Google.co.uk in Greek
Now that I have moved outside the UK I have more of an interest than I used to in the successful localisation of products. I came across a strange one I wasn't expecting the other day. I am doing some research on search in the UK, so have been specifically requesting google.co.uk. However, because I was in an internet cafe using a Greek installation of Firefox I got this page - Google.co.uk in Greek.
Firstly I was surprised that there even was a version of the .co.uk flavoured Google search homepage in Greek. What was interesting though was that they chose to serve me the Greek language version based on I guess, either my IP or my browser's referrer string, or a combination of the two, when I was logged in to my very English (UK) Google account.
Posted by Martin Belam, May 15, 2006
Read more posts on currybetdotnet about: Google, Greece, Localisation, Search
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About Martin Belam
I'm a London-based internet consultant and writer, with 8 years experience in product management, information architecture, and user experience design for global brands like Sony, Vodafone, The Guardian and the BBC. I specialise in advising on search, widgets, RSS, online news publishing and bulk email delivery.
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5 comments so far
Greek people live in the UK, I guess...
>> Greek people live in the UK, I guess...
Oh absolutely - I think it works well when it is targeted right. It would be a result for me if similarly when I typed in google.com I didn't get redirected based on my IP address to google.gr in Greek, but instead got a version in English based on my browser settings :-)
Even weirder is that you didn't get a different language based on your Google Account settings.
:/
great well done about time too
i have the same problem too. when i try to enter google.com i get redirected to google.gr. can anyone help me how to disable this? thx