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01 Oct 2009
Google is giving its users the ability to view search results found within forum posts and discussion groups, which it claims could be a useful research tool.
Johanna Wright, director of product management at Google, explained in a blog post that results would come from the "most informed" sites, or those with a large number of posts on a particular subject.
"Today, we introduced a new search feature that makes it easier to find forum posts or discussions related to what you're searching for," she said. "This new addition to Google search results applies to sites that tend to have a large number of posts on a specific topic."
Related posts within the same forum or site will be displayed under the main link, along with extra information such as the date of the post. Wright suggested that it could be useful when travelling abroad.
"It's always nice to know what others are saying about the best ways to get around (by boat or train) and how recent those comments are," she said.
Google has also announced a new web site translator gadget that can be applied to a page to offer automatic translation.
"Now, when people visit your page, if their language (as determined by their browser settings) is different than the language of your page, they'll be prompted to automatically translate the page into their own language," said Jeff Chin, product manager at Google, in a blog post.
"If the visitor's language is the same as the language of your page, no translation banner will appear."
The gadget can translate sites into 51 languages, but Chin acknowledged that it is not without its limitations.
"Automatic translation is convenient, and helps people get a quick gist of the page. However, it's not a perfect substitute for the art of professional translation," he said.
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Translations
I just want to say that this translation is going a long way. It is certainly a big help if one don`t know the language of the site. This comes particularly handy if a webpage is written for example in Arabic or Chinese. Of course it would be not perfect but HEY ! Its better than nothing. And it does save you a lot of time and money. Well sometimes I use it as well. But I want to stress that you can not use it for proffesional purposes. I am professional translator myself so I know better. As for just causal and just for oneself, it is a great tool and I am very proud that I live in this time, when such thing is possible. Remmember PEOPLE this things were possible only in SCI-FI books and we today live and see this happening as were described only in sci-fi books. How good is that??? I am writer of sci-fi myself. You know how good is to see that what you wrote as a sci-fi book is really happening right in front of your very own eyes?? And here you thought, you never would see such thing in your life as you were thinking that is only for Sci-fi and Fantasy. For instance GOOGLE EARTH, STREET VIEW, etc. How great is that !!!
Posted by: Systememperor 03 Oct 2009
What would a translation say about your business or blog?
Adding semi-automatic translation is an interesting feature, but how does the translation actually read to a speaker of that language? Presumably the translation is handled by the same engine as Google Translate. I recently blogged about this kind of machine translation at "Making Sense" (worldaccent.com/blog) and, more importantly, its dangers. It can be great for getting the gist of something, but is also often way off beam. Google state this quite openly, but it's worth thinking over. If a user runs your website through Google translate, they know its at their own risk. If you have "provided" a translation, aren't you more responsible for what it says? As Bing Translator warns you every time you use it: "Automatic translation can help you understand the gist of the translated text but is no substitute for a professional human translator." And, unless you speak the target language, how do you know if your website is being rendered in perfect prose or as unintelligible gibberish? If you care about what "you" are saying in translation, you're still best off sticking to a human translator.
Posted by: Jim Making Sense 02 Oct 2009