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.
That brings the total of languages supported to 116 (I'm not sure if they've including Klingon and Swedish Chef in that number.
Google Pashto
Localizing Google's interface has to be one of the easier projects (as software localization goes). But that's exactly why Google has had such success taking its spare interface global. While Yahoo! has more or less stalled at roughly two dozen languages, Google marches on.
Want to know what languages are in the works? It's no secret; Google recruits volunteer translators and posts the status of all languages here. I find it interesting that a company that is about to raise a cool $4bn in cash is still using volunteer translators. But it sure seems to be working for them.
Earlier this month I wrote an article in Global By Design on Google's ambitious machine translation (MT) plans. While Google is still very much in pre-beta stage with its home-brewed statistical MT (SMT) software, early indications are that Google is headed in the right direction.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology just published the results of an evaluation of more than a dozen MT solutions. The tests were designed only to look at how well the software translates from Chinese and Arabic into English. In the four tests that Google participated in, it beat the competition by a wide margin. It beat out Systran, IBM, Sakhr Software, and a number of universities.
Oddly missing from this list of competitors is Language Weaver, which also makes a SMT solution. I suspect that Language Weaver would have given Google a run for its money. Also note that this test does not imply that Google is ready to launch its software to the world just yet; I hear that their technology is not yet ready to tackly high-bandwidth, multi-user situations. But the lesson here I think is clear: Google is going to be a major player in MT in the years ahead and SMT in particular is going to be a major force.
What this non-intuitive exhibit shows is that US VCs will be boosting non-US investments signficantly, most heavily within China and India, while non-US VCs will be increasing their investments in the US. So it seems the US is going to see no shortage in VC money anytime soon. But one of the keys to tapping into this money will be having a global business strategy in place. And a global Web site certainly couldn't hurt either. Web globalization is often viewed as something only large multinationals invest in; but I believe that start-ups stand to benefit the most from Web globalization.
The Canadian Web site for United Airlines (www.united.ca) is celebrating its 5-year anniversary with a special giveaway. As Web globalization goes, five years is a long time.
I'm glad to see a company promoting the success and longevity of its localized Web site and I hope to see other companies following suit. If the English-language source Web sites deserve a birthday celebration, why not include the localized sites as well?
Which reminds me: The first-year anniversary of the Spanish-language site for Southwest Airlines was on June 30th of this year.
The media fallout of the billion-dollar Yahoo! Alibaba deal is still rolling in. There's a good piece in the WSJ about how eBay is trying to avoid a repeat of Japan (the first market where Yahoo! out-eBayed eBay).
And there is a Q&A in Business Week with Yahoo! CEO Jerry Wang. Wang says, "this Alibaba arrangement is a unique model of partnership for us. We believe that to be successful in China, we absolutely have to have strong local management, and [Alibaba CEO] Jack Ma and his team are the best-of-breed Internet management team inside China."
A lot of people are wondering how a company like Yahoo! can spend a billion dollars on a company not making very much money and still not get a majority stake in the company. And then it hands over management of its own in-country operation to that very same company.
But let me refer you to the Lenovo purchase of IBM's computer unit. Lenovo pays a steep price for this money-losing brand and instead of dismissing all those execs in New York, it lets them run the show. Why? Just as Yahoo! knows that it needs the people with the most local expertise running China operations, Lenovo knows that it needs the people with the most global expertise running its global operations. Lenovo wanted a global brand and Yahoo! wanted a local brand. And both brands didn't come cheap.
Business Week features an article about the "secret" brand that is Muji. According to the article, "Muji is short for mujirushi ryohin, which translates roughly to 'no label, quality goods,' and its mission is to provide well designed, useful products at affordable prices." Muji currently has 285 stores in Japan with 61 others in the UK, France, and China. And it is contemplating setting up shop in the US. I believe it already has some products at MOMA.
Anyway, here are a few pics from my pilgrimmage to Muji back in January. These are from the main Kyoto location.
I really wanted this bike.
The cafe was reasonably priced and had lots of great take out snacks. For some reason the Muji bottled water just tasted better than other brands.
