Auto-translated content designated as spam?

Watch out for quick fixes in translation and localization...

For some Euro languages, auto-translation can give a reader some idea of the meaning, but the resulting content is clearly non-idiomatic and is often jumbled gibberish. For languages outside of the Euro-zone, auto-translated content is mostly unreadable.

You may have already known all this, but did you know that auto-translated content hurts your visibility on search engines?

In Google Search content that is auto-translated is designated as spam.

AdSense is no better. AdSense has been undergoing a revamp this year (it seems each year the criteria is made more stringent to restrict payments). Many sites have found their AdSense accounts frozen for either "scraped content" or “websites with gibberish content that makes no sense or seems auto-generated.” Both of these conditions can occur when site content has been translated using some sort of auto-translation process.

Even if your company site does not use Google Search or AdSense, it can still suffer if you have translated your site using auto-translation tools.

Presenting gibberish content on the web is no way to build a brand or generate client confidence in your offerings. As everyone knows, there can be disagreements between any two writers on the best wording to persuade a reader so why does anyone thing cutting corners with auto-translation is right for their company?

When you translate your company's materials--whether it is website content or product brochures--it is vital to have subject specialists linguists and copywriters who can ensure that your company makes the very best impression to potential customers.