Public Policy Blog

Updates on technology policy issues

How Google determines the names for bodies of water in Google Earth

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Share on Google+ Share on Twitter Share on Facebook
Google
Labels: Google Tools , Public Policy Blog

36 comments :

  1. UnknownApril 17, 2008 at 6:47 PM

    It's clear that indirectly you're pointing to the persian Gulf naming dispute and your apparant predilection of rich Arabian countries bordering this body of water in google earth recent maps.
    Yes google; you are right. Currently We Iranian people are weak and isolated and have little role in world policy and the US has banned financial exchange with Iranians, So why to support them when there is such a lot of money on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf?
    The name Arabian Gulf that you've recently added to your maps is a conspiracy used by Pan-Arab racist leader Jamal Abdol Nasser in 1960s who was jealous of Iran's promotion and superlative power in the region those days.
    Now their oil wells are full and they're making a lot of money so they can so satisfy you that you completely forget about the facts and your creditability. But what about 40 years later that all those wells are emptied?
    May be you think that those days there will be pretty enough time for thinking about less important issues like humanity and honesty!

    You've broke many Iranian hearts Google Earth!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  2. Scott CatledgeApril 18, 2008 at 11:11 PM

    I abhor the policies and politics of the current Iranian regime. That being said, as a long-time teacher/professor, I have taught both geography and world history
    for a half century and consider 'Persian Gulf' to be the historical and, therefore, the sole authentic title until such time as all bordering countries agree to a name change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  3. AnonymousApril 19, 2008 at 6:00 AM

    half a million signatures against the wrongdoing of google earth:
    http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?sos02082

    How much did yo uget paid for adding false inforamtion. There is only one gulf in southern Iran and that is called the PERSIAN GULF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  4. Babak TalebiApril 26, 2008 at 4:42 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  5. Babak TalebiApril 26, 2008 at 5:13 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  6. Babak TalebiApril 26, 2008 at 5:24 PM

    Google Earth,

    A few points for your consideration:

    1) Iranians around the world have sent you petitions, letters, direct requests including an official request for a clarification of the decision from the National Iranian American Council.

    Your decision to post an indirect response on this obscure blog instead of directly engaging and explaining your decision in a professional and public manner does a disservice to your well-earned positive reputation.

    2) Your utilization of a "local use" rule, even if legitimate would require some form of data backing it up. Is the measurement related to population? what "local use" threshold are you holding yourself to? (33%? 5%? or is a handful of 'locals' enough?)

    Are you considering bordering shoreline? Is the GDP of the populated countries part of the measurement? Are you conducting polls? How often do you update your "local use" standard - or once decided, is the usage then fixed for eternity?

    What is your metric? and where is the evidence to back it up? In the case of the Persian Gulf which is the biggest issue currently being discussed regarding Google Earth (Aside from the Israeli/Palestinian town name - not a body of water, but also goes unaddressed in this blog post) - you fail to recognize that the name Persian Gulf was first coined (local use) by the Arabic tribes to describe the gulf they would have to cross to get to the "Persians".

    3) This decision also strikes me as rather weak and somewhat cowardly as it indicates a willingness by Google to accede to artificial political pressure rather then to achieve Google's mission of providing accurate information for it's consumers.

    Your flippant use of the hypothetical renaming of the Pacific Ocean by a random monarch strikes me as a perfect example of this weak argument. It is a badly disguised analogy to Gamal-Abdul Nasser's pan-Arabist political ideology that lead to the invention of the term "Arabian Gulf".

    Which brings up another question - if a tyrant forces the use of a particular term by his people (lets say under penalty of death) - would that population's usage then qualify under your 'local use' standard? Is this not then an encouragement for Tyrants to leave a lasting legacy by manipulating Google Earth's arbitrary policy?

    If Google Earth had existed just 40 years ago, maybe we would have had such lofty bodies of water as the Pol Pot River, Idi Amin Lake, and the Northern Stalin Sea. Maybe even the Red Mao Ocean (1.3 billion Chinese after all).


