Search Marketing en Espanol [Archive] - Search Engine Watch Forums

Nacho

06-22-2004, 04:17 PM

The online Spanish speaking community across the entire world (according to 2004 figures from Synovate & this ClickZ article (http://www.clickz.com/stats/big_picture/geographics/article.php/5911_151151)):

http://www.ihispanic.com/images/world-spanish-population.gif

All of these Spanish speaking markets are very important to all of us marketers, because of the existing market value of reaching these consumers and what they will be worth in the future.

Since there is so much variety, as a consultant and search engine marketer I have chosen to focus on the largest online market in terms of buying power. COMscore MediaMetrix reported that Internet purchasing behavior among the U.S. Hispanics is reflected in the increase in online spending which grew from $4.3 billion in 2002 to $5.6 billion in 2003. Therefore it is clear that purchasing online is a reality here in the U.S. by these Spanish speakers.

If you are interested in learning in more depth detail about the Hispanic Market, I welcome you to read my white paper “Search Engine Marketing to the U.S. Hispanic Market (http://www.ihispanic.com/iHispanic%20Marketing%20Group%20-%20Search%20Engine%20Marketing%20to%20the%20U.S.%2 0Hispanic%20Market.pdf)”. This report covers more statistics on the Hispanic market, buying power, segmentation, internet statistics and facts, a case study and recommended search engine marketing strategies you can use to effectively get your hands on this online community.

It used to be a relatively easy task translating paid ads into Spanish and/or optimizing web pages for top ranking among the most popular search engines, but now this has turned out to be a complicated process requiring research, analysis and skill that needs to be very personalized for wining a market share in the U.S. Online Hispanic market through search engine strategies.

Carlos Chacón

06-23-2004, 12:17 PM

Spanish market is one of the most competitive right now, inside and outside of the US. In my country, the "Internet Cafes" are every 3 blocks, people are looking for products, services and even buying online, and also the speed Internet connections probably comes next year. The government made a new law that excludes taxes if you bring something outside the country -as Internet- for $500 or less, helping those people to be part of the online market.
I have been working with companies who decide build their WebPages in two languages (English & Español); because they know the real Spanish market potential in America.
Spanish market is here and now is the time to be part of it. D o not you think?
;)

josethegeek

07-02-2004, 05:37 PM

But once you get this new customer how are you going to get their money? One of the biggest problems that I have run into is the currency exchange. Add to the shipping cost that and it just chaos.

Can anyone point me to successful online American based companies(Ecommerce, Portals, Search Engines) that are successful at getting Latinos in the US. The only one I can think of is Univision.com. I want to see if companies out there at succeeded at making money off Latinos in the U.S.

Thanks,
Jose

Nacho

07-02-2004, 11:55 PM

Can anyone point me to successful online American based companies(Ecommerce, Portals, Search Engines) that are successful at getting Latinos in the US.
I'm not sure at what extent you would call "successful"?

These are listed among the top visited sites among U.S. Hispanics in 2003 and are all "American based companies":

Ecommerce: Amazon.com, eBay and Quixtar
Portals: Yahoo!, MSN and YupiMSN.com, AOL, Terra.com (U.S.), Univison.com
Search Engines: Yahoo!, AOL (Google), MSN, Google

Other smaller (more down to earth companies) and based in the U.S.:

Ecommerce: MexGrocer.com, Viajeros.com, Tienda.com, SpanishToys.com, TodoFut.com, and many more.
Portals: HispanicBusiness.com, HispanicOnline.com, Monografias.com, Starmedia.com, Ya.com
Search Engines: None

Believe me and believe the numbers. As I said above:
COMscore MediaMetrix reported that Internet purchasing behavior among the U.S. Hispanics is reflected in the increase in online spending which grew from $4.3 billion in 2002 to $5.6 billion in 2003.
Latin America does have a much smaller spending habit today, but growing very rapidly. Like my good friend Lucas Morea (CEO of Monografias.com) says, "Getting into this market now is like going back in time (like Back to the Future), where you can predict what will happen next because these markets follow the U.S. very closely. It just takes time." These are wise words from a "successful" entrepreneur that has made a lot of money from doing business where almost no one really cares to look today.

Andy AtkinsKruger

07-05-2004, 07:30 AM

There's now a lot of talk in forums and at SES about targeting hispanics and about other languages. Besides welcoming that as an excellent development - I would just like to ask people to consider the language issue with a little more depth.

German is a 90 million person nation in Europe - without including Austria, Switzerland and other German speaking countries. It's an economic powerhouse and what's more is very actively using the web. Pay per click on Google there is very active and often pricey. Qualigo and Mirago are worth considering there.

France and the French are waking up the web very rapidly and it's an interesting time to be in that market with exponential growth - and in some sectors not so much competition around.

I believe, following some research into Arabic markets - that these often interesting prospects for businesses that are geared up to using their web sites to trade there.

And that's not to mention Japan and China - Japan is economically vast - and China is just vaaaast.

So hispanics yes. But the horizons go well beyond that....

Andy

josethegeek

07-07-2004, 01:00 AM

I'm not sure at what extent you would call "successful"?

These are listed among the top visited sites among U.S. Hispanics in 2003 and are all "American based companies":

Ecommerce: Amazon.com, eBay and Quixtar
Portals: Yahoo!, MSN and YupiMSN.com, AOL, Terra.com (U.S.), Univison.com
Search Engines: Yahoo!, AOL (Google), MSN, Google

Other smaller (more down to earth companies) and based in the U.S.:

Ecommerce: MexGrocer.com, Viajeros.com, Tienda.com, SpanishToys.com, TodoFut.com, and many more.
Portals: HispanicBusiness.com, HispanicOnline.com, Monografias.com, Starmedia.com, Ya.com
Search Engines: None

Believe me and believe the numbers. As I said above:

Latin America does have a much smaller spending habit today, but growing very rapidly. Like my good friend Lucas Morea (CEO of Monografias.com) says, "Getting into this market now is like going back in time (like Back to the Future), where you can predict what will happen next because these markets follow the U.S. very closely. It just takes time." These are wise words from a "successful" entrepreneur that has made a lot of money from doing business where almost no one really cares to look today.

