Why You Should NOT Use the Google Translate Plug-In on Your Website [10 Issues]

Using the Google Translate plugin on your website may seem like a good idea. It’s simple to install, free, requires minimal effort, etc. But remember the old adage: “You get what you pay for!” Here are some issues with using this free tool instead of a professional, human translation.

10 problems with Google Translate:

1. It is difficult to find the language picker.

Many websites think they offer a good translation option – yet it’s a wasted effort. The language picker is located in the footer, often making it difficult to find even if you speak English. Imagine someone who speaks a different language trying to find it at the bottom of a page they can’t read. 

2. The languages in the picker are in English. 

Even if a non-English speaker finds the Google Translate drop-down menu – it’s in English.  It says, “Select a language.” – if your website visitors can’t read English, they won’t know how to select a language.  Imagine you are on a Chinese website looking for a language picker to switch to English. If you can't read Chinese characters, how would you know where the picker is? Then, how would you know how to pick your language if you can’t read Chinese?  You have to pick your language out of a list of many that are all in Chinese characters.  This alone makes the plugin practically useless to put on your website.

3. The translation isn’t accurate. 

We translated a simple statement – “Cut the clutter with paperless billing” into Simplified Chinese.  Then, we used Google Translate to back-translate it into English. The result was “Use paperless bills to reduce confusion.” Google Translate captures a gist – but it sounds stilted and unclear.  And it doesn’t mean the same thing. 

4. It doesn’t capture the meaning.

Here is an example from Mazda. The tagline in Japanese is Jinba ittai – it captures the feeling of a Japanese-mounted archer.  Imagine - you are one with the horse as you soar across the land.  It’s that moment of perfection in the feeling of movement.  A few months ago, when we first put Jinba ittai in Google Translate, it translated the phrase as “danger”.   If you try it now it translates as simply “jinba”, or sometimes it says “one horse”.  Either way – the meaning is wrong and lacks the feeling of the original phrase.  Can you imagine Mazda using the slogan “Drive a Mazda – it’s your one-horse car”? 

5. Languages may not work. 

If it’s not installed correctly and then tested, the selections don’t work. This makes the company look sloppy and uncommitted to the non-English-speaking market. We’ve seen websites with the plug-in that isn’t working. Make sure to test everything on your website.

6. It only partially works. 

On some sites, the text in the body of the page is translated, but the headers, footers, and call-to-action buttons aren’t, or vice versa. This would be very frustrating for visitors who speak foreign languages. 

7. It increases your risk. 

We’ve seen currency exchange companies, law firms, and other regulated industry companies risk liability using Google Translate. These are highly regulated industries that require very precise language to meet the letter of the law. Making a wrong claim or giving false or confusing information because Google Translate just gave a “gist” translation puts the company at risk.

8. It’s not culturally appropriate. 

Google Translate translates the words, but what about the colors, pictures, and cultural references?  For example, last year’s Sharper Image catalog and website featured photos of all white models.  The creators didn’t include any pictures of different colors or ethnicities.  If you want to relate to your audience, you must ensure your visuals and cultural references are appropriate. 

9. You may not reach your audience. 

A company with the website 4tests.com offers free practice standardized tests.  One of the tests is the TOEFL exam (Test of English as a Foreign Language) – the one that international students are required to take to be accepted to a university in the US.  The website offers excellent advice about preparation – for example they advise not to learn English solely from movies and TV; they also advise students to study content they’d see in a college course.  Even though users may speak English well enough to comprehend this, they’ll search for the information in their native language.  Or their parents, who will be paying for the test, may not have strong English skills and may need the information easily accessible in their native language.  4Tests.com is losing money by using Google Translate, which is buried at the bottom of its website. Read more about Increasing Lead Generation with Website Translation.

10. It doesn’t engage the customer. 

When you visit a website, you want to see that the company understands and can meet your needs.  Google Translate does NOT sound like a native speaker would write.  You lose your readers if you don’t take the time to give them easy-to-access information in their native language that’s culturally adapted.  In the world today, we are surrounded by content.  If it’s not engaging and easy to consume, people move on.  Don’t waste your time by putting Google Translate on your website.

Even Google admits that Google Translate isn't good enough and can not compete with the quality of human translators.  Recently, it was reported that the US Government was using Google Translate on social media posts to vet refugees. Google advises that the tool is not “intended to replace human translators.” Read more in the article "Google Says Google Translate Can’t Replace Human Translators. Immigration Officials Have Used It to Vet Refugees." 

When to Use Google Translate

Now, with all this said, there are some good uses for Google Translate.

1. Writing love letters to someone who doesn’t speak your language. Even if it’s wrong, you can laugh about it. I don’t recommend arguing using Google Translate—some mistranslated words may worsen the situation.

2. Random emails – did you ever get a random email in another language and wonder if it’s junk or important? Pop it in Google Translate and get the gist.  Quickly, you can tell if someone is asking you to borrow a large sum of money or whether it has to do with your business.

3. Increase knowledge of how important quality translation is on matters of importance.