Global by Design

Adventures in Web Globalization

Global by Design header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Languages'

Google perpetuates the American .com myth

July 4th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Google features a 4th of July logo at Google.com today.
This is not all that unusual; Google has been doing this for several years now. But there is an inherent flaw in hosting an American visual at Google.com: The .com address is not synonymous with USA.
I know, it’s a picky thing. And yet it’s not such [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Global navigation · Languages · Translation · Web Globalization · ecommerce

Two thoughts on Euro 2008 and Web globalization

June 29th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Congratulations to Spain for emerging on top of Euro 2008. I can’t say that I was pulling for any one team, but I would have loved to have seen Germany score a last-second goal to keep the tournament alive.
Being the globalization geek that I am, I couldn’t help but check out the home page of [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: China · Google · Languages · Translation · Web Globalization

Google Translate is growing up

May 16th, 2008 · 3 Comments

What began as just another “gisting” application — like Babel Fish — is gradually becoming an impressive translation tool. And I’m not referring to the quality of translation, though that is improving as well.
I’m referring to the breadth of languages and breadth of features that Google Translate supports.
Today, Google announced that Google Translate added support [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Google · Languages · Machine Translation · Translation

Google vs. Baidu: A User Experience Analysis

May 2nd, 2008 · 9 Comments

There are tons of articles about Google vs. Baidu, but few of these articles take an in-depth look at how Google compares to Baidu from a Chinese user’s perspective.
In this article, I do just that, and I render a verdict as to which Web site is better.
Search
The best way to compare search engine quality [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: China · Culture · Google · Guest Articles · Languages · Multilingual search · Software Localization · Web Globalization

Facebook and MySpace going multilingual: But XING is well ahead

March 3rd, 2008 · 1 Comment

Techcrunch reports that Facebook is a day away from launching a German-language interface, translated in part by 2,000 volunteers. Spanish was launched a few weeks ago. And French is also nearly here.
MySpace is also busy building localized Web sites.
I reviewed both Facebook and MySpace for the 2008 Web Globalization Report Card, as part of the [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Languages · Translation · Vendors · Web Globalization

Globalization behind the firewall: A work in progress

February 3rd, 2008 · No Comments

Guest Article:
By Jane McConnell
NetStrategy/JMC

Based on the 2007 Global Intranet Strategies Survey by NetStrategy/JMC
The second annual Global Intranet Strategies Survey conducted from June through August 2007 revealed some starting facts about the true state of globalization behind the firewall.
78 organizations around the world participated, representing 45% headquartered in Europe, 43% in North America, 10% in [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Guest Articles · Languages · Translation · Web Globalization