Language bias on Google searches
A presentation by
Welcome to this presentation and thank you for coming.
What are we talking about?
OS,
Browser,
Google search settings: Catalan
Let us begin by explaining what we mean when talking about language bias on Google searches.
What are we talking about?
First organic result: Spanish
…the first organic result of a Google search is in Spanish, even if the returned web page, which is a
multilingual site, has a version in Catalan, as it is in this case.
What are we talking about?
Next results: Spanish
But wait, no just the first result is in Spanish, but also the next ones.
What are we talking about?
En.wiki translated into Catalan
That's not all: the lateral widget, which normally shows a Wikipedia result, is showing here the translation
(into Catalan, at least) of the English Wikipedia, as if there was no Catalan Wikipedia page for the city of
Eivissa.
What are we talking about?
Wrong advice
Finally, in some searches, Google is still showing a wrong advice on setting Catalan as the language for
searches, which is, actually, already set.
Consequences for WP
Catalan WP
Difference in visits from Google to Wikipedia in Catalan for the period March 2022-February 2023,
compared to the previous year. It only includes visits from Spain.source
What are the consequences for Wikipedia projects?
Consequences for WP
Spanish WP
Difference in visits from Google to Wikipedia in Spanish for the period March 2022-February 2023,
compared to the previous year. It only includes visits from Spain.source
Here you can see the same graph for the Spanish Wikipedia.
Serious implications
90% loss of transit
As you can imagine, this has serious financial implications for websites that rely on organic traffic to
generate some revenue. In fact, some Catalan websites have reported up to a 90% loss of transit.
What have we done?
That is the reason for which Catalan society reacted by creating an Alliance, in March 2023, for the digital
presence of Catalan language.
What have we done?
Amical Wikimedia is one of the founders of this Alliance, among other private and public Catalan
institutions.
What have we done?
Report
This Alliance created a report of the situation before contacting Google. You can get this report from here.
What does this report say?
Says
Monitoring system
The Alliance is working on the creation of a monitoring system to be able to follow this issue over
time.
What do we propose?
Raise awareness.
Share information and experiences.
Look for synergies.
Lobby.
What is the purpose of this presentation?
Contact us
This presentation
wikimedia.cat
By email
presidencia@wikimedia.cat
Thank you!
Questions?
Difference in visits from Google to Wikipedia in Catalan for the period March 2022-February 2023,
compared to the previous year. It only includes visits from Spain.
Difference in visits from Google to Wikipedia in Spanish for the period March 2022-February 2023,
compared to the previous year. It only includes visits from Spain.
