When country codes go generic
The .co domain is the country code of Colombia. But a few years back Colombia sold its soul (I mean, licensed its country code). So now .co can be registered …
Cisco Systems: The Best Global Enterprise Technology Website
We studied 12 enterprise technology websites for the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card. The Web Globalization Report Card is an annual benchmark of how effectively companies internationalize and localize their websites …
Living in a post-PC world
The latest data from IDC show the sharpest decline in PC sales on record. From the release: “Although the reduction in shipments was not a surprise, the magnitude of the …
Bienvenido: Using language negotiation to support bilingual US websites
During my work for the Web Globalization Report Card I encountered a number of US-focused websites relying on language negotiation (also known as language detection) to make their Spanish-language websites …
WhatsApp adds Thai
WhatsApp is now supporting 16 languages with the addition of Thai, shown here: I noted earlier how much I admired their global gateway. Simple and effective.
Samsung: The best consumer technology website of 2013
We studied 18 consumer technology websites for the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card. The Web Globalization Report Card is an annual benchmark of how effectively companies internationalize and localize their …
Designing a multi-script typeface
An interesting article on the development of a new multi-script font. To create the font, four designers worked on a script each: Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and Arabic. The end result …
Apple’s China apology and the value of a flexible global template
Here is the image used on Apple’s China home page to announce Tim Cook’s apology letter regarding Apple repair and warranty “misunderstandings.” Here is The Wall Street Journal take on …
Free Webinar: The Leading Global Retailers (and why)
I hope you’ll join me on Wednesday for a free one-hour webinar (sponsored by Lionbridge). I will talk about my research on the retail industry, focusing on companies like Amazon, …
BMW: The best global automotive website of 2013
We included 14 automotive and supplier websites in the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card. The Web Globalization Report Card is an annual benchmark of how effectively companies internationalize and localize …
On Square and localization: Keep an eye on your local websites
I use Square. I love Square. But if I were a French-speaking Canadian I might not feel quite the same. Because if you select the French/Canada option from the Square …
Free Webinar: The Best Global Travel Websites – and Why
I hope you’ll join me in a week for a free one-hour webinar (sponsored by Lionbridge). I will talk about my research on the travel industry, focusing on how companies …
The top 25 global websites from the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card
UPDATE: The 2017 Web Globalization Report Card is now available. I’m pleased to announce the top-scoring websites from the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card. This is the ninth annual edition …
The best global travel websites
I’m pleased to announce a new (and free) report focused on the globalization of travel websites. From American Airlines to Kayak to Wyndham, this report highlights those websites that have …
Are you playing favorites with your global gateway?
This is nothing new to regular readers of this blog, but I visited another fairly major website recently that used the following global gateway: I always cringe when I see …