About this Author
John Yunker is founder of Byte Level Research and author of the widely acclaimed book, Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies and editor of Global By Design. He has covered the emerging field of Web globalization for half a decade and has published a wide range of reports dedicated to best practices in Web localization and internationalization.
About this blog
Going Global focuses on the risks and rewards of expanding into new geographic and cultural markets, from Web globalization to international marketing to global usability.
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Monthly Archives
August 30, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
This InfoWorld article cites a recent Gartner report that predicts that India will lose market share "from its current 80 percent to about 55 percent by 2007."
Who's going to be nipping at India's heels? Countries to watch include Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and China.
Here's what I found most fascinating about the article. Apparently Indian outsourcing firms are now outsourcing their outsourced work to other markets. Here's the quote (FYI: BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing, the business buzzword de jour):
The growth of the BPO business in other offshore locations is also likely to be fueled by Indian companies setting up operations in other countries. The BPO initiative in Sri Lanka, for example, is led by two Indian companies setting up operations there
Globalization truly is a double-edged sword.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Business Globalization
August 27, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
As you know, I'm an active proponent of the "global gateway." The global gateway refers to the many visual and technical elements that collectively direct Web users to their country- and/or language-specific Web pages.
Whenever I run across a good, bad or just plain weird global gateway, I make sure to take a screen grab. Here are three gateways worth mentioning:
First is the Japanese home page of the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority (don't ask how I ended up here). This is a great Web page for English speakers who don't speak a word of Japanese. Why? Because the page features an "English" link in what I refer to as the "sweet spot" of global navigation.
This Web page illustrates just how important a highly visible link -- in the user's native language -- is to effective navigation. Had this link been buried at the bottom of the page, I'm not sure I would have found it so quickly, or at all.
Next, we have a not-so-good example of a global gateway. This link, on the Uniden home page, has an informal "Hey you!" feel to it. Worse, the link is provided only in English, which is a slight to French-Canadian speakers.
Finally, we have the gateway from the Exel Web site. It is an animated map that changes appearance based on cursor movement. Fun to look at, but a static map would have been more usable. And Exel could have skipped the text altogether. The global gateway needs to be usable to the widest number of people, which necessitates a more visual and less textual solution.
Know of any gateways that you think are good, bad or just plain weird? Please send us an email at info@bytelevel.com.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Business Globalization | Translation | Web Globalization
August 20, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
CNET News features an entertaining article on some of the creative ways that Microsoft has offended people around the world through cultural and linguistic blunders. These anecdotes come from a recent presentation by a Microsoft executive, who is probably now being reprimanded.
Here are two blunders from the article that are bound to be endlessly repeated by localization vendors and consultants (such as me) for years to come:
- Microsoft has also managed to upset women and entire countries. A Spanish-language version of Windows XP, destined for Latin American markets, asked users to select their gender between "not specified," "male" or "bitch," because of an unfortunate error in translation.
- When coloring in 800,000 pixels on a map of India, Microsoft colored eight of them a different shade of green to represent the disputed Kashmiri territory. The difference in greens meant Kashmir was shown as non-Indian, and the product was promptly banned in India. Microsoft was left to recall all 200,000 copies of the offending Windows 95 operating system software to try and heal the diplomatic wounds. "It cost millions," [Microsoft's Tom] Edwards said.
In Microsoft's defense, mistakes like these are endemic to most companies. Expanding into new markets always looks a great deal easier than it is.
If there is one lesson to be taken from Microsoft, it is that poorly managed localization is almost always more expensive in the end than no localization at all.
PS: Here's another Microsoft anecdote from the Taipei Times:
One mistake that caused catastrophic offence was a game called Kakuto Chojin, a hand-to-hand fighting game. The fighting went on with rhythmic chanting in the background which in reviewing the game Edwards noticed appeared to be Arabic.
"I checked with an Arabic speaker in the company who was also a Muslim about what the chant meant and it was from the Koran. He went ballistic. It was an incredible insult to Islam," Edwards said.
He asked for the game to be withdrawn but it was issued against his advice in the US in the belief that it would not be noticed.