Nacho,
Thank You for your reply. I was actually looking more into successful sites that offered services(dating, car shopping, homes, etc) online. I wanted to see how viable a business would be if I was selling services and not an actual product that you can hold. I've been looking at the Latino market, and have worked on sites that catered to latinos, and see it as a big opportunity. I just see alot of road blocks, as far as different cultures, currency, and even the language is a little different in certain parts of Latin America.

Thanks,
Jose

Nacho

07-07-2004, 02:00 AM

I was actually looking more into successful sites that offered services(dating, car shopping, homes, etc) online.
OK Jose, let's look at these categories for the U.S. Hispanic Market and see if anyone is really being successful here.

Dating

MejorAmor.com (http://www.mejoramor.com)
MuchosBesos.com (http://www.muchosbesos.com)
Univision.com (http://especiales.univision.com/amoryamigos/)

Autos

Univision.com (http://www.univision.com/content/channel.jhtml?chid=4781&schid=0)
Autobytel.com (http://espanol.autobytel.com)

In this category, it is really disappointing to see the results. The opportunity is bigger than HUGE! Try these:

Google: autos familiares (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=autos+familiares), autos de lujo (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=autos+de+lujo), autos deportivos (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=autos+deportivos), camionetas (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=camionetas) (PPC is a little bit better here), camiones pickup (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=camiones+pickup), camionetas pickup (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=camionetas+pickup) (autobytel does a good job here).
Yahoo: autos familiares (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=autos+familiares&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&cop=mss&tab=), autos de lujo (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=autos+de+lujo&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), autos deportivos (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=autos+deportivos&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), camionetas (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=camionetas&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), camiones pickup (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=camiones+pickup&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), camionetas pickup (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=camionetas+pickup&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt).

For both engines, the non-paid results are just pathetic, and the paid results (PPC) is a total shame even when there are cases where the ad is Spanish, but the landing page is English. Isn't this supposed to be one of the most lucrative commercial categories? Yikes, I'm really thinking about putting my own Autos-en-Espanol.com here.

Homes

I think I'm going to break out crying here :( !!!
((((screaming to an empty canyon: where are the successfull businesses?????)))) Echo answers: (((there is none))) (((none))) (((none)))

I should buy Apartamentos-en-Espanol.com for this one I guess??? Specially when I search for "apartamentos en Los Angeles" in Yahoo (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=apartamentos+en+los+angeles&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt). At least Superpages.com in Spanish does a good job on Google (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=apartamentos+en+los+angeles), but in reality results are no different.

So, I ask you, if no one is doing it does this mean that YOU should NOT go forward? or does this mean YOU could be TAKING ALL THE PROFITS of these markets?

Patrick Berry

07-08-2004, 05:58 AM

Yesterday I read all the posts in this thread, then just closed the browser. I was a little upset. Yet I did not know why.

So this morning I come back and re-read the posts, and the original article. And still I remain a little upset. But I think I realise why. Let me explain myself.

My initial reaction was one of wow I did not realise that SEO gurus were so US centric. Worst still, US ingles centric. Now I realise that my upset was caused by something else. Put simply, I was and remain rather jealous. Why? Well, simply put, I would love to only have to SEO for a single language. Oh what joy, to be able to worry about a single language. To forget about content duplication, worry about only a handful of leading SE´s, and not some of the appalling local market SE´s here in Europe.

Nacho

07-08-2004, 12:35 PM

Hello Patrick, welcome to SearchEngineWatch Forums!

I hope we get a lot more members like you to share your experiences about Search Marketing en Espanol. We need a lot of marketers/webmasters/business owners to cover the 61 million users. As I explained in my original post, I want focus on the market I know best: US Hispanic.

Now I realise that my upset was caused by something else. Put simply, I was and remain rather jealous.
We are very lucky to be in the position we are, but we also have a lot of work since the engines are still not doing much about it yet. Things will change, for marketers like you and us, search marketing has a long way to go. In the "Threats and Opportunities of Search Engine Marketing (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/forum/showthread.php?t=506)" thread, we're discussing just that. Feel welcome to drop by and give us your thoughts.

josethegeek

07-08-2004, 05:57 PM

Nacho,
Thanks for your help.

orion

10-13-2004, 12:40 PM

Hi, Latinos.

Here is something I want to share.

I normally follow the W3C instructions for making sites written in a given language appealing to search engines and as follows.

First, if coding in XHTML for a Spanish site, I use the following code

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="es">
<head>
<title>......</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<meta name="keywords" xml:lang="es" content="..." />
<meta name="description" content="..." />
'
'
'

1. Note the use of xml:lang="es" in the tags
2. Second, we try to avoid punctuations when writing important portions of text (e.g., titles) unless the client insists in punctuation (we try first to educate them). This, however is done without compromising copy style.

I use to unicode entitities for Spanish punctuation/international characters but not all search engines index them. Indeed, some poorly written SE just index the entities. So I try to avoid special punctuations in important passages of the documents.

For an explanation of the use of xml:lang="es" and search engines, visit the W3C site.

For a sample, enter "comejen", "servicios de comejen", (without quotes) in Google. The client is the comejen.com site.

Orion

Nacho

10-13-2004, 12:56 PM

I agree! However, there is only one minor thing. If you are tailoring to the U.S. Hispanic and bilingual pages are created, then adding the W3C tags might confuse the engine.

orion

10-13-2004, 01:05 PM

Not necessarily. It all depends the client desires.

The client is not interested in the Hispanic or bilingual market in USA, only in the local Spanish market in Puerto Rico.

As for confusing search engines with the W3C recommendations I must disagree. Check above keywords and derivative in most top search engines. The client has been holding those ranks for many years without any problem. I have similar examples with other clients.

Orion

orion

10-13-2004, 03:02 PM

Hi, Nacho

I hope this info from the W3C help in some way. It applies to XHTML and HTML.

