Google Maps Doesn’t Like Israel?
Little Green Footballs, a major political blog, points out that Google Maps seems to consider Israel of less importance than the Gaza Strip.
Google Maps now has the outlines, although not the maps, of every country on Earth. As you zoom in, the map software takes advantage of the zoom to increase detail. This means that smaller countries, like Louxemburg (Luxembourg?) don’t register until you zoom in enough, and the names of those countries may not appear until a little after. All of this is normal mapping behavior.
What is odd is that when you zoom in on the Middle East, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, two areas that (too put it lightly) are of enormous dispute within Israel, register with Google Maps before Israel itself. You have to go two more zoom levels to see that Israel is indeed the name of the country, and it is printed in a much smaller font that seems to indicate it is Israel that is a territory within others, and not the other way around.
This is despite the fact that both areas are smaller than the rest of Israel, and despite the fact that both areas, despite what future you believe they ought to have, are a part of Israel. This would be tantamount to listing Ohio before the United States. As LGF says:
What does it mean? Maybe nothing. It could just be an artifact of the software that generates the maps. But it’s curious that there’s room for two regions that are not even countries, both of whom have names longer than “Israel.”
Either way, whether intentional or not, it can be considered a bug in the software, one Google should probably correct.
(via Findory)
If you write Luxembourg; it’s supposed to sound French. Luxemburg is how we write/pronounce it in Belgium or the Netherlands. But since a lot of people speak German or French there… the ‘ou’ is used more commonly.
Comment by Coolz0r | June 20, 2005
The Netherlands & Belgium have a similar problem!
see this at:
http://gumuz.looze.net/wordpress/index.php/archives/2005/06/20/google-maps-location-of-the-netherlands-is-disputed/
Comment by gumuz | June 20, 2005
Coolz0r: I’m from Luxembourg and you’re absolutely right
Comment by Daldianus | June 20, 2005
Its a conspiracy!!!!
The must be anti-Semites or something.
Comment by pablo | June 20, 2005
pablo, you’re probably joking, but I’d still like to point out that Sergey Brin is Jewish.
Comment by Francis Ocoma | June 20, 2005
Sergey is Jewish? Seriously? How did I not know that?
Comment by Nathan Weinberg | June 20, 2005
This is not true. Israel appears two zoom levels before the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
What I do fault Google for is not having any map detail for most Middle Eastern countries. I do think it’s somewhat absurd to have street level maps of Tripoli, Libya and not a street map of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Amman, or Beirut.
This map data would be quite useful. I’m sure there is plenty of data for Israel and Palestine to create the maps, but perhaps because of political implications, Google doesn’t want to become entrenched in IL/Palestine disputes, so it skips over the area altogether.
Comment by R Martin | July 20, 2007
Update. I noticed today (oct 17th 2007) that now Israel and the Palestinian territories are blank (no roads, no cities). Other countries in this area are fine. Why?
Comment by Manny | October 17, 2007
I just saw this when looking for hotels in Israel. Not one street in Israel. Not even Jerusalem or Tel Aviv listed, while all other countries seem to have at least the capital named, at least when zoomed in close enough. Clearly not strange and clearly deliberate. The reason is why? Is there concern over the conflict in the area - to name Jerusalem and not Gaza?? Seems a bit ridiculous as all sides agree Jerusalem does in fact exist. I think Google is to blame. I don’t particularly care about who Google is run by…the NY Times has a history of anti-Israel sentiment and this is at times written by Jewish writers. Jews have frequently been their own worst enemies - so it doesn’t matter.
Fill in the streets at least Google and stick to your guns - either make maps or don’t.
Comment by Tman | December 6, 2007
It seems Google is in talks with IDF over security issues. Maybe the roads and cities are removed to provide more security from terrorists planning attacks with the help of Google Maps? Dunno. But take a look at this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/25/google.israel
Comment by Ben | December 7, 2007
I don’t think the blank map is evidence of any prejudice, though I do find it odd. Of course, roadmaps of Israel are widely available—who does google think they’re fooling?
I think the reason for the blanks is the hot political debate surrounds the actual locations of the borders; google wants to remain impartial and stay out of it. But like I said, who do they think they’re fooling.
Also, anyone who jumped to a conclusion about this just didn’t do a full comparison. North and South Korea are both blank as well. I’d like to point out that before you assert that you’ve identified something, you should check around–objectively and thoughtfully–to be sure you’re right.
Comment by Erik | February 2, 2008
Just to assimialte the correct posts above. Sergey Brin, no. 32 on Forbes billionaires is Jewish, as his name would suggest. Brin, being the co-founder of Google, naturally has Israeli interests close at heart; all apologies due to the paranoid & conspiracy lovers above. The fact of the matter is that the Aman has urged Brin not provide this data as it compromises security. Unfortunately the good people of Israel and beyond who wish to take a closer look at their country will have to do without full access to what is a fantastic tool.
Comment by Joe | April 10, 2008
*assimilate (4:30am here!)
Comment by Joe | April 10, 2008
Just in case you did not realize, no many people like Israel
Comment by Paco | May 6, 2008