    In my personal estimation, based on the April 8th date of this post (months after official requests for an explanation), this explanation reflects a poorly thought-out and ill-conceived excuse after-the-fact to sweep the issue under the (Persian) rug and to provide Google executives with a face-saving PR talking-point.

    I suspect this effort will be a far-cry short of what is needed to silence your critics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  7. Babak TalebiApril 26, 2008 at 5:24 PM

    I should also add - in addition to the above points - that instead of disengaging from potential conflicts, in this particular case, Google is directly inserting itself into a conflict-ridden part of the world as an entity taking sides.

    I would recommend one of your people visit with the National Geographic, who faced with the exact same dilemma, chose to exclude the use of "Arabian Gulf" for this exact reason.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  8. InamoratoApril 26, 2008 at 5:41 PM

    Babak, can you believe we're still having this problem with people? I mean the most recent wars that THIS country has had were called the "Persian" Gulf Wars. Furthermore, I have never known any Arabs to call the Gulf anything other than Khaleej-e Fars. Who is pushing for the name Arabian Gulf? This is so odd to me! Who are the pressure groups on the OTHER side? I can't even believe we're still fighting this. It's like having to convince people to call "Persia" "Iran." This all seems very odd to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  9. AraApril 27, 2008 at 1:04 AM

    And this from a UN communiqué:

    United Nations Secretariat
    ST/CS/SER.A/29/Add.2
    94-33224 (E) 180894

    Prepared by Editorial Control
    To: Members of the staff

    Subject: Use of the term "Persian Gulf" Addendum

    Attention is once again drawn to editorial directive ST/CS/SER.A/29 and Corr.1 and Add.1 on the use of the term "Persian Gulf". The purpose of the present addendum is to urge that care be taken to ensure the appropriate use of this term in documents, publications and statements prepared by the Secretariat.

    The full term "Persian Gulf" should be used in every case instead of the shorter term "Gulf", including in repetitions of the term after its initial use in a text.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  10. aryaApril 29, 2008 at 7:58 PM

    Seriously inamorato, why are we still having this discussion? National Geographic was good enough to realize their mistake and after doing their research they made their correction.

    Google shouldn't just agree to give any local name to any body of water with an international boundary. Should Google also allow "Arvand Rood" to be an alternate name to the Shatt al-Arab waterway? No, because it is not internationally recognized and nobody outside of Iran calls it Arvand.

    People can't just decide to create an alternate name for a prominent body of water. What if Canadians decided to rename Gulf of Alaska to "Gulf of British Columbia" or something stupid like that, should everyone else be OK with the new alternate name?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  11. Jonathan KronerMay 9, 2008 at 12:19 PM

    "The map is not the territory" or is it? Fascinating debate--thank you Google. If only Korzybski, Sapir, and Whorf were around for this.
    Jonathan Kroner

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  12. kamalMay 14, 2008 at 12:46 PM

    To all my compatriots above,
    This is how it’s done first they deny our history
    Then they change facts
    After they redraw maps
    And you could imagine what comes next
    Don’t you all out there give up on Iran for a second

    Love you all and anything and everything Persian

    Long live the sons of Cyrus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  13. U.S. Citizen and Proud of itMay 15, 2008 at 12:54 PM

    You have written a multi-page policy blog to justify your ignorance and overt acquiesce to forces trying to marginalize the maps in existence for over a thousand years. All you have done is the exact opposite of what your stated objective is which is not entering political debate. Google's overall policy was supposed to be "Don't be Evil" which seems like you have lost. Go ask your founders what they meant when they were trying not be evil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  14. EimanMay 16, 2008 at 2:22 PM

    It's pretty obvious that the Arabic Gulf needs to be changed to Persian Gulf. It's unbelievable that a group of smart people like those at Google don't understand historical fact. The United Nations recognizes this body of water as Persian Gulf; no one except a few politically motivated group of people want to call it Arabic Gulf.