1. Why use the language attribute? (www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-lang-why)

"Search engines can group or filter results based on the user's linguistic preferences. It is also common to use meta tags to specify keywords that a search engine may use to improve the quality of search results. When several meta elements provide language-dependent information about a document, search engines may filter on the meta elements, using associated language attributes, and display search results according to the language preferences of the user."

2. Specifying the language of content: the lang attribute (http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-html40-970708/struct/dirlang.html#h-7.2.1)

3. http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/global.html#h-7.4.4 (Meta and search engines)

The W3C states,

"A common use for META is to specify keywords that a search engine may use to improve the quality of search results. When several META elements provide language-dependent information about a document, search engines may filter on the lang attribute..."

4. Check also, http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-html40-970708/html40.txt.

In a nutshell, the lang attribute improves accessibility, parsing and search quality by instructing the search engine to filter results. If a client is only interested in, let say, targeting a regional version of a search engine or directory; e.g., an index version in France, Puerto Rico, Mexico, etc, in my view, this should help.

True that there other reasons why my clients rank high, even in global indices (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc).

From my experience I can tell that

1. poorly written search engines seem to have hard time with the lang attribute, international puntuation, and unicode entitites.
2. in some search engines, punctuation (e.g, accents, etc) can affect the relevance of a given term when the engine defaults to English.
3. the use of the lang attribute not necessarily help with global indices since it works almost like a language filter.

Orion

AussieWebmaster

10-20-2004, 11:58 AM

OK Jose, let's look at these categories for the U.S. Hispanic Market and see if anyone is really being successful here.

Dating

MejorAmor.com (http://www.mejoramor.com)
MuchosBesos.com (http://www.muchosbesos.com)
Univision.com (http://especiales.univision.com/amoryamigos/)
Autos

Univision.com (http://www.univision.com/content/channel.jhtml?chid=4781&schid=0)
Autobytel.com (http://espanol.autobytel.com)
In this category, it is really disappointing to see the results. The opportunity is bigger than HUGE! Try these:

Google: autos familiares (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=autos+familiares), autos de lujo (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=autos+de+lujo), autos deportivos (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=autos+deportivos), camionetas (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=camionetas) (PPC is a little bit better here), camiones pickup (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=camiones+pickup), camionetas pickup (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=camionetas+pickup) (autobytel does a good job here).
Yahoo: autos familiares (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=autos+familiares&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&cop=mss&tab=), autos de lujo (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=autos+de+lujo&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), autos deportivos (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=autos+deportivos&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), camionetas (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=camionetas&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), camiones pickup (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=camiones+pickup&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt), camionetas pickup (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=camionetas+pickup&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt).

For both engines, the non-paid results are just pathetic, and the paid results (PPC) is a total shame even when there are cases where the ad is Spanish, but the landing page is English. Isn't this supposed to be one of the most lucrative commercial categories? Yikes, I'm really thinking about putting my own Autos-en-Espanol.com here.

Homes

I think I'm going to break out crying here :( !!!
((((screaming to an empty canyon: where are the successfull businesses?????)))) Echo answers: (((there is none))) (((none))) (((none)))
I should buy Apartamentos-en-Espanol.com for this one I guess??? Specially when I search for "apartamentos en Los Angeles" in Yahoo (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=apartamentos+en+los+angeles&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&n=100&fl=0&x=wrt). At least Superpages.com in Spanish does a good job on Google (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=apartamentos+en+los+angeles), but in reality results are no different.

So, I ask you, if no one is doing it does this mean that YOU should NOT go forward? or does this mean YOU could be TAKING ALL THE PROFITS of these markets?
You would be taking all the profits... and trust me they are there... we are doing really well with the Spanish market right now... and though it crosses to global... we do get good returns for US Hispanics as well.

ileong

11-12-2004, 12:12 PM

Nacho,

Thank you greatly for your contribution of the white papers and thanks to everyone else who has participated in this discussion. I'm shocked it has not received more responses. I've been a lurker on this board for several years, but I felt obligated to register and post in reponse to this thread.

An excellent point in the PDF is to understand the breakdown of the Hispanic market with regards to coutries of origin and immigrants vs. US-born Hispanics. As someone who has marketed exclusively to English-speaking US markets, I have much to learn.

Thanks again, and hopefully this bump will allow more people to see the thread and add to the discussion.

Nacho

11-13-2004, 03:35 PM

Glad to help out :)

Here is a good list of more threads for your Hispanic market research:

Search Marketing en Espanol (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=333) - This one will actually give you the statistics on how many are there in the total online Hispanic popultion.

Search Engine Optimizing Toward The Hispanic Community (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=1397)

Myth of the Hispanic Market (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=834)

Top sites for latin america (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=534)

Pros & Cons for Going Multi-Lingual (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=725)

"Foreign" language keyword research (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=253)

Should Search Engines adopt different results outside the U.S.? (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=139)

Buena Suerte!!

AussieWebmaster

11-13-2004, 09:42 PM

Nacho as per usual you come through with some great resources. I want to buy you dinner next time we are at a convention together.

gtapiocca

11-22-2004, 09:29 PM

AussieWebmaster

11-22-2004, 10:39 PM

Hello Everybody,
I am new to the forum. I have been reading your messages and I found a great deal of help and guidance. Thank you!
One question:
I have been trying to add words to my existing accounts in google search. Everything works fine until I try to add words in spanish and try to obtain advertisement results in Google espanol. I do get results in google.com but not in google en espanol. When I log into my googleadwords through google en espanol, I go directly into my english account. My question is: do I have to have a different account for the google en espanol? Is there a reason why I can not get results in google en espanol?
Please help :confused:
pilar

What you need to do is set up separate campaigns and then inside choose the language and countries specific to where you want to reach. Obviously Spanish as the language and all Spanish speaking countries to start.
You can also do Spanish language in US for Hispanic market.

