Adventures in web globalization, since 2002
Very interesting article by John Herrman in the New York Times about the rise of Chinese sellers on Amazon and their very interesting choices of brand names. From the article… Almost half of top Amazon sellers — those selling more …
Google announced the addition of five languages today: Kinyarwanda Odia (Oriya) Tatar Turkmen Uyghur (Sadly, many of the speakers of Uyghur won’t have access to this tool) Notes Google: These languages, spoken by more than 75 million people worldwide, are …
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 honest, most websites were not all that “global” yet; 10 …
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 year. But some companies expand their global reach in sprints. …
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 translation milestone—it now includes articles, videos, and audio content available …
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. Unfortunately, Duolingo continues to use flags for navigational purposes. Here …
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 European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR) gave Oxford Information Labs …
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 with global Internet users. While Europe, North America and South …
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 new global translation editors (GTEs) WordPress supports more than 200 …
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 began the Report Card (in 2003), every company reviewed in …
Last year, I wrote an essay for Multilingual in which I noted that the world’s most multilingual website isn’t Google or Facebook or even Wikipedia. It is the website of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. As I noted in the essay: The JW.org website supports more than 675 written …
I’m pleased to have an essay in the latest Tekom World Book: Speaking in Tongues: What Languages Should Your Website Support? Link
For the 2019 Web Globalization Report Card, we studied the following 16 automotive websites: Audi BMW Chevrolet Ford Honda Hyundai Land Rover Lexus Mercedes Mini Nissan Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Cars This year, Volvo unseated BMW to emerge number …
According to the 2019 Web Globalization Report Card, 32 languages is the “average” number of languages supported by the leading global brands.
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 the first Report Card was a startup company by the …