Category Archives: Web Globalization

GlobalSight Adds Content Management Partner

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GlobalSight, a developer of globalization management software, announced today that it “has entered into agreement with enterprise content management software provider, Mediasurface, for integrating end-to-end Web content creation into GlobalSight’s Ambassador product. The new functionality will be sold as an add-on module to Ambassador.”

Who stands to gain the most from this deal? I’d say that would be GlobalSight. Mediasurface has 300 clients while GlobalSight is hovering at around 30.

This is the second OEM deal that GlobalSight has announced this year and these deals certainly don’t hurt. But I have only seen one new client announcement this year and I’m starting to wonder how long this company can hang in there. Granted, many new clients these days prohibit any splashy announcements, so the company could be selling software left and right. But based on a survey I recently conducted, times are still a bit slow for globalization software management companies.

A Closer Look at Google’s Global Trajectory

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Google says that half of its Internet traffic emanates from outside the US. While this is significant, what really matters to Google is where the revenues emanate from.

Now that Google is on the verge of going public, it has finally coughed up some numbers. In 2003, roughly 25% of Google’s revenues came from outside the US, shown here:

google_revenues_net.jpg

Judging by 2004 numbers thus far, I would predict that international revenues will surpass US revenues by Q1 of 2006. This trend becomes more apparent when you view geographic revenues as percentages of the whole, shown below:

google_revenues_geo.jpg

It’s not hard to see the international column surpassing the US column fairly quickly. As I’ve written before, Google is probably the most global commercial Web site ever created; it offers more than 90 localized Web sites. Every one of these sites is a potential source of advertising revenue. So it is not a question of if international revenues will surpass US revenues, but when.

Amazon’s Global Growth Spurt

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Amazon recently released Q2 numbers, and, as we predicted, international sales are now solidly driving Amazon’s growth. Take a look at the sales breakdown between North America and International:

amazon_financial.jpg

If the trend holds, by the end of this year international sales will surpass North American sales. And when you focus on just the core media business, international could outperfom North America in Q3.

Now, how will this trend affect Amazon and its competitors? Here are a few thoughts…

1. For the folks in charge of Web globalization, this is great news. I’m quite confident that Amazon has at least two new localized Web sites in the works and would not be surprised to see half a dozen new sites launched over the next two years. What countries will be next? I would look for China, India, Russia and Spain.

2. Amazon will launch a more effective “global gateway” on its .com Web site. I have long felt that Amazon needed better global navigation on its .com Web site because studies consistently show that international Web users often first visit the .com Web site of a company (assuming that there is no localized Web site or that there is a link to this Web site). I realize that Amazon advertises locally and hosts the sites using country-specific domain names, but more can always be done here. Ultimately, all first-time visitors to Amazon.com will be asked to select a country/language preference.

3. Tensions will rise between Seattle employees and international employees. I’ve witnessed this at other companies, and it can be difficult to avoid. The folks that work at headquarters get comfortable viewing the in-country offices as “satellite” offices. But these satellites are collectively going to be more important to Amazon’s future than HQ. Will this lead to a loss of jobs in Seattle? Will people in the country offices get a boost up the corporate ladder? These are questions that everyone will be asking as Amazon transitions from a US company serving the globe to a global company serving the globe.

Web Globalization Back on the “Front Burner”

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Two months ago I began interviewing executives at a number of large multinationals about their global Web sites. As you know, I’ve been following this industry for many years now, and it has certainly seen its ups and downs along the way.

But I can say now that Web globalization is definitely back on the “front burner,” to quote one of the people I spoke with. Granted, most executives still believe that their global Web sites are underfunded and overlook a number of key markets (and I certainly agree). But they also believe that the momentum within their companies is shifting in their favor.

This is good news for globalization software and services vendors and ultimately good news for the companies themselves. Web globalization is inevitable for most companies, so it stands to reason that those companies who embrace it sooner rather than later will gain a competitive advantage.

The results of my interviews, as well as case studies of companies like IBM, Ikea, Wal-Mart and Starbucks, can be found in our latest report: Web Globalization and the World’s Largest Companies.

A free report excerpt is available upon request.