multilingualism & localization in search

Monday 10 April 2023

Hannes [email protected]

Multilingualism & Localization in SearchGoing Global

⁄ Introduction

⁄ Languages Online

⁄ Core Languages

⁄ Language Challenges in Search

⁄ Europe

⁄ Middle East

⁄ Multilingualism in Asia

⁄ Impact of Website Localization

⁄ Summary

Going Global

Agenda

Introduction

4Going Global

Our Multilingual World

عالم

värld

monde

verden

svijet

munduעולם

maailm

svět

мир

világ

pasaulis

wêreld

せかい

mondo

welt

wereld

მსოფლიო

святpasaule

世界

dünya

κόσμος

world

mundo

ప్ర�ప్ర�చ

세계உலகம்

दुनि�या�

دنیاવિ�શ્વ

bumi

daigdig

বি�শ্ব

dunia

thế giới

ពិ�ភពិលោ�កdonya

Over 6000 languagesRoughly 10% by more than 100,000 speakers

Distinct differences in writing systems

5

Is the number of native speakers the most important factor?

1st Language English

2nd Language English

1st Language Mandarin Chinese

1st Language Spanish

1st Language Hindi

Going Global

Major Languages Online

390 Million Native Speakers = 5.5%

500 Million Native Speakers = 7.2%

Around 1 Billion Native Speakers = 14.3%

Around 530 Million Native Speakers = 7.5%

Over 400 Million Native Speakers = 5.7%

English 55.5%

Russian 6.2%

German 5.8%

Japanese 4.8%

Spanish, Castilian 4.4%

French 3.9%

Simplified Chinese 3.8%

Portuguese 2.3%

Polish 1.8%

Italian 1.7%

Turkish 1.3%

Dutch, Flemish 1.3%

Used in more than 1% of all websites

Internet Users

Other19%

English28%

Chinese

24%

Spanish

8%

Japanese 5%

Portuguese 4%

Arabic 4%

French 3%

Russian 3%

Korean 2%

6Going Global in 2014: Multilingual Search & Localization

Core Languages for International Brands

The Americas EMEA APAC

English

French

Spanish

Brazilian Portuguese

English

German

French

Spanish

Italian

Dutch

Swedish

Danish

Norwegian

Finnish

Russian

Arabic

Hebrew

Simplified Chinese

Traditional Chinese (Hong

Kong)

Korean

Japanese

⁄Nordic languages not to be disregarded

⁄Korean & Traditional Chinese key languages in search

⁄Hebrew: much smaller % than Arabic, but strong traffic and conversion rate

⁄Emerging languages: Polish, Turkish, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Malay

Language Challenges in Search

8

Switzerland

Italian

German

French

Central Europe Officially multilingual countries

Going Global in 2014: Multilingual Search & Localization

European Language Challenges in Search

Belgium

1. German

2. French

3. English

4. Italian

1. French

2. Flemish

3. English

4. German

Num

ber

of

speake

rsIm

port

ance

in

searc

h

Flemish

French

German

9

Arabic & Hebrew

Linguistic Ambiguity


Middle Eastern Language Challenges

Transliteration Differences

English Arabic Hebrew

ASOS اسوس אסוס

ASUS اسوس אסוס

English Official Egyptian Gulf

Gucci غوتشي جوتشي قوتشي

10

Three month Case Study


Arabic vs. English in the Gulf

English Arabic

Impressions

CTR

CR

English 89%

Arabic 11%

11

Major markets with little English

1. Mandarin Chinese (simplified)

2. Korean

3. Japanese


Key Languages in Asia

Major markets with strong English

1. Singapore

2. Hong Kong

3. Malaysia

Average % split between English and local language in SG, HK & MY

Singapore Hong Kong Malaysia

100

80

60

40

20

0

Local language

English

12

Which Chinese should I use?


Tackling Multilingualism in Hong Kong

EnglishTraditional Chinese (HK)

Traditional Chinese (TW)

Simplified Chinese

Hotel 酒店飯店酒店

Handbag 手袋包包手提包

Software 軟件軟體软件

MandarinSimplified Chinese

CantoneseTraditional Chinese

Taiwanese

⁄ Important to respect differences in culture and identify

⁄ Characters, syntax and ideomatic expressions can differ significantly

13Going Global

Hong Kong – English vs Traditional Chinese (HK)

English vs. Traditional Chinese (HK)

Google Yahoo

Pure Brand - EN

Brand+Generic - Bilingual

Brand+Generic - EN

Pure Brand - CN

Brand+Gener

ic-Google

Brand+Gener

ic-Yahoo

Bilingual KW/CN Ad

Bilingual KW/EN Ad

Impressions

CTR

Impact of Website Localisation

15

Localized brand PPC to English site


Website Localization: Cast Study 1

Denmark Sweden Portugal Poland Arabic (MENA)

CTRCR

16

Before and after site localization


Website Localization: Case Study 2

Sweden – Strong English Market Portugal – Weak English Market

May

‘12

Jul ‘1

2

Sep

‘12

Nov

‘12

Jan ‘

13

Mar

‘13

May

‘13

Jul ‘1

3

Sep

‘13

Jan ‘

13

Feb ‘

13

Mar

‘13

Apr

‘13

May

‘12

Jun ‘

13

Jul ‘1

3

Aug

‘13

Sep

‘13

Oct

‘1

3

CVR CVR

website launched

website launched

In Summary

⁄ Testing before full site localization

⁄ Consistency in search and site content

⁄ Set the right strategy for each language

⁄ Use the correct method of content generation

⁄ Ensure the use of high quality search content services

Thank You.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact us.

Contact

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