For global brands, Russian is no longer a “top 10” language
Russian was once considered a “top 10” language — one that any company serious about global growth would support. But Putin’s horrific actions have put an end to that. Over …
Russia
Russia & Ukraine: A tale of two languages – one rising and one falling
For companies with global aspirations, Russian has long been considered a “must support” language. These days, that is no longer the case. But even before Putin decided to invade Ukraine, …
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 …
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.” …
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 …
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 …
The best 25 global websites of 2020
In keeping with past years, I’m pleased to announce the top 25 websites from the 2020 Web Globalization Report Card. When compared with last year’s top 25 list, there are …
The top 10 global websites from the 2020 Web Globalization Report Card
I began the Report Card back in 2003 because, at the time, there was nothing out there that focused specifically on the globalization and localization of websites. And, to be …
Google’s global trends 2019
For anyone interested in a truly global (and local) view of the world’s Internet users, I recommend spending a few minutes here. At a global level, it’s revealing to see …
Airbnb doubles (yes, doubles) its linguistic reach
As I’ve documented in many editions of the Web Globalization Report Card, companies tend to add languages in fits and starts. The overall average is about one additional language per …
1,000 languages: The world’s most multilingual website
The Jehovah’s Witnesses announced today that its website reached 1,000 languages, an impressive achievement. The release notes: On November 4, 2019, jw.org, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses, reached an unprecedented …
The best global websites from the 2019 Web Globalization Report Card
A little more than 15 years ago, I began benchmarking websites for a new report I had in mind, tentatively titled the Web Globalization Report Card. The number one website in …
To create a world-ready mobile app, think small, as in “lite”
If you don’t know what your mobile app weighs (in kilobytes), then it’s safe to say your emerging market strategy could use some tweaking. That’s not to be harsh, but …
A unique look at the emerging multilingual Internet
I’m happy to announce that I’ve updated my map of the world’s internationalized domain names for 2018: The map includes all ICANN-approved country code IDNs for the world — more …