    Google, you're really starting to piss people off now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  15. EimanMay 16, 2008 at 2:30 PM

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Gulf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  16. UnknownMay 22, 2008 at 9:28 PM

    Okay, what can I say? This is uneducated. The explanation is not satisfactory. Surely, Google has enough resources to draw from to be able to consult subject matter experts on this. How does Google justify its disregard for various reputable publications (e.g. National Geographic, Encarta, etc) that use the name “PERSIAN GULF”?

    Surely, this is reflected badly on the Google brand and company. At the end of the day however, it is not the doing of the entire organization but a handful of people who failing to do their job properly and address this matter. I encourage the author of this blog to reconsider his reasoning here and do the right thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  17. Babak TalebiMay 23, 2008 at 12:01 PM

    The most unbelievable thing is that Google has not even deigned to respond to NIAC's request for a sit-down. not once, not twice, but THREE times we have asked for a meeting.

    When the National Geographic was convinced - it took us and our allies 8 weeks. But at least they sat down and listened to the other side.

    Maybe Google likes to be associated with the likes of Saddam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  18. leilNovember 2, 2008 at 3:56 PM

    Dear Andrew McLaughlin,
    Accrding to your comment
    "If all bordering countries agree on the name, then the common single name is displayed (e.g. "Caribbean Sea" in English, "Mar Caribe" in Spanish, etc.).", then I think all bordering countries agree on the name of Palestine instead of Israel to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
    As a researcher and scientist I had special interest and dedication to use google and google scholar, but I now I would gladly switch to any other searchable archive who stands on its standarsds

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  19. davoodDecember 12, 2008 at 11:33 AM

    would you please show the world documents from U.N. or other world authorities that allows you to change the name of the persian gulf to arabian. you are playing with history and it is not funny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  20. YoJanuary 29, 2009 at 6:06 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  21. UnknownFebruary 6, 2009 at 9:56 AM

    hey who says we have ARABIAN GULF in world ?!! from thousands years it is PERSIAN GULF ! you use fictitious name in ur google products ! its very very wrong! ITS PERSIAN GULF FOR EVER! u cant change this name! google is falling between Iranian for these BIG LIE!!! im sorry for google and everyone says ARABIAN GULF!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  22. AnonymousMarch 19, 2009 at 9:56 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  23. davoodMarch 23, 2009 at 11:51 AM

    google has lost it's confidence in truth with the world by calling persian gulf which has been known to everyone since 500 B.C. by calling it arabian gulf. the world knows better to believe this foolish and absurd dsplay by google. why don't google show the world when this decision was made?
    as the source of money for google runs out (look what is going on in dubai now, the joke is over and people are fleeing there by thousands) maybe google will come to their senses and correct the mistake.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  24. AnonymousApril 1, 2009 at 11:02 PM

    Google is a racist company! It does not care about the Iranian people and international laws. Google has made it a policy to insult a whole nation by taking bribes. Everybody knows that this policy is politically-motivated and constitutes identity theft.

    As long as Google keeps abusing the name Persian Gulf, there is no reason to not boycott Google Earth. Even if someone gives me a copy of the latest enterprise version of Google Earth for free, I will not accept it! I have already advised many of my relatives and friends to not use Google Earth and encourage everyone out there to never download or buy Google Earth.

    As an Iranian, it hurts my heart that Google Earth is fabricating the history behind a name that is attached to the Persian heritage. Despite all the legal and historical documents about this waterway, you have deliberately chosen to ignore such realities and attack our history in the harshest way.

    You are only damaging your reputation and credibility. You have already lost many of your Iranian customers and will continue losing customers if you keep abusing this name. The only way you may have a chance to win back your once loyal customers is to unconditionally revise your policy and learn to be more honest to your customers.

    Stop distorting facts! Stop violating international laws! Stop insulting a whole nation! Stop taking bribes! Stop spreading nonsense! Stop ignoring all the letters that we have sent you, let alone all the petitions and demonstrations! We will never stop fighting for the truth. If you want to stay in business, you simply have to change your policy and use the one-and-only legitimate name, Persian Gulf.

