Web Globalization Is Back on the "Front Burner" of the World's Largest Companies

New Byte Level Survey Sheds Light on Web Globalization Trends and Budgets of Some of the World's Leading Multinationals

(Escondido, CA -- July 29, 2004)   Driven by a rebounding global economy, emerging markets and a stronger appreciation for the value of multilingual Web sites, Web globalization activity is increasing dramatically among many of the world's largest companies. This finding, and many others, can be found in the new report from Byte Level Research, Web Globalization and the World's Largest Companies.

Over the past two months Byte Level Research has conducted in-depth interviews with a number of major multinational companies, including Deloitte, Dow, IBM, Microsoft and Starbucks. Among the many findings of the report include:

• The Breadth of Languages Will Increase 20% Over Next Three Years
  Most executives said they expect to add languages to their Web sites over the next three years. The report reveals what the hottest new languages will be.
• Most Executives Are Not Pleased With Their Global Web Sites
  Most executives believe their global Web sites could be improved greatly. Although Web globalization is receiving greater attention within organizations, budgetary constraints remain a major hurdle. The report reveals what companies typically allocate to Web globalization as well as what they likely should be spending.
• Global Navigation Faces Internal Hurdles
  Most respondents felt that their navigation systems should be improved but felt powerless to make any improvements due to a number of conflicting parties. This is because the home page real estate is hotly contested within organizations. The report includes detailed instructions on how to build a user-friendly, seamless global navigation system.

"This is the first report to shed light on the inner-workings of Web globalization at companies of this size," said John Yunker, chief analyst at Byte Level Research and author of the report. "There is a clear trend of companies investing greater resources into Web globalization as a competitive advantage. Companies increasingly view Web globalization not as a luxury, but as a necessity."

Case Studies Illustrate Best Practices
In addition to the survey, this report includes seven case studies of Web sites such as Ikea, IBM, GE and Home Depot. Best practices (and worst practices) are highlighted throughout, providing executives with hands-on advice for Web site improvements.

The guide is available in PDF format and may be purchased online at www.bytelevel.com/reports/survey.

For more information, or to request a media copy of the guide, please contact us.

About Byte Level Research

Byte Level Research has been tracking the evolution of Web globalization for more than five years. Byte Level regularly consults for leading multinational corporations and provides a number of services, including:

• Cultural and Web Globalization Team Training
  Education is one of the major Web globalization challenges within corporations. Marketing, IT and sales teams don’t always understand or appreciate the complexity and subtleties of serving global markets. We provide high-level and hands-on Web training sessions that create globalization advocates who collectively work to improve global Web sites and their processes.
• Web Site Evaluation and Benchmarking
  Want to know how your site stacks up against the competition, as well as the leading global sites? Byte Level has conducted numerous studies over the years and has pioneered a number of valuable benchmarking criteria.
• Competitive Intelligence
  Many of the leading Web globalization software and service vendors rely on Byte Level to help them improve sales and marketing. Because we work closely with Web globalization customers, we are ideally positioned to help vendors improve their offerings.