NewsMacroFlorida Doctor's Office Review-Bombed After Trump Renames Lake Ontario 'Lake America'

Florida Doctor's Office Review-Bombed After Trump Renames Lake Ontario 'Lake America'

Author: Rawstory·

Key Takeaways

  • •Trump renamed Lake Ontario as Lake America as part of an escalation in his trade dispute with Canada.
  • •Lake America Family Physicians in Clermont, Florida, was unexpectedly affected because its name matches the new lake name.
  • •The clinic’s Google listing was quickly flooded with fake reviews after the announcement.
  • •Google’s policies prohibit reviews that are not based on real customer experiences and say such posts are removed.
Florida Doctor's Office Review-Bombed After Trump Renames Lake Ontario 'Lake America'

President Donald Trump's order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America has claimed a surprise casualty: an unassuming doctor's office in Florida that happens to share the new name is being review-bombed.

Trump issued the directive as part of an escalation of his trade war, which has sharply raised taxes on a wide variety of Canadian imports. Some of the loudest opposition has come from the province of Ontario, which borders many northeastern states. Its conservative premier, Doug Ford, has threatened to take things further and possibly cut off international power transmission; Ontario is a net exporter of electricity to neighboring US states, which is what gives that threat practical weight. The lake renaming itself follows earlier map changes of Trump's tenure, including the redesignation of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on US federal maps and in major commercial mapping services.

One unexpected consequence has been sudden attention on a business that bears the name Trump just gave to one of the Great Lakes: Lake America Family Physicians, a doctor's office in Clermont, Florida. As of press time, a search for "Lake America" in either Google Maps or Apple Maps takes users to this quiet medical practice northwest of Orlando, which features a single doctor and two nurse practitioners.

Mere hours after Trump's announcement went live, internet pranksters descended on the practice to leave fake reviews on its Google listing. Review-bombing — waves of inauthentic reviews — is more often aimed at video games and movies, but small businesses periodically get caught in the same dynamic when their name collides with a trending news cycle. Google's published policies prohibit reviews that do not reflect a genuine experience, and the company says it removes posts that violate those rules.

"Yo, is this Lake America? Trump sent me," wrote Sam Smith.

"Shout out to Lake America Family Physicians for finally defeating Lake Ontario Family Physicians," wrote Sylver Johnson.

Many of the pranksters seemed to recognize that posting genuinely negative reviews that could damage the business over something it had nothing to do with would not be fair. Under Google's rules, though, even complimentary posts count as inauthentic engagement when they do not describe an actual visit, five stars or not.

"Gotta change the name to Lake Ontario family physicians, but I'll still give it 5 stars," wrote Hayden DeBonis.

"I was searching for Lake America 'Lake Ontario,' but it turned out to be a business in Florida," wrote Ben Adamo. "It looks like a great spot, clean and friendly staff. So here's a complimentary 5-star review."