Localized Web Advertising & IP tracking (was Re: bilingual websites)

Chris,

> And you accept language is fr, en right?

Right now, it says "zh" just to defy logic :)). I told you, I'm beyond
recovery point :))).

> Yes, that is a good summary. In my case, i found that i got a lot of
> french-targetted adverts on web pages when I just *added* French; I
> needed to add English (en-gb) as well as en to get them to believe me
> ;-)

Well, with my messed up browser I still get adds in French adds when I read
the NY times or go to some major US portals. How is that possible?

While finding someone's location based on his/her IP address has been
something traditionnaly difficult/impossible, it seems like some folks like
Akamai have now the capability to offer some IP tracking system
to pin point a user geographical location. I'm betting this is what is
used (instead of the HTTP request parameters). I'll be interested if anyone
as further info on the subject!

Notes on IP tracking: http://www.private.org.il/IP2geo.html
Akamai product: http://www.akamai.com/html/en/sv/content_targeting.html

It seems also that www.altavista.com brings me directly to the French page
without
using the HTTP header at all. Again I bet that IP tracking is in use, if
anyone has another explaination I'll be interested in that too.

For non-US surfers, a simple way to *fake* a US IP address is to use
www.anonymiser.com.

Cheers,
T.

PS: I tried to find an example of site with localized ads but did not have
any luck today. I'm just working from memory.
PPS: I'm not linked or getting paid by Akamai, if you know of other
companies
offering the same thing let me/us know as well :).


----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Lilley" <chris@w3.org>
To: "Thierry Sourbier" <webmaster@i18ngurus.com>
Cc: <www-international@w3.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: bilingual websites


>
>
> Thierry Sourbier wrote:
> >
> > > If your primary language was Welsh and a browser was available in
Welsh,
> > > what would *you* pick?
> >
> > Sorry Chris, you picked the wrong person, my primary language is French
and
> > I use an English browser :).
>
> And you accept language is fr, en right?
>
> > I would agree that most French people would
> > pick a French browser because most softwares (including the OSs) are
> > available in French.
>
> Well, I live in France, use a US Operating system set to English but
> with French currency and dates (and my accept language is en-gb, en,
> fr).
>
> > Now, correct me if I'm wrong but:
> > * I do not believe there is either a Welsh version of Windows or Mac OS.
>
> Why would there need to be? But yes, I just checked the regional
> settings on Windows XP and, in the list of languages, no Welsh.
>
> > * Most softwares are not available in Welsh.
>
> Correct. Some Web content is, though.
>
> > * The vast majority (>90%) of Welsh speaker are bilingual English +
Welsh.
>
> Yes, although it depends on their preferred language as wel as what they
> speak. For example, I suspect you would trather read material in French
> than in English assuming tghe exact same content with the same
> last-modify date was available in both languages?
>
> > Hence my assumption that, just as the rest of their softwares, most
Welsh
> > users are probably using an English browsers. That may be an assumption
that
> > Christopher Williams can verify just by checking is web log :).
> >
> > The point is that the browser preference is not totally reliable if it
> > indicates English but should be reliable if it says Welsh.
>
> Yes, that is a good summary. In my case, i found that i got a lot of
> french-targetted adverts on web pages when I just *added* French; I
> needed to add English (en-gb) as well as en to get them to believe me
> ;-)
>
> --
> Chris
>
>

Received on Tuesday, 30 October 2001 12:22:22 UTC