The selection area is to the right of the Campaign settings.

gtapiocca

11-23-2004, 12:11 AM

I will try that. Thank you for the help :)

gtapiocca

12-06-2004, 12:15 PM

Hello everyone!
When listing in overture is there anything one should do about adding listings in Spanish to obtain ad results in Yahoo in Spanish (yahoo en espanol)? After adding Spanish terms with Overture I can't find results in Yahoo en Espanol. Does it work similar to Google adwords where you actually have to list language and country preferences?

Thank you

gtapiocca

12-06-2004, 12:32 PM

Hello again,
I just got results in both Yahoo search and Yahoo en espanol. The listing procces is the same as if you were to list English keywords.
good day everyone!

Nacho

05-13-2005, 10:00 PM

A few more related threads and resources:

Evolution of Latin American Search Engine Industry (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=4216)

Yahoo! Gains Market Share in Latin America with TeRespondo (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=5201)

Opinions on Quepasa.com PPC for Hispanic Market? (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=5205)

Marketing to the Hispanic Market :: Listen Live April 8th! (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=5080)

Enjoy!

Carlos Chacón

05-14-2005, 01:10 PM

Hi Nacho,
Thanks for your information. I’ll check the links.
As Hispanic I believed that the Hispanic market is a huge background for the SEM & SEO.

Last week I enjoyed the SE Strategies Conference in Toronto and Mr. Sullivan told me about the possibility to do a SE Conference in Spanish!
I couldn’t believe it! He told me about two places: Cancun or Miami. Nothing is for sure but it sound really exciting!

I have been in the SEM business industry since November 2001; it’s has been a hard fight to convince the people & investors to believe in the Internet Marketing as a new marketing tool.

I just keep walking…
;)

AussieWebmaster

05-15-2005, 12:16 AM

The Spanish market will be the fastest growing one this year without a doubt.

Nacho

05-15-2005, 03:20 AM

Last week I enjoyed the SE Strategies Conference in Toronto and Mr. Sullivan told me about the possibility to do a SE Conference in Spanish!
I couldn’t believe it! He told me about two places: Cancun or Miami. Nothing is for sure but it sound really exciting!
Keep your antennas up and stay in frequency. You should be hearing about SES Latino 2006 very soon. ;)

We have a lot coming of surprises for you in the next 12-18 months.

AussieWebmaster

05-15-2005, 11:33 PM

Keep your antennas up and stay in frequency. You should be hearing about SES Latino 2006 very soon. ;)

We have a lot coming of surprises for you in the next 12-18 months.
Keep me on the loop on this one Nacho... would love to get involved as this market is huge to us right now.

Nacho

05-29-2005, 02:33 PM

For those of you who have not seen it, this 59 page report by Goldman Sachs is a total goldmine:

http://www.gs.com/insight/research/reports/docs/hispanization.pdf
The Hispanization of the United States. Hispanics / Latinos are 13% of the US population, increasing at a rate 3X the national average, and could have a 20% share within 25 years. Six areas – Media, Consumer, Housing, Financial Services, Utilities, and Health Care – would benefit most from this change.

Hispanization: One of the fastest growing sub-economies within the US.
On present trends, the Hispanic population in the United States will grow three times faster than the US average, become wealthier at a faster rate, and change its spending patterns.
Enjoy! :)

AussieWebmaster

05-29-2005, 03:38 PM

For those of you who have not seen it, this 59 page report by Goldman Sachs is a total goldmine:

http://www.gs.com/insight/research/reports/docs/hispanization.pdf

Enjoy! :)
Great article... Nacho comes through with another major link.

Carlos Chacón

06-02-2005, 01:58 PM

Keep your antennas up and stay in frequency. You should be hearing about SES Latino 2006 very soon. ;)

We have a lot coming of surprises for you in the next 12-18 months.

It sounds great!
I know you are an expertise in this area since long time ago. But if you need a hand, do not hesitate to contact me.
Iâ€™ll be glad to participate in any kind of help to increase the value of the SEM on the Hispanic market.
;)

Luis Morais

07-17-2005, 10:09 PM

Hi,

I completely agree with Lucas Morea when he listed the contributing factors for e-commerce not being such a viable industry in Latin-America yet. I am originally from Brazil and the problems with credit cards and bank payments are one of the main reasons for this initial block. Delivery can be a really hard point but at least in Brazil, it might work better than in certain European countries despite the recent scandals involving government corruption in the Brazilian Post Office.

Nevertheless, just one thing for everyone to keep in mind is that so far from all the search engines in the Brazilian market nowadays, the only one that seems to be following the right steps when it comes to localisation is MSN. Both Google and Yahoo seem to have found a way of making searching more complicated by selecting by default the 'search all the web' option instead of the 'search pages in Portuguese' and/or 'search pages in Brazil'.

As I have written in another forum, the US centric approach to search in the Latin-American market does not work in the long run, the more developed and buying power we get the more we expect services to be tailored to our context and look like it was made there. That's what happens in Europe and professionals with a strict US-Centric vision do not understand how, for example, there can only be 120.000 Icelanders in the world and still one has to translate Windows to Icelandic. Not only that their buying power gives them the leverage to expect their software to be in Icelandic but also for an strategic point of view. Isn't that the reason why certain governments keep a strong hold of a little forgotten piece of desert that we would rather give away in a raffle than maintain?

The current environment in Brazil at least dictates that if it is not national and in Portuguese, it will simply be copied and made Brazilian. There has been a big movement in development of economically and linguistically accessible software in Brazil and not even Windows which is one of the best localised software has been spared: a Brazilian version based on Linux called Freedows (http://www.freedows.com/) is being developed to fulfill national expectations.

It doesn't make sense that google mix Spanish and Portuguese content and display adwords in English in their results pages. What both Google and Yahoo do not seem to understand is that in developing countries, if not only national pride plays an important role, localisation guarantees you blend in with the crowd as well. On the other hand why would your PPC campaigns in the US and Europe be spent in Brazil?