The clothes didn't fit my non-localized body. But I did buy a pair of glasses. They had these mix-and-match stations set up and I really enjoyed building my own specs.
And one more shot before I left...
What I most liked about Muji is how uncluttered the place felt. And I realize now that it was because you didn't have all these little products everywhere screaming out at you with their unique logos and color schemes and oddball shapes. At Muji, because they make and "unbrand" all their products, the color schemes, the labeling, the layouts are all very simple, consistent and serene.
They're young, they're affluent, and they want American goods.
Meet the Chuppiers: young, urban, Chinese consumers.
UPR commissioned a survey of selected Chuppies (1,140 Chinese consumers between the ages of 20 and 59 in six cities) and found opportunities for American companies abroad. Here are some highlights...
53 percent of all respondents would like to see a broader selection of U.S. products, such as shampoo, shower gel and dental care products.
53 percent of those polled want a broader selection of American electronics. The most likely purchases this year are digital cameras, laptop computers and video/digital recording devices.
52 percent said they want more American fashion, especially athletic shoes, sandals, t-shirts with American logos, sportswear and blue jeans.
And it goes without saying that a localized Web site is critical for reaching these Chuppies. Consider Dove (a Unilver product) and Olay (a P&G product)...
If Yahoo! acquires a stake in China's B-B ecommerce portal Alibaba, the stage will be set for a very heated battle between Yahoo! and eBay for China in particular and Asia as a whole. Yahoo! dominates the auction market in Japan while eBay has had great success in Korea. But China is a whole new frontier.
According to the NY Times, "Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, eBay and Amazon.com are scrambling to invest money or find strategic partners in China, where there are an estimated 100 million Internet users amid a population of 1.3 billion. By some forecasts, China will overtake America with the largest number of Web surfers as early as 2010."
One thing the article doesn't mention is the potential for cross-border trade in Asia. Winning the China market is key to becoming a de facto ecommerce standard throughout Asia. Alibaba also has a Japan site and an English-language site. It could be a very nice fit for Yahoo!, but it won't come cheap; the estimate is that Yahoo! will have to cough up $1bn for a 35% stake.
UPDATE: All news reports so far indicate that Yahoo! will indeed be going to the bank to get a piece of Alibaba -- and letting Alibaba take over Yahoo! China.
This is from the WSJ: "Alibaba, a closely held company and rival to eBay, operates Web sites to help small and midsize merchants connect with wholesalers, manufacturers and other sellers in China. Alibaba also operates TaoBao, a free Web site for individuals to trade through fixed-price or auction transactions. TaoBao holds 30% of the China online auction market, while eBay holds about 65%, according to Shanghai iResearch, an Internet market-research firm."
As the stock offering for Chinese search engine Baidu quadrupled on its first day of trading on the NASDAQ, I couldn't help but wonder what the folks at Google are thinking right about now. They sure must be sick and tired of others ripping off their austere design...
Baudu
Google China
The rumor is that Google tried to buy Baidu at one point. I wouldn't be surprised. eBay bought its way into the market, as did Amazon. One thing is for sure -- this battle between Baidu and Google China is going to be a great case study in Web globalization and localization. Look at how Baidu describes itself and its uniquely local mission...
Baidu chose a poetic Chinese name because it wants the world to remember its heritage. As a native speaker of the Chinese language and a talented engineer, Baidu focuses on what it knows best - Chinese language search. Applying avant-garde technology to the world's most ancient and complex language is as challenging as it is exciting. At least people here at Baidu think so. As having diligently disclosed in the Prospectus of our recent Initial Public Offering, we believe there are at least 38 ways of saying "I" in Chinese. It is important that we master all the ways of addressing oneself in Chinese because our users depend on us to address every one of their daily queries. And trust us, pin pointing queries in the Chinese language is an art rather than a science.
To improve user experience, we constantly make improvements to our products and services. For example, we introduced "phonetic" or "pin-yin" search which allows our users to type in Chinese keywords using English alphabets. This feature is designed to skip the switching from English inputting to Chinese inputting and for when the user is not sure of the written form of a keyword. Our users definitely notice the many little things that we do differently to ensure a simple and reliable search experience every time.