Three months later, the Saudi Arabian government made a formal protest. Microsoft withdrew the game worldwide.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Business Globalization | Cultural Issues | Software Localization | Translation
August 19, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
According to Bloomberg, Amazon is about to acquire China's largest online bookseller, Joyo.
Amazon is paying $75 million for the company. This is not the first time Amazon has bought its way into a new market; Amazon made similar acquisitions in the UK and Germany.
Amazon could have built a Chinese site from scratch, just as it did with its Japan site, but I understand that the project took them well over a year to pull off, and was a brutal learning process. And timing is critical given the rapid expansion of China's economy. This acquisition makes good sense.
I'll leave you with a few juicy quotes from the article:
- There were 87 million Internet users in China in June, 28 percent more than a year earlier, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, a government-sponsored information center.
- EBay, the largest Internet auctioneer, has invested more than $180 million in China, purchasing Eachnet, an auction site, as well as opening its first research and development center outside of the U.S.
- Internet retailers will sell $8.59 billion worth of merchandise in China this year, according to International Data Corp. That's less than one-tenth of sales in the U.S., the world's largest market.
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August 17, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) covers the recent launch of PayPal's French Web site.
Two things I found interesting:
1. PayPal is wisely following in eBay's footsteps. As eBay expands its global precense, PayPal follows closely behind to offer payment services. So now that eBay is planning a Chinese Web site, it's safe to say the PayPal China site is not far behind.
2. Like many other Internet companies, PayPal expects international revenues to outpace US revenues. The only question is the timing. Here's a quote:
"E-commerce is much more hindered in Europe, therefore a good payment tool like PayPal has huge potential, not only for eBay but for e-commerce in total," said Mr. Entenmann (managing director for PayPal International). He added that PayPal's international business should exceed its U.S. business in the long run, though he declined to specify a time.
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August 15, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
Since relocating to San Diego, I've been a regular at Lowe's. During my last visit I was asked to particpate in an online study.
I went home, plugged in the URL and here's what I found:
A bilingual marketing research study. I'm glad to see it. Coincidentally, I pitted the Spanish Web sites of Lowe's and Home Depot against one another in our recent report, Web Globalization and the World's Largest Companies.
The Lowe's Web site did quite well, but there is plenty of room for improvement. This market research study is a sign, to me at least, that Lowe's is just getting started with its online Spanish marketing efforts.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Business Globalization | Translation | US Hispanic Market | Web Globalization
August 9, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
CNET features an in-depth Knowledge@Wharton article on the adventures of American-based Internet companies as they expand globally.
Here's an excerpt...
As growth in the United States inevitably slows, companies like eBay, Yahoo and Amazon increasingly have to expand internationally to support their stock valuations. Each company, however, will face unique hurdles. For eBay, it may be local laws restricting ties to banks and other financial institutions. Yahoo may have to restrict certain types of advertising deemed unacceptable to a local government. Amazon needs local ties to suppliers and facilities with customized systems.
"We have relatively little experience in purchasing, marketing, and distributing products or services for these market segments and may not benefit from any first-to-market advantages," says Amazon in its filings. "It is costly to establish international facilities and operations, promote our brand internationally and develop localized Web sites, stores and other systems." Nevertheless, Amazon adds that it will continue to expand abroad over time. It will have to because the opportunity may be too much to ignore.
The lesson of the story: global expansion may be inevitable but global success is not.
Here are a few of the many dangers that face Internet companies expanding abroad:
• Cultural differences
• Longer payment cycles
• Laws favoring local competitors
• Credit risk and higher levels of payment fraud
• Legal and regulatory restrictions
• Currency exchange rate fluctuations
• Higher costs
• Diverting management attention
You can read the article here.
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August 6, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
The statistics are compelling. According to the US Census Bureau, there are
nearly 40 million native Spanish speakers in the US. By 2010, this number will easily surpass 50 million.
So it's no surprise that American-based companies and organizations are
responding to this trend with Spanish-language Web sites. I've commented on
a number of these Web sites over the years, and I'm now collecting these Web
sites in one place.
