20 years of web globalization
A brief introduction to the 2024 Web Globalization Report Card…
Category Amazon
The 2024 Web Globalization Report Card is coming soon…
For those of you keeping count this is number 20. Yes, as in 20 years. I’ll have much more to share about that later this year. But for now let’s focus on the next report. I’m in the middle of…
This year, Singles Day is looking like just another day
It’s not secret that China is going through an economic rough patch. So it’s probably not surprise that might brief tour of Singles Day website promotions came up lighter than usual. Compared with 2021, this year’s Singles Day is, well,…
Global websites and Ecuador, a brief tour
I was in Ecuador recently and carved a bit of time to visit a few global websites — as in the .com address of global brands — to see just how successfully (or not) these brands localize for Ecuadorians. No…
The best 25 global websites from the 2023 Web Globalization Report Card
I’m pleased to announce the publication of the 2023 Web Globalization Report Card. This is the 19th annual edition of the Report Card, yes, 19th. And while there are a number of very familiar faces in this list, there are some…
Australia, Figma and why you should translate your online course
I’ve been meaning to share each of these links for some time now but life has gotten in the way. Better late than never! Australia makes .AU more user friendlyIf you want to visit the home page of say, Amazon…
Neural machine translation is unlocking website content and connecting the world
The fact that neural machine translation has the word “machine” in it should tell you that this technology has been evolving for a very long time, to back when computers were known as machines and were the size of Sprinter…
The top 25 global websites from the 2022 Web Globalization Report Card
I’m pleased to announce the publication of the 2022 Web Globalization Report Card. This is the 18th annual edition of the Report Card, and it reflects another difficult year. And yet there is much to be optimistic about as we look…
2022 Web Globalization Report Card is showing an increase in languages
As we dive into another uncertain year, I find it comforting to be working on the 2022 edition of the Web Globalization Report Card. It gives me a chance to step outside of my world and look across the entire World Wide…
The Year of the Tiger: Websites celebrate Lunar New Year
If you were to visit the US home page of BMW you’d see the obligatory photograph of the latest models: But if you were to visit the China home page of BMW, you’d encounter this fella: That’s right, even high-end…
Bookshop.org: The anti-Amazon is going global
As an author and small publisher, I’m excited to see the rapid growth — and globalization — of the online bookstore Bookshop.org. Bookshop.org positions itself as the anti-Amazon, by working with independent bookstores to share revenues more generously. There referral…
Black Friday: The global retail holiday
Black Friday originated as a sales event specific to the US, the day following Thanksgiving. It has long been the busiest shopping day of the year, though it now extends to several days, or even weeks. And leave it to…
.CA: Add more Canadians to your shopping cart
I suppose it was just a matter of time before the advertising algorithms figured I’d be in the market for a country code top-level domain (ccTLD), perhaps .CA. And so I happened upon this ad the other day: Choose.ca links…
Singles Day: The world’s largest shopping day
As I mentioned a few days ago, Singles Day arrived well before the official start: 11 But now that it has officially arrived, a thought a few screen shots would be in order. First off, Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com reports…
Singles day is coming! On many websites it’s already here
As I write this on November 5th, Singles Day (November 11th “11.11”) is nearly a week away. Singles Day is the world’s biggest shopping day, a virtual event that originated in China, popularized by Alibaba, and, thanks in large part…