MapQuest tops app charts after refusing to rename Lake Ontario

MapQuest surged to the top of app charts in the United States and Canada after the mapping service refused to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, following an executive order from President Donald Trump. The decision to keep the historical name sparked a wave of downloads, with the company reporting usage at roughly 50 times its normal rate and hundreds of thousands of new users installing the app since late August. The controversy began on August 27, when President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to refer to the Great Lake as Lake America. The move was described as a response to trade tensions with Canada, which had escalated after the breakdown of tariff negotiations. In compliance with the order, the U.S. Geological Survey updated its official Geographic Names Information System. Google Maps subsequently changed the name to Lake America for users in the United States, while Apple Maps followed suit days later after being contacted directly by the administration. MapQuest, however, publicly announced it would not alter the name on its platform.