From what I have observed, MSN, simply put, looks more like a Brazilian platform than cade.com.br the Yahoo owned company that was the first commercial Brazilian search engine. MSN assumes what I as a user assume when using a Brazilian search engine, if it is Brazilian it will yeld Brazilian results. Then why should I have the extra work of selecting the option 'results in Brazil' in a supposed Brazilian Search Engine? In any case, Yahoo and Google should not follow my words but check that with users themselves through usability testing with individuals from most layers of society.

Microsoft has been very successful delivering products that are excellently localised. It worked for Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, XboX and so on. Of course, I would not affirm that localisation made Microsoft big, but it really contributed for their global hegemony.

Don't be fooled by the appearances, e-commerce hasn't florished in Brazil at least yet because of our slow banking system which by the way is in its majority owned by foreign banks and the telecommunications system run by Telefonica (Spain) and another Italian company. E-commerce hasn't got there yet in Latin-America but we already know what we want. The lesson is whatever it is, localise it before you bring it here or it will be reinvented, rebranded and resold as our own.

Nacho

07-18-2005, 07:14 AM

Outstanding contribution Luis! Welcome to Search Engine Watch forums. We hope you enjoy our community and learn from each other to continue building it in our mutual best interests.
I completely agree with Lucas Morea when he listed the contributing factors for e-commerce not being such a viable industry in Latin-America yet. I am originally from Brazil and the problems with credit cards and bank payments are one of the main reasons for this initial block. Delivery can be a really hard point but at least in Brazil, it might work better than in certain European countries despite the recent scandals involving government corruption in the Brazilian Post Office.
I agree with you. Mexico and other countries where we do business for our clients follow as well at some degree. For some it's more and others less. However, we have found in common practice that conducting business works best through lead generation and closing the sale via offline means. There is way, it's just a matter of finding the right approach.

Saludos! :)

Luis Morais

07-18-2005, 08:18 AM

Thanks Nacho!

There is also a very good thread somewhere above about the arab market all the other markets to keep an eye on. I would love if you guys came to Brazil in the right steps of course! There is gold there, man! There is gold there!

AussieWebmaster

07-18-2005, 12:03 PM

It doesn't make sense that google mix Spanish and Portuguese content and display adwords in English in their results pages. What both Google and Yahoo do not seem to understand is that in developing countries, if not only national pride plays an important role, localisation guarantees you blend in with the crowd as well. On the other hand why would your PPC campaigns in the US and Europe be spent in Brazil?

From what I have observed, MSN, simply put, looks more like a Brazilian platform than cade.com.br the Yahoo owned company that was the first commercial Brazilian search engine. MSN assumes what I as a user assume when using a Brazilian search engine, if it is Brazilian it will yeld Brazilian results. Then why should I have the extra work of selecting the option 'results in Brazil' in a supposed Brazilian Search Engine? In any case, Yahoo and Google should not follow my words but check that with users themselves through usability testing with individuals from most layers of society.

Microsoft has been very successful delivering products that are excellently localised. It worked for Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, XboX and so on. Of course, I would not affirm that localisation made Microsoft big, but it really contributed for their global hegemony.

Don't be fooled by the appearances, e-commerce hasn't florished in Brazil at least yet because of our slow banking system which by the way is in its majority owned by foreign banks and the telecommunications system run by Telefonica (Spain) and another Italian company. E-commerce hasn't got there yet in Latin-America but we already know what we want. The lesson is whatever it is, localise it before you bring it here or it will be reinvented, rebranded and resold as our own.
On the adwords side the language used is determined by the advertisers. I use English and Spanish terms. And foolish people may force English ads at people searching Spanish terms - or send them to English sites after using Spanish words and ads.... this is not the fault of Yahoo or Google.

MSN is not servicing PPC ads yet and the people who have used the sponsored listings are generally a little more savy as they have to commit to a much larger spend.

orion

07-26-2005, 09:36 PM

Nevertheless, just one thing for everyone to keep in mind is that so far from all the search engines in the Brazilian market nowadays, the only one that seems to be following the right steps when it comes to localisation is MSN. Both Google and Yahoo seem to have found a way of making searching more complicated by selecting by default the 'search all the web' option instead of the 'search pages in Portuguese' and/or 'search pages in Brazil'.....

.....The current environment in Brazil at least dictates that if it is not national and in Portuguese, it will simply be copied and made Brazilian. .....

......It doesn't make sense that google mix Spanish and Portuguese content and display adwords in English in their results pages. What both Google and Yahoo do not seem to understand is that in developing countries, if not only national pride plays an important role, localisation guarantees you blend in with the crowd as well.....

...In any case, Yahoo and Google should not follow my words but check that with users themselves through usability testing with individuals from most layers of society....

.....Don't be fooled by the appearances, e-commerce hasn't florished in Brazil at least yet because of our slow banking system which by the way is in its majority owned by foreign banks and the telecommunications system run by Telefonica (Spain) and another Italian company. E-commerce hasn't got there yet in Latin-America but we already know what we want. The lesson is whatever it is, localise it before you bring it here or it will be reinvented, rebranded and resold as our own.

Well, Luis I think Google has heard you. At this SEWF thread there is a news of Google acquiring TodoBrazil (todobr) http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=6934

Orion

Luis Morais

07-30-2005, 11:32 AM

Well, Luis I think Google has heard you. At this SEWF thread there is a news of Google acquiring TodoBrazil (todobr) http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=6934

Orion

Hi Orion,

I can't deny that this move is really exciting! But, in strategic terms, Yahoo is still ahead with the acquisition of TeRespondo which was our version of Overture. Strategically, TeRespondo has given Yahoo quite a few established posts in several Latin-American countries whereas Akwan (todobr) has given Google, well, a search engine algorithm in Brazil?

It seems more like they bought the tour guide guy with his house to save in hotel expenses, show things around and negotiate the right price for the beer with the locals.

Since its acquisiton, Todobr has just disappeared off the map (no redirects in the lower level pages or whatever) and that is because Todobr has never been a major player or a playerin the Brazilian market at all.

