Five reasons to avoid using maps on your website
Robert Frost wrote that good fences make good neighbors. Yet when it comes to virtual fences, visualized as maps, I’m not sure there is any way to create “good fences.” …
Countries
Singles Day: The world’s largest shopping day
As I mentioned a few days ago, Singles Day arrived well before the official start: 11/11. But now that it has officially arrived, a thought a few screen shots would …
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 …
When localizing for South Korea…
Web localization is a never-ending journey. And because the world is constantly changing, what worked yesterday may not be as effective tomorrow. Like this visual development in South Korea: When …
The localization (or lack thereof) of global city websites
A number of cities around the world have adopted bespoke top-level domains, such as .NYC, .Tokyo and .London and .Vegas But the key to a successful global city website is …
Apple web localization in India appears to be working
I always perk up when I see data that supports web localization. According to this article, Apple launching a dedicated ecommerce website for India last year led to a significant …
Could China’s greatest threat be slackers?
Fascinating article in the New York Times about an emerging generation of Chinese who are pushing back against the 996 (9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week) work …
Russia mandates locally made apps on mobile devices
What was for many years a threat has now become a reality — a Russian law requiring mobile phone manufacturers to ship with preinstalled Russian-made apps (or allow them to …
The global evolution of Apple.com
After posting my Web Globalization Report Card video I was asked to comment on the global evolution of a few websites. So I thought I’d put together a brief presentation …
COVID flattened the language curve, and that’s actually good news
I began the Web Globalization Report Card back in 2003. It became the first report of it kind to benchmark global websites and I’ve been publishing this report annually ever …
The top 25 best global websites from the 2021 Web Globalization Report Card
I’m pleased to announce the publication of the 2021 Web Globalization Report Card. This is the 17th annual edition of the Report Card, and it reflects a challenging year. Yet there …
Websites celebrate Chinese New Year: The Year of the Ox
This has become a bit of an annual tradition for me, taking a virtual tour of a number of global brands, seeing how they celebrate Lunar New Year (牛年), particularly …
Miller Lite launches a Super Bowl ad that blends lengthy URLs with localization
Finally, a Super Bowl ad that a web localization geek can get excited about. This Sunday, Miller Lite will run an ad featuring a painfully long URL that viewers must …
The most popular posts of 2020
Just before we wave good riddance to this year I wanted to share a list of those articles that were the most visited. I started this blog back in 2002, …
Harley-Davidson: Not-so-easy riding in India
Very interesting New York Times article on Harley-Davidson’s decision to close its Indian factory and effectively cease selling motorcycles in a market where motocycles are hugely popular. But Harleys are …
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