Google gadget translates sites into 51 languages
Published: 01 Oct 2009 15:41 BST
Google has released a gadget that web developers can add to their sites in order to allow automatic translation by users.
The gadget, which is powered by Google Translate and involves the insertion of a short snippet of code into a page, was announced on Wednesday. If a user visits that page and their native language — as defined in their browser settings — does not correspond to the language of the page, they will be prompted to automatically translate it, Google product manager Jeff Chin said in a blog post.
"If the visitor's language is the same as the language of your page, no translation banner will appear," Chin wrote. Fifty-one languages are supported.
Google announced the gadget on International Translation Day, the same day on which Facebook said it was making its Translations for Facebook Connect technology available to web developers.
However, Facebook's tool involves the human-powered translation of a website into a specified language, whereas Google's gadget uses entirely automated translation into dozens of supported languages. The use of Facebook's tool is also limited to websites using its Facebook Connect single sign-on authentication system, whereas Google's gadget is freely available for any site.
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