by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2007/11/23 13:46 -05:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2007/11/23/6488627.aspx
There are a lot of different aspects of internationalization that I cover here.
From the things in which I am very knowledgeable to the things in which I am interested or even curious, I cover a lot of ground.
Though there is one space I generally stay out of.
Online advertising.
Now I admit that the fact that I do not talk much about this area is the innate fear of being perceived as a salesman.
I mean, since I'm not one and all.
And I don't want people to mistake me for one, since I hate being sold to, myself.
But the other day over in the adCenter Blog, Catherine and Nicholas did a guest post entitled Do Your Recherche: Advertising in the French Canadian Market. This is an area of internationalization that I do find fascinating because of the many interesting technical and customer issues involving ways to approach other markets, other languages.
It is a localization problem that is even more complicated than software localization, because of the additional issues such as not exactly being invited. And the line between helpful resource and assholic spammer is one that is way too easy to cross.
Which might get right down to why, despite the fact that this is an area I find fascinating, I do not really tend to cover much. Or at all, really. :-(
I'll try to work on that and talk about interesting issues from time to time -- particularly in the areas where I feel like I can add the most value (e.g. in assessment, scenarios, and justification of the effort, etc.).
I may even talk about markets beyond what people might usually be thinking about.
And every once in a while I'll link to a post I find interesting, like I did above. :-)
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# Reeve Fritchman on 23 Nov 2007 5:30 PM:
Michael, shouldn't the ability handle commerce in multiple languages be high on the list of priorities for Microsoft and Live.com? MSFT has formidable competitors in the world-wide on-line advertising space, especially in North America. But ads must be delivered with language and cultural sensitivity to be effective. MSFT doesn't need any more issues with whiny, chauvinistic European bureaucrats!
# Michael S. Kaplan on 23 Nov 2007 5:49 PM:
Hi Reeve,
I agree with you, I am just saying that only some aspects of it are really falling under my areas of expertise, and the other parts tend to scare me off, all things being equal. :-)
So this is:
1) a link to an interesting post
2) a recognition of the above facts
3) a statement of intent to try to keep an open mind