![]() It drove me crazy too before I saw the data. It’s easy to tell due to differences in various conversion metrics and huge increases in clicks to language change buttons. Having been involving in some internal projects and done the data analysis (not in Search, other areas), your guess is correct - far more people get (clearly) wrong results if you serve what the browser is asking for due to mis configuration. Sure, restaurant name search results I might want sorted differently based on location and that's a good thing overall, but leave my interface language alone! If I type something into while being on US soil with en-us as my language setting that is in French, isn't it obvious that I might primarily be served French language content and that is what I want too? While the interface of Google is still in English? Or vice versa? If I type an English language query into while fr-fr is my language setting, I expect worldwide results in English, while my interface is still in French. Now search results are a different thing. I won't even be able to find the "Change language here" dropdown. Do no serve me the interface in Japanese just because I'm in Japan. ![]() If I set my browser to English, that means I want the interface language to definitely be English. Reading comments so far and the article I think we're mixing up many different use cases and choices. If this frustrates you as well, be sure to vote with your feet!ĭisclaimer: Choosing to reply here for "reasons" but there's lots of siblings I could've chosen. What I can say, however, is that I absolutely loathe this practice and actively avoid doing business with any company that uses geo-IP location to serve me pages specific to that locale. I can’t say for certain whether this is the actual reason for this behavior. So it’s merely a numbers game: I may be frustrated, but at least Google and other companies aren’t losing business when folks with misconfigured computers close the tab because they got a page served to them in, say, English instead of their native language. Why do they do this? My theory has always been that in any given country, there are far more native speakers with misconfigured computing environments than there are visitors and nomadic folks like me. I am tempted to create an Internationalization Wall of Shame just to embarrass the companies that do this. Google is the offender that frustrates me the most, but they are far from the only company to engage in this abhorrent practice. Each year I spend several months abroad, and this is one of the most infuriating experiences I encounter. Over two decades later, nothing has changed. It doesn’t matter that I read Japanese just fine… Making this determination purely based on my IP address is madness, I tell her. I tell her it is insane that Google serves me Japanese pages on my English-configured PowerBook just because I am in Japan. This was very early in their trajectory, so I even sat down with Larry Page and chatted with him for half an hour.Ī year or two later I’m in Tokyo and talk to a new Google product manager based there. You can also check for any IP address leaks by following our guide on how to make sure if Surfshark VPN is working.I met one-on-one with Google’s senior leadership in 2000 to talk about their internationalization efforts.
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