So here it is: www.bytelevel.com/global/es
The collection is small at the moment, but with your help I expect it to
grow. Please take a look and let me know if there are any Web sites worth
adding. I want this directory to be an ongoing resource for documenting who's
offering Spanish content, as well as how successfully they're doing so.
Email me at jyunker@bytelevel.com.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Business Globalization | US Hispanic Market | Web Globalization
August 4, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
The title of this latest Idiom press release makes it sound as if Idiom just won the Oracle account. However, if you read past the first paragraph you'll find that Oracle is not a new account. The deal appears to be an expansion of an existing software deployment. Make no mistake, this is very good news for Idiom. Still, I wish the PR folks would turn it down a notch.
Here is the press release:
Oracle Chooses WorldServer to Help Reduce the Time, Cost and Complexity of Translation and Localization
Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Globalization Management Systems
(GMS) leader, Idiom(R) Technologies, Inc., today announced that Oracle(R), the
world's largest enterprise software company, has selected Idiom
WorldServer(TM) as an integral component of its "Translation Factory", the
translation infrastructure used by Oracle to simultaneously ship products, Web
content, collateral and documentation in 32 languages across all geographies.
Oracle first purchased WorldServer in 2002 to support a strategic
initiative to better deliver its online content globally. The success of the
Oracle.com globalization effort suggested that similar benefits might be
achieved if WorldServer was used for other types of content that required
globalization. After an evaluation of competing GMS offerings, WorldServer
was again selected for a multi-month pilot project that focused on delivering
globalized product help, documentation and training material. This extensive
pilot confirmed that the same WorldServer benefits could apply to all of
Oracle's translation and localization efforts, based on its ability to address
the following needs:
- Accelerate Time-to-Market: The pilot showed that WorldServer could be
seamlessly integrated with Oracle's internally developed globalization
tools, thereby delivering the process automation needed to achieve
"SimShip".
- Improve Translation Quality: Oracle also found that it was able to more
consistently reuse commonly translated terms, phrases and sentences and
that they were able to share these translation assets across more
content types. As a result, they were able to eliminate translation
inconsistencies that often result from working with multiple third
party vendors from project to project.
- Simplified Vendor Management: The pilot also showed that with
WorldServer, Oracle would be able to simplify the management of its
vendor base for many content types thus reducing the workload on its
internal staff.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Business Globalization | Globalization Vendors | Software Localization | Translation | Web Globalization
August 3, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
GlobalSight, a developer of globalization management software, announced today that it "has entered into agreement with enterprise content management software provider, Mediasurface, for integrating end-to-end Web content creation into GlobalSight's Ambassador product. The new functionality will be sold as an add-on module to Ambassador."
Who stands to gain the most from this deal? I'd say that would be GlobalSight. Mediasurface has 300 clients while GlobalSight is hovering at around 30.
This is the second OEM deal that GlobalSight has announced this year and these deals certainly don't hurt. But I have only seen one new client announcement this year and I'm starting to wonder how long this company can hang in there. Granted, many new clients these days prohibit any splashy announcements, so the company could be selling software left and right. But based on a survey I recently conducted, times are still a bit slow for globalization software management companies.
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Business Globalization | Globalization Vendors | Web Globalization
August 1, 2004
Posted by John Yunker
Google says that half of its Internet traffic emanates from outside the US. While this is significant, what really matters to Google is where the revenues emanate from.
Now that Google is on the verge of going public, it has finally coughed up some numbers. In 2003, roughly 25% of Google's revenues came from outside the US, shown here:
Judging by 2004 numbers thus far, I would predict that international revenues will surpass US revenues by Q1 of 2006. This trend becomes more apparent when you view geographic revenues as percentages of the whole, shown below:
It's not hard to see the international column surpassing the US column fairly quickly. As I've written before, Google is probably the most global commercial Web site ever created; it offers more than 90 localized Web sites. Every one of these sites is a potential source of advertising revenue. So it is not a question of if international revenues will surpass US revenues, but when.
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