deeply unserious and ridiculous,' while Rep. Joe Courtney described it as an 'insult' to tribal nations.

MapQuest is owned by System1, a California-based ad-tech company. Its CEO Michael Blend has donated to multiple Democratic candidates — including $2,000 to Kamala Harris in July 2024, $2,800 to Joe Biden in 2020, and contributions to Senate races involving Sara Gideon, Jaime Harrison, Amy McGrath, and Beto O'Rourke. Whether Blend was involved in the Lake Ontario decision is unclear, but the move has accomplished something remarkable: resurrecting a brand widely assumed to be a relic of the dial-up era into one of the most-discussed names in tech.