Never something like Cade.com.br which is owned by Yahoo for a few years now but never lost its own branding and still is very popular. To be quite frank, I am not sure what Google got anything substantial with Akwan's acquisition.

Nevertheless, the problem continues, Google and Yahoo treats all as one and world results are still served by default instead of Portuguese results only. Some Accessibility institutions have already been discussing that the way both Google and Yahoo present their default results (English results) might be in breach of the Accessibility Law in Brazil. Well, it doesn't take much more than commom sense to fix that but in general, it seems to be in shortage in the market.

I don't believe the new Brazilian job posts being created in R&D will touch the problem either. I haven't seen not one ad for a Localisation or Usability professional who would be able to tackle that. R&D is nice and cool but when it comes to doing things right one still has to go back to the users and that is something nobody seems to be doing.

orion

07-30-2005, 12:51 PM

Hi Orion,

I can't deny that this move is really exciting! But, in strategic terms, Yahoo is still ahead with the acquisition of TeRespondo which was our version of Overture. Strategically, TeRespondo has given Yahoo quite a few established posts in several Latin-American countries whereas Akwan (todobr) has given Google, well, a search engine algorithm in Brazil?

Of course. That's pretty obvious. Yahoo move was indeed, brilliant.

It seems more like they bought the tour guide guy with his house to save in hotel expenses, show things around and negotiate the right price for the beer with the locals.

I don't know if this is done for this purpose. With Google, who knows.

Since its acquisiton, Todobr has just disappeared off the map (no redirects in the lower level pages or whatever) and that is because Todobr has never been a major player or a playerin the Brazilian market at all.

Indeed.

I am not sure what Google got anything substantial with Akwan's acquisition.

I am not sure either.

Nevertheless, the problem continues, Google and Yahoo treats all as one and world results are still served by default instead of Portuguese results only. Some Accessibility institutions have already been discussing that the way both Google and Yahoo present their default results (English results) might be in breach of the Accessibility Law in Brazil. Well, it doesn't take much more than commom sense to fix that but in general, it seems to be in shortage in the market.

I don't believe the new Brazilian job posts being created in R&D will touch the problem either. I haven't seen not one ad for a Localisation or Usability professional who would be able to tackle that. R&D is nice and cool but when it comes to doing things right one still has to go back to the users and that is something nobody seems to be doing.

I must agree with you on this one.

We have had similar problems in the past in Puerto Rico with "regional" directories (e.g., Google Puerto Rico, AOLA, etc) many of which are culturally disconnected from the local reality. I think I mentioned this in some old SEWF thread from last year (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=534).

Cheers

Orion

Luis Morais

07-31-2005, 12:32 PM

The guys from Akwan are surely laughing all the way down to the bank though. :D

AussieWebmaster

08-01-2005, 01:14 AM

Having a company that employees a large base of Portuguese speaking tech people is a good start towards entering the market.

Luis Morais

08-01-2005, 07:04 PM

Having a company that employees a large base of Portuguese speaking tech people is a good start towards entering the market.

Yes true, Aussie :). One has to value the possibilities behind good beginnings and I agree with you.

Cheers mate!

Kal

08-07-2005, 04:06 AM

Keep your antennas up and stay in frequency. You should be hearing about SES Latino 2006 very soon. ;)SES Latino - how exciting! My husband and I have the opportunity to live in Mexico for a year (still considering it) and if my Spanish is up to scratch by next July you may well see me there Nacho! :)

Nacho

08-07-2005, 04:28 AM

SES Latino - how exciting! My husband and I have the opportunity to live in Mexico for a year (still considering it) and if my Spanish is up to scratch by next July you may well see me there Nacho! :)
I look forward to see both of you there! Here is the SES Latino 2006 (http://www.jupiterevents.com/sew/latino06/) website for you to bookmark.

clique

08-15-2005, 08:04 PM

Nacho, your opinion on quepasa was helpful--I am running an ROI-based, geo-targeted campaign for a major cell provider and we're considering a trial paid search program aimed at the hispanic market. Any intel on the rural/urban distribution of hispanic online population you cited-or online hispanic population by major/metro or DMA? Also, our ads are currently appearing on the english version of Quepasa--any idea which of my paid search partners is providing the ad to Quepasa?

The online Spanish speaking community across the entire world (according to 2004 figures from Synovate & this ClickZ article (http://www.clickz.com/stats/big_picture/geographics/article.php/5911_151151)):

http://www.ihispanic.com/images/world-spanish-population.gif

All of these Spanish speaking markets are very important to all of us marketers, because of the existing market value of reaching these consumers and what they will be worth in the future.

Since there is so much variety, as a consultant and search engine marketer I have chosen to focus on the largest online market in terms of buying power. COMscore MediaMetrix reported that Internet purchasing behavior among the U.S. Hispanics is reflected in the increase in online spending which grew from $4.3 billion in 2002 to $5.6 billion in 2003. Therefore it is clear that purchasing online is a reality here in the U.S. by these Spanish speakers.

If you are interested in learning in more depth detail about the Hispanic Market, I welcome you to read my white paper “Search Engine Marketing to the U.S. Hispanic Market (http://www.ihispanic.com/iHispanic%20Marketing%20Group%20-%20Search%20Engine%20Marketing%20to%20the%20U.S.%2 0Hispanic%20Market.pdf)”. This report covers more statistics on the Hispanic market, buying power, segmentation, internet statistics and facts, a case study and recommended search engine marketing strategies you can use to effectively get your hands on this online community.

It used to be a relatively easy task translating paid ads into Spanish and/or optimizing web pages for top ranking among the most popular search engines, but now this has turned out to be a complicated process requiring research, analysis and skill that needs to be very personalized for wining a market share in the U.S. Online Hispanic market through search engine strategies.

Luis Morais

08-15-2005, 09:59 PM

Just to let you guys know that one of the (if not the) most influential Brazilian magazines, Veja, has run an article on 10 August about Google's investment in the SE market in Brazil.

