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Today is an historic day for internet users across the globe, a report by the BBC announced on its news site earlier, as it marks the day that non-Latin web addresses have gone live.

Net regulator the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have switched on the long awaited system which allows full web addresses to feature no Latin characters. This means the arrival international domains which can be written in scripts such as Arabic, Chinese and Cyrillic.

More than 20 countries have requested approval for international domains from ICANN in 11 different languages. In some parts of the world, such as Russia (where the ICANN approved Cyrillic IDNs in November last year), the registration of native character based domains has been going on for a while, and the launch means that millions of people will finally be able to type web addresses in their own language.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are the first counties to have Arabic country codes that will look like this:

• Egypt: مصر
• Saudi Arabia: السعودية
• United Arab Emirates: امارات

“All three are Arabic script domains, and will enable domain names written fully right-to-left,” said Kim Davies of ICANN in a blog post.

When ICANN first announced its plans for non-Latin web names it said it was the “biggest change” to the net “since it was invented 40 years ago”.

“Over half the internet users around the world don’t use a Latin-based script as their native language,” said Mr Beckstrom at the time.

“IDNs are about making the internet more global and accessible for everyone.”

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10100108.stm

By Anna Pearce, Oban Multilingual.

The world’s top fashion designers and luxury retailers are looking to Asian markets to increase sales, a Reuters article has reported.

Singapore, which has the highest density of millionaires in the world, last week hosted the Audi Fashion Festival, a showcase of some of the world’s leading designers. Singapore hopes to join cities such as Paris and New York as a renowned fashion capital, and it could easily achieve this, as the city’s abundance of luxury malls attract people wanting to spend big from all over Asia.

“Western designers have realized there’s a great deal of money to be had in Asia and they can see that customers in China and India are moving very quickly toward becoming consumers of the very highest level,” Colin McDowell, creative director of the Audi Fashion Festival, told Reuters.

Consumers in prosperous Asian markets such as China and Singapore haven’t slowed down their spending on luxury goods since the recession unlike other parts of the world, and in a culture fixated on branding and image, the prosperous demographics are determined to spend on designer labels. Some designers have even reported that their biggest markets are in China.

With Asian markets showing so much potential, and with reports stating that the West are still slightly reluctant to splurge on luxury goods, designers and high end retailers might want to think about heading East, and with the Asian internet market being so promising, what better way to do this than online?

By Anna Pearce, Oban Multilingual SEO

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63S0TL20100429

The internet savvy youth of China are going gaga for English words and phrases, an article in The Times reported yesterday.

According to the article, the phrase ‘Oh my Lady Gaga!’ is popping up all over Chinese blogs and forums, replacing their past fascination with the English phrase ‘Oh my God!’.

Other examples of English phrases creeping into China’s forums and blogs are the acronyms ‘LOL’ (Laugh out Loud) and ‘IMAO’ (In My Arrogant Opinion).

The trend is causing debate amongst linguists and government figures, some of whom believe that the influx of English terms on the internet could result in diminished use of the Chinese language. Others argue that taking on words and phrases from other cultures is a sign of being culturally aware and in touch with the modern world.

Certain English acronyms and words have already been restricted on television and in newspapers in China. The acronym NBA (National Basketball Association) now has to be pronounced in a Chinese ten syllable phrase, a bit of a mouthful for the sports commentators who follow Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball player who’s one of the NBAs biggest stars.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7103634.ece

With the popularity of other, China-based search engines set to rise thanks Google’s threat to close down their Google.cn site, in turn freeing up the market, businesses need to optimise their site to suit their search processes. However, simple translation of websites will not suffice. Taking an example from Oban’s area of business, the phrase ‘to Twitter’ translates to ‘织围脖’’ – ‘to knit yourself a scarf’ in English. Localised research needs to be carried out in order to ensure UK businesses can successfully tap into the expanding Chinese market. Here are a few pointers on how to improve SEO in China:

• After recent changes, China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, no longer automatically ranks pages with an overly high keyword density above others. Before this the recommended amount was between 6-12%, it is now 3-4%.

• Baidu may be the major player in search in mainland China, however it is barely used in Hong Kong, so businesses should look at local search behaviours when targeting specific provinces of China.