    Don't expect to be in business by playing dirty games with us. We will not allow a bunch of crooks like you to insult our history and demonize us! Don't even think that your racist propaganda will be forgotten or accepted by us.

    We will never let you mess with our history, no matter how much you try. Once this economic meltdown gets worse, you will understand how it feels. Just don't expect that we will let a bunch of criminals to rewrite our history. That's just not going to happen! You better understand this and understand it very well!

    -------------------------------

    http://www.petitiononline.com/sos02082/petition.html

    http://www.arabian-gulf.info/

    http://pg.m2ix.com/

    -------------------------------

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  25. davoodApril 18, 2009 at 4:31 PM

    i have a suggestion for google earth people. why don't you google arabian gulf and see what you get?
    (it would say arabian gulf does not exist) and also read what you see when you wikipedia persian gulf. it is funny how ignorant you people can be?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  26. mimMay 3, 2009 at 7:41 AM

    Unfortunately, this will be a dark point on the history of this great company "forever"! coz history can't be erased or changed while it's being documented everywhere!

    I abhor current Iranian policy and politics (+religions) also as much as I do for these kind of acts; they are both stupid!

    plz correct your mistake Google and use the correct name till all boundary countries agree for a unique name! you've no right to invent a name dude! ;))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  27. UnknownMay 6, 2009 at 5:23 PM

    um, what is all the fuss about? the note on the name clearly states that "arabian gulf|" is a minority name!

    and it seems to me that only a rather narrow sector of people are incensed about this!

    just an observation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  28. aryaMay 6, 2009 at 6:36 PM

    re: Jason


    Nowhere in Google Earth does it say it is a "minority name"! I believe you are mistaken.

    It doesn't seem like a big deal to you because it doesn't affect you either way. How would you feel for example if Canada renamed Atlantic Ocean to 'Canadian Ocean'? Would you dismiss valid criticism by saying "what is all the fuss about"?

    There is absolutely no historical basis for the term arabian gulf. It was made up less than a century ago because certain Arabs like Gamal Abdel Nasser wanted to increase the influence of Arabs around the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  29. HalehJanuary 26, 2010 at 5:23 PM

    To Google Map
    Yes, I will also remove the app 'google map' from our pc and won't buy any world atlas if they contain the new name 'Arabian Gulf'. I'd rather use other maps, those free of Hypocrisy.
    Also from now on will search on MSN instead of Google .
    Deciding to choose that name without a poll indicates a grave disrespect from your side towards the Iranian people many of whom still prefer to be called Persians.

    A very offended/hurt Persian, H

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  30. elee of BHJune 9, 2010 at 2:05 AM

    Hey, if you hate Google soooo much now, why you are almost the only one here? You are just creating more enemies for your self by the day. Just stop it and try to live in peace for once because if it wasn't the name of the Arabian Gulf then you will definitely be fighting about something else. Admit it opposing and making life difficult is in your blood. "God bless the ARABIAN gulf and its people".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  31. UnknownNovember 28, 2010 at 11:05 PM

    I was one of the Google lover but I don't like Google any more because it follows political purposes, and it used incorrect name(Arabian gulf)beside of Persian gulf.
    This lost credibility of Google Earth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  32. UnknownJanuary 12, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    It is wrong for Google map to take political side against any countries. There are no legal disputes for the body of water called the Persian Gulf. If so, please provide any proof or documents so the viewers would know why the Persian Gulf is the only Gulf or place that has no name! This is disgusting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  33. DanMFebruary 23, 2011 at 7:29 PM

    Any policy that prevents "Persian Gulf" from appearing in Google Maps/Earth is the wrong policy. I brought up Google Maps to verify the location of the Persian Gulf, but I couldn't find it. Think about that. No Persian Gulf. Whether or not there is a dispute over the use of the name "Persian Gulf", the term is still very much in common use throughout the world. If you are concerned about putting disputed names on Google Maps/Earth, indicate on the map that the name is disputed, but don't take it off the map. Withholding information, controversial or not, makes for a bad user experience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  34. UnknownMarch 18, 2011 at 7:44 PM

