1. Localization at eBay
L. Niederer
June 2011

2. eBay L10n
The eBay Localization team based in San Jose and Berlin (Dreilinden) Germany is responsible for providing high quality translation services and localization support for eBay Marketplaces, and adjacencies such as Kijiji (eBay Classifieds), Shopping.com, StubHub and others.

3. From humble beginnings
Localization at eBay started in 1999
First site to be localized was Japan, followed by Germany, France and Italy.
Today we have a dedicated staff of in-house linguists that support the following 9 languages: Canadian French Dutch, Flemish (BE) French, German, Italian, Polish Spanish and Traditional Chinese (HK) and as well as Language Specialist contractors for 9 additional European languages. The LS are managed by one LS manager in the US, and one in Europe. In the L10n team we also have Localization Engineers and Project Managers.

4. From humble beginnings
We also facilitate access to dynamic content (released on so-called trains) for International Content Managers of English speaking sites (CA, UK, AU, SG and IN) for their language (spelling/terminology) corrections.
We not only localize web content, but also content for off-line tools and printed material.
Our fastest growing segment is Mobile.

5. eBay Mobile
Currently we localize content for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, iPad, Windows 7 and Mobile Web.
We not only localize the content but we also run LQA (Language Quality Assurance) for all mobile products.
In 2010 we had Global Mobile sales of $4 bill, $2bill came from international markets.

6. eBay Mobile: Example

7. eBay Mobile: Example

8. (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Expansion in Europe
In 2009 we operated websites in 11 European markets
(Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United
Kingdom)
Some of these sites are so-called mini-sites (Austria,
Ireland and Switzerland and get the vast majority of
their content from their respective main sites (Germany
and UK).

9. Expansion: Example Europe – 2009

10. Expansion Example Europe – 2010/2011
In the fall of 2009 we started adding more sites to our
European portfolio. Initially 6 new sites (Czech
Republic, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Russia and
Sweden) with Finland, Hungary and Portugal following
in 2010.
Out of these 9 countries, Russia is the fastest growing
site (also offers a classifieds experience).
We call this model eBay International Markets (EIM)

11. Expansion Example Europe: 2011

12. eBay around the globe
Not all international eBay sites are localized by the L10n team.
Some are written in the respective target language (i.e. South Korea, Turkey) and need no localization
Some are localized by outside vendors (without review by the L10n team (i.e. Thailand, Vietnam)
Some are run in co-operation with partners and the partners provide the content (i.e. China)

13. eBay around the globe: Examples

14. Future:
Based on our current EIM model we might be expanding into other markets in the next couple of years
Currently Africa and the Middle East are non-sited areas

15. New eBay sites in the future?
السوق الدولية
השוק הבינלאומי

16. Tools
Initially no translation tools!
2001 introduction of translation tools (Trados)
2003 introduction of Idiom WorldServer
2010/2011 First steps towards a new L10n Framework in order to simplify, streamline and improve the efficiency of our localization services.

17. Our current translation throughput
As a general rule, our translators translate between 1,500 to 2,000
words per day and review between 8,000 to 10,000 words per day.
For our Asian languages, the throughput is slightly lower.
These numbers vary by language and complexity. Additionally, we
often recommend that a review step is completed in-house after our
third-party supplier provides translations. This adds time to the and
this must be added to the schedule. 17 17

18. Our current translation throughput
Our average turnaround times for non-train projects are: 
Words
Time
24 hrs
100 – 500
3 working days
5 working days
10 working days

19. 2010 Numbers for some European sites:
2010 ANNUAL TOTALS: FR IT DE ES NL FL PL
FRCA HK
2010 Total Translate
544334
482595
452203
682381
157271
169053
165712
317842
160280
Total External
503128
446851
410829
651646
138746
148665
146054
199092
144630
Total Internal
41206
35744
41374
30735
18525
20388
19658
118750
15650
Total Review
263949
240144
339216
224875
138046
139480
126305
156786
143836
Percent Reviewed
48%
50%
75%
33%
88%
83%
76%
49%
90%

20. Our release model:
When we began with localization in 1999 there was a lag of more than 8 sometimes 12 weeks between a core release (US) and an international release.
Over the past couple of years we continuously decreased the lag and recently went to simship!
We now use the simship model for all our “full” international sites.

21. Future: Our new Localization Framework approach:
The Localization (L10n) Framework is a set of tools, services, and processes that streamline the submission of content for localization within eBay, ensuring the right level of quality in a cost-effective manner with the best TTM (time to market).
At the core of the platform is the Translation (T9n) service, which acts as a conduit between submission channels and the L10n operations team. It allows for seamless exchange and processing of translation requests/responses.

22. Future: Our new Localization Framework approach: (continued)
By creating custom drivers that integrate with the L10n Framework, developers can directly invoke the T9n service from within their applications to meet their translation requirements.
The Localization Framework aims to support this mission with a set of interfaces, processes, SLAs (service level agreements) and multiple levels of QoS (Quality of Service), all of this backed up by the eBay L10N team dedicated to provide the highest quality of translation for their customers and the eBay community.

23. Questions and Answers?