Byte Level Research Announces Best Global Web Sites of 2007

The 2007 Web Globalization Report Card identifies best practices, emerging trends, and the hottest languages on the Internet

(San Diego, CA — May 9, 2007)     In 2003, Byte Level Research first published The Web Globalization Report Card, a unique report that rated how successfully companies developed Web sites for international markets.

Now in its fourth edition, The 2007 Web Globalization Report Card rates the Web sites of 200 companies across 18 industry categories.

The top 10 global Web sites are as follows:

1. Google
2. Wikipedia
3. Cisco Systems
4. Philips
5. HP
6. Caterpillar
7. Volvo Cars
8. Seagate
9. Microsoft
10. American Express

"Google has become a regular in the number-one spot," said John Yunker, chief analyst of Byte Level Research and author of the report. "But it's not just because of Google's 100-plus language search interface. It is the rapid localization of the many Web-based applications -- from Blogger to Adwords -- that has kept Google on top."

Report Identifies Hottest Languages and Newest Trends

The 2007 Web Globalization Report Card plays a valuable role in helping companies look outside their industries to emerging and established best practices in the field. Here are three of the many findings included within the 203-page report:

French is the most popular language
French narrowly edged out German to become the most popular language used by the 200 sites studied. Overall, all languages saw an increase in usage. This year, nine out of 10 Web sites studied include support for both French and German, up from eight out of 10 last year. Chinese also made strong gains -- used by 75% of all Web sites.

Average number of languages increased, again
In 2006, the average number of languages supported was 15. This year, the average increased more than 20%, to 18 languages. It used to be that any Web site that supported 10 languages stood apart from the pack; today, that baseline is now 20 languages or more.

Splash global gateways have gone mainstream
Nearly 30% of the 200 sites studied now deploy splash global gateway pages to direct Web users to local content. At this rate of growth, we expect the number of Web sites using splash gateways to surpass 50% by the end of 2008.

Scoring Methodology

The Web Globalization Report Card analyzed each Web site according to the following four criteria:

• Global Navigation: How quickly can visitors find local content?
• Global Consistency: Does the Web site use a global template across all locales?
• Localization: How relevant is the Web site to the Web user's culture and country?
• Languages: How many languages does the Web site support?

About The Web Globalization Report Card

Now in its fourth edition, The 2007 Web Globalization Report Card is the authoritative guide to the state of Web globalization. In addition to identifying leaders and laggards, the report includes profiles of the following Web sites:

• 3M
• Emirates
• Google
• Philips
• Starwood Hotels
• Xbox, Wii, and Playstation

The 2007 Web Globalization Report Card is 203 pages and published in PDF format. It is available for $1,950 for an enterprise license.

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About Byte Level Research

Founded in 2000, Byte Level Research is the world's leading authority on Web globalization. John Yunker, president and chief analyst of Byte Level Research, is editor of Global by Design, a publication devoted to Website globalization best practices.