    It seems that you have no knowledge of what Persian Gulf is called.
    National Geographic Society uses the name Persian Gulf to refer to this body of water. United nations calls it Persian Gulf. All non political organizations use the term Persian Gulf.
    The only people who use the incorrect term are unfortunately illiterate Arabs living off oil or people buying that oil. Anyone with a school diploma knows that.
    I am interested that Google maps claims it does not know it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  35. Mohsen JamaliApril 1, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    It's completely political that Google say such a lie.it's disgusting to say such a lie and then try to prove it by some law.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
  36. UnknownApril 26, 2011 at 5:45 PM

    This is very insulting to Iranians, just because certain individuals in certain countries challenged the historical and legal name, "Persian Gulf" it has lead to its complete removal from Google Maps regardless of feelings of a whole nation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
      Reply
Add comment
Load more...

The comments on this blog belong only to the person who posted them. We do, however, reserve the right to remove off-topic or inappropriate comments.

  

Labels


  • Accessibility 5
  • Ad 2
  • Advertising 11
  • AdWords 2
  • Anti-defamation league 1
  • Book Search 16
  • Broadband 11
  • Business Issues 26
  • Buzz 1
  • buzzemail 1
  • Canada 1
  • Child Safety 18
  • Chrome 1
  • Cloud Computing 2
  • Competition 19
  • Congress 10
  • Constitute 1
  • copyright 7
  • Cuba 1
  • Cybersecurity 9
  • D.C. Talks 16
  • Digital Due Process 1
  • Digital Playbook 1
  • Economic Impact 5
  • Economy 13
  • ECPA 4
  • Elections 24
  • email 1
  • Energy Efficiency 29
  • Europe 2
  • FCC 7
  • fellowship 2
  • Fighting Human Trafficking 1
  • Free Expression 54
  • Geo 1
  • Gmail 1
  • GNI 2
  • Good to Know 5
  • Google Fellow 2
  • Google for Entrepreneurs 1
  • Google Ideas 2
  • Google Maps 1
  • Google Policy Fellowship 1
  • Google Tools 78
  • Government Transparency 33
  • Hate Speech 1
  • Health 5
  • How Google Fights Piracy 1
  • Human trafficking 1
  • Identity theft 1
  • Immigration 1
  • Intellectual Property 19
  • International 46
  • Journalists 1
  • Malware 1
  • Maps 1
  • National Consumer Protection Week 1
  • Net Neutrality 24
  • Patents 5
  • piracy. ad networks 2
  • Politicians at Google 11
  • Politics 23
  • Privacy 93
  • Public Policy 1
  • Public Policy Blog 806
  • Safe Browsing 3
  • scams 1
  • search 3
  • Security 17
  • Small Businesses 3
  • spectrum 4
  • State Issues 5
  • Surveillance 6
  • Technology for Good 1
  • Telecom 71
  • Trade 3
  • Transparency Report 4
  • White Spaces 23
  • WiFi Network 1
  • Workforce 5
  • Yahoo-Google Deal 5
  • YouTube 4
  • YouTube for Government 1


Archive


  •     2016
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
  •     2015
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2014
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2013
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2012
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2011
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2010
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2009
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2008
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr
    • Mar
    • Feb
    • Jan
  •     2007
    • Dec
    • Nov
    • Oct
    • Sep
    • Aug
    • Jul
    • Jun
    • May
    • Apr

Feed

Give us feedback in our Product Forums.

Company-wide

  • Official Google Blog
  • Europe Blog
  • Student Blog

Products

  • Android Blog
  • Chrome Blog
  • Lat Long Blog

Developers

  • Developers Blog
  • Ads Developer Blog
  • Android Developers Blog
  • Google
  • Privacy
  • Terms