Coming in February: The 2020 Web Globalization Report Card
For those of you keeping track, this is the 16th edition of this report. Thanks to everyone who has supported it all these years! More soon…
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 …
OK? Or not OK?
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the OK hand gesture is now a hate symbol. For those of us in the globalization field, we’ve learned to avoid this gesture in …
For Flipkart (Walmart) and India: English is not enough
Earlier this month, I wrote about Amazon and India. Now let’s look at Walmart and India, via Flipkart, the leading online marketplace in India. Walmart acquired 77 percent of the …
Say goodbye to Google Translator Toolkit
Not a huge surprise given the lack of investment over the years and the rise of more full-featured competitors, but Google is shutting down its Translator Toolkit: Google Translator Toolkit …
Amazon and India: Actions and Languages
In technology, as in life, actions speak louder than words. And if you look at the actions Amazon has been taking over the past 18 months, it’s clear that Amazon …
Duolingo adds Arabic (and its flag strategy begins to fall apart)
Duolingo is an impressive language-learning app. I can’t say I’ve become fluent on any of the languages offered but I certainly enjoy sampling them. And now you can sample Arabic. …
The tragic irony of Amazon vs. Amazon
Imagine if a Brazilian technology company created an online store called Appalachia. And, over the years, Appalachia.com grew to become a global giant, so much so that the company pursued …
New report illustrates how country codes enable diversity in languages on the internet
Thanks to a heads-up from Ali at CircleID, I discovered a new report by Oxford Information Labs (sponsored by the Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries. The Council of …
Selected slides from Mary Meeker’s 2019 Internet trends report
I always enjoy skimming through Mary Meeker’s annual survey of global Internet trends (now via Bond Capital). What follows are a few slides that jumped out at me. Let’s begin …
Tesla’s global website shifts into reverse
Tesla was benchmarked in the 2019 Web Globalization Report Card. Of the 16 companies studied, Tesla finished in the lower half (higher scoring than Honda and Subaru, but still with …
WordPress Translation Day recap
Looks like the most recent WordPress Translation Day was a linguistic success. Here are the details from WP Tavern: Events in 35 countries (see map below) 183 new contributors 12 …
Deloitte: The best professional services website of 2019
For the 2019 Web Globalization Report Card, we studied the following professional services websites: Accenture Capgemini Deloitte Ernst & Young Goldman Sachs KPMG PwC For the first year since we …