Google agrees to stop hyphenating a tiny town’s name

By Lauren Beavis

Google has agreed to remove hyphens from a town's name — after a 130-year campaign.

People living in Bradford on Avon say dashes first appeared in 1899 — when Great Western Railway (GWR) added them to its railway sign.

Locals say the "rogue" hyphens then started being used in the town and by mapmakers — passing into common usage.

Resident have bemoaned their use ever since and have spent 130 years asking for it not to be known as "Bradford-on-Avon."

The town council and local businesses recently launched a campaign to reclaim the town's original name — without hyphens.

Dubbed the "great dash debate" they called on Wikipedia, GWR, the Canal Trust, National Highways, English Heritage and Encyclopedia Britannica to support them.

And now Google has agreed to remove its hyphens.

Councilor Sam Blackwell, mayor of the town, told the BBC: "The great dash debate has been rolling on for decades, but as a town council we are clear that our town's name is perfect without punctuation."

Tom Vaughton, CEO at SEO experts Varn, started the campaign after spotting that there were 5,800 incorrect references appearing online — including on major platforms such as Google Maps.

He explained how the problem has also made its way into artificial intelligence.

Tom told the BBC: "Fake news and bad data spreads fast, especially with AI.

"As a search marketing agency with an office in Bradford on Avon, we couldn't just sit back and watch rogue hyphens take over the internet, or our town.

"We're on a mission to clean up and set the Bradford on Avon hyphen record straight, once and for all.

"Together, we can track down the remaining rogue hyphens and help make sure Bradford on Avon is written correctly everywhere; both online and off."

Before 1899, Bradford on Avon was written without hyphens.

More from this section

Monkeys hunt animals like lizards and snakes when fruit scarce

Major U.S. agencies targeted by Chinese hackers

Does vaping help smokers quit more than gums and patches?

It was only when GWR added the dashes to the station title — because it didn't want the town to be confused with other similarly named areas — that the dashes became more popular.

A GWR spokesperson said its hyphens will be kept in place at the station as "any change" would need to go through a "raft of industry-wide systems".

They told the BBC while the rail company "applauded" the campaign, "this is one line in the sand we won't be crossing any time soon".

The BBC reported that when it contacted Google with details of the hyphen campaign, the company promised to take action within 48 hours.

A Google spokesperson said they had a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.

They said: "We have reviewed the request and will remove the hyphens in Bradford on Avon."

Other companies that have updated or are updating their content to spell Bradford on Avon without hyphens include: Tripadvisor, Visit Bath, Discover Frome and Silver Travel Advisor.

Several news outlets, including the BBC, also have included hyphens in Bradford on Avon in the past and the name change has been actively discussed by Wikipedia for many years.

The entry was moved to the unhyphenated version in 2005 — before being swapped back to Bradford-on-Avon after a community discussion in 2018.

Even the official OS map of the area includes the hyphens.

A Wikipedia spokesperson told BBC Wiltshire: "That history is actually a useful illustration of how Wikipedia works: disagreements about facts, terminology or naming are discussed openly by people, with the reasoning and evidence visible for anyone to scrutinize.

"Where new or stronger evidence emerges, Wikipedia also has established processes through which editors can revisit previous decisions."

Tom said his team is currently working on updating the online mentions that use the dashes by asking people to get in touch if they spot a sign, noticeboard or other public display that calls the town "Bradford-on-Avon" with a photo and location.

He warned that if incorrect versions of the town's name are repeated often enough, they risk becoming further embedded in search results, databases and AI-generated content.

Tom told the BBC: "The horizontal hate crimes have persisted for far too long. Now, Varn is taking a stand.

"We're grateful for the support of Bradford on Avon Town Council and GWR to sort the physical signs.

"AI loves an em-dash, and it also loves adding erroneous hyphens to our town's name.

"We can't let the robots win this one, so we're doing what we can to change the data that they use."