Analysis of 225 global Web sites -- from Adobe to GE to Yahoo! -- the leaders, the laggards, the latest trends, and the best practices. Table of Contents Web Sites Studied About the Author Download the brochure Byte Level Research Announces the Best Global Web Sites of 2008

Take the guesswork out of Web globalization

Web globalization often leaves people with more questions than answers, such as:

• What are the best global Web sites?
• What are the most popular languages?
• How do we best direct Web users to translated content?
• What companies offer local-language blogs and podcasts?

This report, now in its fifth edition, answers these questions and many more. You’ll learn exactly which companies are improving at Web globalization ­— and why. You’ll also learn what mistakes to avoid by viewing real-world examples.

More Web sites; more in-depth profiles

We have added a number of new Web sites to this year's report, such as Myspace, Ryanair, Breville, and Heineken. In addition, we provide more information on what some of the leading global Web companies have been up to over the past year -- and where they're headed. In all, this report rates the Web sites of 225 companies across 21 industry segments.

We devoted more than 400 hours studying the world's leading Web sites, noting languages used on every Web site. This information, along with a wealth of historical data, helps companies benchmark themselves against competitive and “best of breed” sites such as Google, Cisco Systems, and IKEA. A combination of quantitative data and practical, hands-on advice makes this an invaluable resource for any company doing business across borders.

Who this report is for

• Marketing Executives
  This report is used by executives at companies large and small to improve their Web sites relative to the competition. Furthermore, the report serves as a valuable tool to raise awareness of the importance to Web globalization.
• Globalization Consultants
  This report provides valuable, time-saving benchmark data for 225 companies. The intelligence included in this report is based on more than six years spent studying the evolution of Web globalization.
• Translation and Localization Companies
  This report is used by translation companies to target prospective clients and improve their Web globalization services.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Executive Summary
• Top Findings, Trends, and Recommendations

Part I: The 225 Web Sites and How They Were Scored

• The 225 Web Sites
• Industry Breakdown
• Scoring Methodology
  • Global Consistency
  • Global Navigation
  • Localization
  • Global Reach (Languages)
• Methodology FAQ
• What Do the Scores Mean?

Part II: The Best Global Web Sites

• The Top 20 Global Web Sites
• What the Best Sites Have in Common
• All 225 Web Site Scores

Part III: Key Findings and Trends

• Languages: How Many?
• Languages: What’s Hot?
• Global Navigation: The Top 20
  • Splash Global Gateway Usage
  • Flags, Globes, and Other Visuals
  • Language Negotiation Gains Momentum
  • Geolocation Has Emerged
• Global Consistency: The Top 28
• Localization: The Top 20
• Most Improved Web Sites
• Best Web Sites Under 10 Languages
• The Laggards

Part IV: Industry Profiles and Company Insights

• Industry Leaders
  • Airlines
  • Automotive
  • Business Technology
  • Consumer Goods
  • Consumer Technology
  • Delivery
  • Fashion/Apparel
  • Financial Services
  • Hotels/Resorts
  • Industrial/Diversified
  • Media/Entertainment
  • Medical/Pharmaceutical
  • Non-profit/Government
  • Professional Services
  • Retail & Food
  • Rental Cars
  • Semiconductors
  • Social Networking
  • Sporting Goods
  • Video Games
  • Web Services

• Globalization Terminology

225 Web Sites Studied

The report rates the Web sites of the 225 companies listed below

Airlines Automotive Business Technology Consumer Goods Consumer Technology Delivery Fashion/Apparel Financial Services Hotels/Resorts Industrial/Diversified Media/Entertainment

Medical/Pharmaceutical Professional Services Retail & Food Rental Cars NEW: Social Networking Sporting Goods Travel Video Games Web Services

Airlines Air France American Airlines British Airways Continental Emirates KLM Northwest Airlines Ryanair United Airlines Automotive Audi BMW Cadillac Honda Hyundai Jaguar Lexus Mercedes Mini Nissan Saab Smart Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Consumer Technology Adobe Apple Blackberry (RIM) Bose Canon Creative Dell HP Kodak Lenovo LG McAfee Microsoft Motorola Nikon Nokia Palm Panasonic Philips Samsung Sony Symantec Toshiba Wacom Yamaha Consumer Goods 3M Amway Avon Black & Decker Budweiser Coca-Cola Colgate evian Haier Heineken Iams KitchenAid Maytag Nestlé Procter & Gamble Purina Unilever Whirlpool Delivery DHL FedEx TNT UPS Fashion/Apparel Cartier Chanel Crocs Estée Lauder Lancôme Levi's Loréal Louis Vuitton NIVEA Polo Tommy Hilfiger Financial Services American Express Chubb Citibank CSFB E*TRADE Fidelity Goldman Sachs HSBC ING Morgan Stanley Prudential Western Union Hotels/Resorts Accor Hotels Best Western Carnival Cruise Lines Four Seasons Hilton Hyatt InterContinental Hotels Marriott Radisson Sol Melia Starwood Hotels Industrial/Diversified Alcoa Briggs & Stratton Cargill Caterpillar Cemex Dow Corning GE Honeywell John Deere Sherwin-Williams Siemens Steelcase	Media/Entertainment BBC CNN Disney ESPN Harry Potter LexisNexis Warner Brothers Business Technology 3Com Autodesk Avaya BMC Software Business Objects Cisco Systems EMC Huawei IBM NEC Novell Oracle SAP SAS Seagate Software AG Sun Xerox Medical/Pharma Bayer Boston Scientific Eli Lilly Genzyme Medtronic Merck Monsanto Novartis Pfizer Sanofi-Aventis Siemens Medical Wyeth Non-profit/Govt. European Union United Nations Voice of America World Bank Professional Services Bearing Point Capgemini Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ernst & Young Jones Day KPMG McKinsey & Co PricewaterhouseCoopers Rental Car Dollar Rent A Car Hertz Thrifty Retail & Food Build-a-Bear Godiva IKEA J. Crew McDonald's Starbucks Subway Tiffany Wal-Mart Semiconductors AMD Analog Devices Broadcom Fairchild Semiconductor Freescale Intel National NVIDIA NXP Semiconductors Renesas ST Microelectronics Texas Instruments Sporting Goods Adidas Columbia New Balance Nike Patagonia Reebok Video Games Nintendo Wii Playstation Xbox Web Services Amazon AOL Ask Ebay eFax Expedia Flickr Google Hotels.com Monster MSN Netvibes Pageflakes PayPal Salesforce.com Skype Snapfish WebEx Wikipedia Yahoo! Social Networking Facebook Last.fm MySpace Orkut XING

About the Author

Byte Level founder John Yunker authored the first book devoted to the emerging field of Web globalization, Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies. Widely acclaimed, the book is now used in a number of university and corporate training programs. John is also editor of the popular Web globalization blog: Global by Design.

John consults with many of the world’'s largest multinational corporations, providing Web globalization training and benchmark services. Over the years, John has spoken at industry events such as:

• IA (Information Architecture) Summit
• Internet Retailer
• Association for Language Companies
• Society for Technical Communication

John is a 2008 Fellow with the Society for New Communications Research.

This is the fifth edition of The Web Globalization Report Card that he has authored.

The Web Globalization Report Card is a copyright of Byte Level Research LLC