• Unsurprisingly, Chinese search engines prefer sites hosted in China. Businesses would have more success in terms of SEO by getting hosted in China, or at least adopting a local domain i.e. com.cn.

The popularity of social networking sites in China is also a factor that needs to be addressed when it comes to marketing. One third of the 384 million domestic internet users are also regular SNS users. Again, locality is important. The top SNS sites in China are QQ and RenRen, and businesses are more likely to reach the Chinese demographic if they develop marketing strategies here than on the popular Western sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

A localised approach and a good understanding of search dynamics are essential to the success of websites in overseas markets. By adapting websites to improve SEO and SEM in China, UK businesses can open themselves up to the biggest online market in the world.

Oban Multilingual SEO Director Greig Holbrook

http://econsultancy.com/blog/5686-why-you-should-avoid-twitter-in-china

Hi everyone,

Hope you’re all doing well and looking forward to the upcoming holidays, whatever you celebrate.

Just wanted to let everyone know that Oban has finally unveiled its formerly top secret project on ITP.net, the Middle Eastern internet technology portal.

The project will reveal the various cultural reactions to tourism websites, and what influences them.

Results will be released in January 2009 to ITP.net.

Oban’s international holiday e-marketing tips have been published in the Retail Bulletin and on the Canadian Marketing Association blog. Here is the original article all its glory.

Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world. But not everyone celebrates it in the same way. Indeed, not everyone celebrates it at all.

Internet sales in the upcoming holiday season have been predicted to grow about eight percent. While the number is low compared to last year’s 19 percent holiday season growth, it still looks better than the mere one percent sales growth expected in physical department stores.

With overseas online markets growing at an incredibly rapid pace, they deserve special attention. Brazilians, for example, have become some of the most active online shoppers in the world. In addition, last year saw 147 million Chinese buy products and services online, a number representing more than the total population of all but the world’s seven most populous countries. In less than two years, this number is projected triple. Add on to this e-sales figures in Russia, which doubled in 2007 to hit nearly £2 billion. (more…)

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that Oban has been asked to edit the SEO and Paid Search page for the tourism and hospitality management online publication Victoo.

We’ll be keeping it updated regularly with loads of interesting international search marketing news and tips for the travel industry.

We’ve just had a new article published now from our MD Greig who talks about the future of search marketing for tourism and hospitality.

Do let us know if there is any particular topic in this area that you would like to read about.

Cheers!

Kaila

http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/

European online retailers ready for language challenge

By Greig Holbrook

Recently The Retail Bulletin reported that many business websites are ill-equipped to deal with cross-border e-commerce.

This article looks at multilingual online retailing could help these businesses deal with this challenge, and even thrive.

Nearly two-thirds of European retailers say they are ready to carry out transactions in more than one language. However, only one third of EU consumers say they are willing to purchase goods and services in another language, according to the European Commission’s Eurobarometer report. (more…)

www.m-travel.com/news

Travellers on Tape

Oban’s short documentary about online travel search behaviour surprised even them.

It’s their most visual endeavour to put a human face on global search. Oban Multilingual’s short video, filmed in England’s capital, captures international travellers at their most candid.

Oban conducted interviews with individuals from over 40 countries. The Oban team wanted to find out how the travellers were using the internet to search.

The team was surprised to have not found the answers they expected. But after a careful review of the footage, the light bulb went on.

The video is available to watch at www.faceofglobalsearch.com.

The ending reveals the paradoxical conclusion that emerged after a long day of interviews.

While you’re at the site, check out the Face of Global Search game. There’s only two weeks left to throw your virtual suitcase around to win prizes.

Make sure to play soon or you’ll miss out on the £250 travel voucher draw.

http://www.ttglive.com/c/portal

Oban looks at global search methods

Friday, June 27, 2008

Kay McLellan

Oban Multilingual has released a preview of its Face of Global Search competition results, revealing how people search online for their holidays.

Just over a month into gathering information, the competition, in partnership with EyeForTravel, has had entrants from over 40 countries, many of whom say they search online in languages other than English. Languages named included Spanish, French, Chinese, Danish, and Dutch amongst others.

(more…)