The article has highlighted Google Earth and MSN Virtual Earth as well as the local search services already provided by Google, MSN and Yahoo and made a quick comparison of what is offered to the Brazilian public. They also confirmed what I said some time ago in the post about Akwan's acquisition as a means to get into the market and acquire a Brazilian database to guide them into it.

Veja also noted the comment of, Emerson Calegaretti, a Brazilian employee of Google: 'In economical terms, these countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) do not represent the same as the European or the American market. Nevertheless Google is counting on their young and open to technology populations.' Hmmm, true but an unfortunate comment since Yahoo has been around in Brazil since the times of 52kbps dial up modems and always seemed to understand the difference between emerging, developing and developed economies and never risked to offend the magpie by comparing the robin with the eagle.

Different birds different eggs, but still eggs worth an omelette, Mr. Calegaretti.

As a conclusion, Veja says that Yahoo is still ahead in this niche market with the acquisition of TeRespondo and the search wars will be won in the local markets with local searches. Once again something that I said earlier in this post.

What I think of the article? It was good on Google's side but it has called the attention to all the similar services the competitors offer. If Google is succesful in implementing the local searches as they have done in the US and EU, they have a great chance in becoming leaders in the market.

But once again, don't forget about MSN. Microsoft has a tradition in launching products that starting small and ugly become big and erm... ugly (I am thinking of IE6) and trendy (Xbox) and global (Office, Windows, etc...). The lawsuits have taught them not to make services such as browsing via their own IE, for example, the linchpin of the whole OS but I can almost see history repeating itself, or is it just me that noticed that whenever you try to enter a search keyword in Google's IE toolbar the focus always reverts to MSN's search field, if your start page is MSN?

In any case, the welcome is extended to Google.

AussieWebmaster

08-16-2005, 01:21 PM

Nacho always seems to find the numbers...

Chris Boggs

08-16-2005, 03:07 PM

for those that may not have seen it, here is the blog coverage of the session Nacho, Barbara Coll and Lucas Morea presented regarding the subject of Spanish Language SEM (http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/002370.html).

danay

02-05-2006, 11:47 PM

I can't believe this topic hasn't received any new posts since August. I'll look around and see if it hasn't been moved to another forum or something.

I keep coming back and searching for the keywords that Nacho posted back in 2004 citing miserable results, and here we are in 2006, same issue, bad results.

There is a ton of opportunity and the numbers to back it up. Why aren't things changing as fast as I personally predicted they would? :confused:

Nacho

02-06-2006, 01:06 PM

I have actually seen great movement in some areas like mortgage, real estate, hotels and a few others. What I do still see as a shame is targeting in English when a user types "Hoteles in Las Vegas (http://www.google.com/search?q=hoteles+en+las+vegas)" in Spanish. Advertisers need to understand that if the user is searching in Spanish, it's for a purpose of communications preferences. You mess that up and you might as well not care about messing up your conversions as well.

danay

02-06-2006, 02:11 PM

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I meant Paid search campaigns. I look at comprar un carro (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2005-24%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=comprar+un+carro) versus buy a car (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2005-24%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=buy+a+car) and there is such a difference in the number of ads. Of course it can be attributed to the available inventory of searches.

Haven't really checked monthly searches or anything.

I also see alot of ads in English for searches which were done in Spanish. Can't believe people are wasting their ad dollars like that.

Carlos Chacón

02-07-2006, 01:08 PM

...
I also see alot of ads in English for searches which were done in Spanish. Can't believe people are wasting their ad dollars like that.
You are right, it is a shame how some people don’t know how to manage PPC campaigns. What I believe is sometimes people think the entire target speaks English and Spanish at the same time and they are two different markets especially on some areas around the world.

Latin America for example needs more education on this topic, and even more resources to learn how this new marketing tool can be adopted on their business and industries.

It will take some time to show the people about SEM and SEO dynamic world and how this works. Next SES Latino Conference will help a lot for sure.
:)

danay

02-07-2006, 09:32 PM

Yes, I am looking forward to being there. I'm trying to decide whether my company should exhibit, as we operate an affiliate network that has started to branch into offers directly targetted to Hispanics, both US Eng/Span speakers, and Int'l.

I would love to meet some good search marketers in this market to sign up. :D

My mind is almost made up.

AussieWebmaster

02-08-2006, 01:05 AM

I now that with Nacho down there the show will have great representation of all types of advanced level Spanish speaking marketers as well as tech people to explain how to use the numerous tools in the industry.

It makes for a great start for the industry to realise that marketing to different cultures takes alot of skill.

Carlos Chacón

02-08-2006, 04:41 PM

For sure! SES Latino will lend a hand to hundreds of small and middle business. My country for example uses the tourism as primary industry so you can find many hotels and related business with it who wants to get attention around the world by the Internet.

Nacho

04-18-2006, 01:27 AM

Here are a few new sources with updated information:

Special Report From MarketingProfs: Marketing to the Hispanic Market (Part 1 of 2) (http://www.marketingprofs.com/6/hernandez.1.asp)

Special Report From MarketingProfs: Marketing to Hispanics (Part 2 of 2) (http://www.marketingprofs.com/6/hernandez2.asp)

Follow up Articles:

Paid Search Slow to Enter Hispanic-Targeted Sites (http://www.marketingymedios.com/marketingymedios/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002276208)
by Mindy Charski
for Marketing y Medios

U.S. Hispanics Not a One-Size-Fits-All Market (http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2006/04/06/us_hispanics_not_a_onesizefitsall_market/) from MarketingVOX

Enjoy! :)

AussieWebmaster

04-18-2006, 01:07 PM

Thanks Nacho.... got to love not having to do the searching ... and they are solid articles.

Getting ready for the Miami SES.... how are you doing for speakers?

Nacho

04-18-2006, 07:35 PM

I need a lot of speakers! Panels are limited. Please send me an email and I will send you the guideliness to a formal pitch.

