Translating the Web
With the translation beta, people who search on "France," for example, can select a link that says "Translate this page" after results for pages written in French. Google will serve up a translated version of the page.The translation, like most computer-generated translations, is not perfect. Google's translation of Yahoo France suggests to visitors, "Follow your desires for your purchases online!" The word-for-word translation yields a link to Yahoo's privacy policy under the heading, "Yahoo! and your private life."
Google also offers the option of translating search results' titles and summaries into specified languages.
In addition to translating Web pages returned in search results, Google has launched a program to translate its own interface into various languages. Under the Google preferences page, Google visitors can select from among 36 languages in which to read the Google buttons and tips.
With the new "Google in Your Language" program, currently in beta, Google visitors can volunteer to help translate the site into more obscure languages. Among the dozens of languages under development, a few stand out for their whimsy, including Klingon, Elmer Fudd and Bork Bork Bork (a language familiar to fans of the Muppets' Swedish Chef).
Also on the international front, Google is busy hiring international "ambassadors" who will head up sales efforts in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.
News.com's Evan Hansen contributed to this report.