I first asked can Baidu out-Google Google? Perhaps the question really should be: Can an outsider like Google out-Baidu Baidu?
-> A strong quarter: $41.3 million. Margins are up.
-> Even though their revenues from HP are down (due largely to HP's reorg), they have done well in growing existing accounts and adding accounts. Microsoft remains their largest account -- strong quarterly revenues from Microsoft in Lionbridge history. Also doing work for Beverly, AOL, Google, Merck.
-> New project wins from GE, Motorola, and Capital One. Capitol One will be using Lionbridge to target non-English speakers within the US.
-> Testing division revenues down, although margins are up thanks to sending work to India.
-> The India offices will execute $30 million in projects this year.
-> Have regulatory approval for Bowne Global acquisition. Now working on integration.
-> Are combining redundant offices, consolidating backend systems.
-> Expect revenues of combined BGS and Lionbridge to be equal to or greater than the sum of the parts.
Globalization services vendor Welocalize has publicly announced, for the first time, its revenues. For years the company has blasted out glowing press releases about record quarters of growth with little in the way of details. I'm glad to see the company opening up. And the revenue figures are clearly something to be proud of...
For the first six months of 2005, the company says it generated $10.2 million, a 27% increase over the same period in 2004. The company also says that it is cash flow positive.
So if we assume that Welocalize finishes 2005 as strongly as it began, it will come in at around $20 million, getting it into our top 10 list of Web globalization/translation vendors. (This list is a regular feature of Global By Design.
Now I wonder if this announcement will spur competitors to follow suit. Companies like Logos, Merrill Brink, Simultrans, and others have hardly been eager to tell the world how they are doing financially. But with consolidation at the top of the market, there is lots of VC money floating around and these mid-tier vendors may soon realize that a little bit of transparency will also get them a little more publicity. We shall see...
A new study by the Roslow Research Group on behalf of Hispanic U.S.A. "challenges the assumption that the use of Spanish will decrease in coming years as succeeding generations of Hispanics are born and grow up in this country."
Key findings include:
By 2025, the number of Spanish-speaking Latinos in the United States will reach 40.2 million, up from 27.8 million today.
Fully two-thirds of Hispanics, five and older, will speak Spanish 20 years from now.
On average, 35 percent of third-generation Latinos in the United States speak Spanish.
The 18-and-older Spanish-speaking population will increase by 53 percent, to 15.2 million by 2025.
Web globalization typically refers to companies localizing their Web sites to expand their reach outside of their domestic markets. But it also may refer to companies who localize their Web sites to expand their reach within existing markets. A Spanish-language Web site for US companies is fast becoming a necessity (I'm compiling a list of companies that offers such sites here). And this survey is just another wake up call to companies who do not have yet Spanish-language business strategies.
And why stop with Spanish? Chinese for the US market is also a language we'll be seeing more of in years ahead.
Australia debuts in the number one spot, displacing Sweden. And the US falls to number 11...
Country Rankings
NBI 2005 Q2 Ratings
Australia
Canada
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Sweden
Italy
Germany
The Netherlands
France
New Zealand
United States
I was surprised to see New Zealand so far down the list; I would have ranked it right up there with Oz. Currently, 1,000 respondents from only 10 countries are surveyed. You can download the full report here.
Going forward, it looks like they'll be charging for reports. I imagine any country that wants to improve its share of international tourists will want to subscribe to this survey.
That's what Intel plans to do as it opens up design centers in India, China, Brazil, and Egypt, according to CNET News. Says the article, "the so-called definition centers will examine local conditions and economies and then try to design PCs, components and software for the people who live there."
Intel is simply following the money; more than 70% of its revenues come from outside the US. And in this brutally competitive and increasingly commoditized environment, Intel knows that localized products will give it a competitive edge.
The fact that Egypt is one of the target markets is also telling. I'm seeing early signs that multinationals are awakening to the Middle East market, both through product development and Web localization.
John Yunker is founder of 