Here is another article, by the way:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1003926

Carlos Chacón

04-19-2006, 04:37 PM

Thanks Nacho, excellent articles.
I’m agreeing with this:

“If Latino-focused ad agencies merely add SEM or any other Internet-based programs to their list of services as if it were just an SKU and pretend to know how to implement them—but don't deliver results—clients will rightly be frustrated. As a result, such agencies are damaging the entire industry”

It’s hard to believe it but this could be happening sooner or later. You know more than this subject as I do for sure, but the last years I’ve seen many “companies” or agencies offering SEM/SEO to many businesses around here. What they are doing is stealing the customer’s resources doing unethical techniques to promote websites on the SE and other bad Internet’s campaigns.

It has been hard to me for example report spammers or taking legal action in order to stop what they are doing. So, people around are losing their idea and belief on what really the search engine marketing means.

I know that it will take some years to pull up the SEM industry on Latin-American but the establishment is not really helping the most important objective it should have. I haven’t numbers to demonstrate this but I’m taking my own experience on my country to judge that.

AussieWebmaster

04-19-2006, 07:12 PM

Alot of the problems you outline are not specific to any language/national/ethnic market - bad practices are everywhere. The people entering the web to market to the Latin market may - in some cases but not all and a little more possibly than the web in general - be completely unschooled in Search Engine Marketing etc....

In many cases people are promising some savy marketers that they can do things in the Latin market that they really have no skill or even an idea of what and if it is possible to do.... translations, cultural differences etc all create problems and smart internet marketers are looking for real people to help them - get more highly knowledgeable people into the space and it will grow....

True there is the problem of monetizing from the Latin web population - but this is fast becoming less of a problem.

Events like SES Miami will go a long way to help grow the industry and get it th attention it needs to grow.

Carlos Chacón

04-20-2006, 01:47 PM

..... The people entering the web to market to the Latin market may - in some cases but not all and a little more possibly than the web in general - be completely unschooled in Search Engine Marketing etc....
That’s my point. Latin America market has not been following the growing of the Search Engine Marketing because many reasons. Some people just don’t understand what the Internet is and the many benefits it can bring to their business in general.

I’ve been learning about SEM/SEO some years ago and really appreciate conferences as SES Latino think about our “people” because these people really needs some direction on this matter too.

Don Quixote

08-03-2006, 09:03 PM

AussieWebmaster

08-04-2006, 02:19 AM

smartsm

08-04-2006, 06:23 PM

As my knowledge, this is the only local search engine which could search US nationwide businesses in Spanish language: http://spanish.tyloon.com/ .

Superpages.com has Spansih support, too, but it searches only Spanish communities in US, not nationwide businesses. For this reason, you cannot switch to Spanish language without losing whatever you are reading in English.

If I am wrong, please correct me please. If you know other sites similar to http://spanish.tyloon.com/ , please update them here. Thanks.

amabaie

08-04-2006, 08:18 PM

So how does one get listed in Tyloon - English or Spanish? I have at least one bilingual client who would like to be listed in both.

Don Quixote

08-04-2006, 10:56 PM

The language tool, is a software powerful enough to provide information of a subject for example, from Spanish, into Japanese, French or Chinese, without changing or altering it's content or grammar.

to be continued,,,

Luis Morais

08-05-2006, 08:48 PM

How can you breake the language barrier? Why limit people with a website in only one language? how can you provide the same information in different languages? Is it possible for some one in China to sell kites to a Mexican store? how can this two businesses show the other one their products?

Hi Quixote,

Q. How can you breake the language barrier?

My answer. One can't break the language barrier without breaking the people that is behind the barrier. Up to the end of the 1800's, colonisation tried to equalise the gap produced by languages. ALthough it was successful in bringing in a new language that made colonies and crowns communicate better, the methods were too crude and brutal. My point is there is no easy and humane way to break this barrier effectively, and effectively in my point of view is speaking the same language, without harming the whole underlying structure that supports the people.

A barrier is only seen as a barrier by those who are outside, for those in, it is nothing more nothing less than what has been before.

Q. Why limit people with a website in only one language?

My answer. This has been researched and several books have been produced on the matter:

The Psychology of Language, http://www.psypress.co.uk/harley/

But where science does not suffice, good sense be applied in consideration of the majority.

The short answer is: because not everyone is a middle-class, middle-aged English-speaking white geek as most of us. Man, it is just a minority of people that have computers and have been exposed to what we call trivial: iPod, blog, etc.

The langauge issue is something basic that has to be catered for early in the process. Latin AMericans are not different than anybody else in the world, we like to read content in the language we feel most comfortable with. Splattering every other language on a page would be as confusing to a Brazilian as it would be to a common German, or Japanese, or American that uses the web for more pragmatic purposes such as buy goods, check the weather, transfer money from one bank account to another and most of all search for information in general.

Simply, it is not a good idea, it is not accessible, nor usable, nor intelligent for an overwhelming majority of people out there in the world.

Q. how can you provide the same information in different languages? Is it possible for some one in China to sell kites to a Mexican store? how can this two businesses show the other one their products?

My answer. Sorry to group these 3 questions in just one, but they sounded like shades of the same question to me. I believe we have the technology to get this done, more, we have already been doing that for some time in the enterprise market, and underlying technologies such as XML have been a great aide to achieve that.

Nevertheless, does anyone hope we are going to achieve this level of seamlessness in multilingual, multicultural transactions without investing time and money on creating and transforming this data into multilingual data? Does anyone expect a system will be invented that will transform content in several localized versions wihtout having the human operator inputting and checking this data before anything else?

This is simple, I can have content in any language as long as someone created a version in each language. There might be a time in the future in which we might have acquired so much accumulated data that we will be able to sort the translation of any language based on data stored in a database of previous translations but there is no guarantee we will ever get to the point in which translation systems will be so well-documented that human intervention will not be required at all.

Just to have an idea: search engines haven't even arrived to a stage where they can at least identify different languages automatically. Even SEs with better improved language identification algorithms, such as Google, still have a hard time to filter out similar languages that end up in the search results of another language. We haven't even got to the basic point of sorting languages perfectly so that barriers can be identified.

Saludos,

Luis