Google Search team discusses website translation needs in Turkish market

In a candid discussion about the state of search in Türkiye, Google Search team members recently shared insights from their first Search Central Live event in the country. According to Martin Splitt, a Search Advocate at Google, the event revealed significant challenges in Turkish-language website content creation and management.

Speaking on December 31, 2024, in the latest episode of Search Off the Record podcast, Splitt detailed how Turkish web professionals expressed concerns about search result quality. "Initially, at the conversation as it began at the event, they primarily said 'Google isn't giving us good results,'" Splitt noted. However, further discussion uncovered deeper systemic issues within the Turkish web ecosystem.

The event, part of Google's initiative to reach underserved regions, brought together diverse participants representing various company sizes and experience levels. According to Splitt, when examining the root causes, "we worked out as a group that there are a lot of problems with the way that content is created in Turkish language websites."

Content plagiarism emerged as a significant concern among attendees. The discussion revealed that many cases required legal intervention through existing mechanisms in the Turkish legal system, as Google's technical solutions could not address all aspects of content copying.

Technical implementation questions dominated the conversations, with participants focusing on fundamental aspects like robots.txt configuration and noindex tags. Despite some attendees describing themselves as highly experienced, the questions revealed gaps in technical knowledge that could be addressed through improved documentation and education.

A key challenge identified during the event was the quality and accessibility of technical documentation in Turkish. While Google invests in professional translations across multiple languages, the effectiveness of these translations and their adoption by the local community remains unclear. "We do have professional translations that we invest a lot of effort and time in," Splitt explained, drawing a parallel with German translations he can personally verify as a native speaker.

The event highlighted the need for enhanced educational initiatives to help Turkish web professionals identify and address content-related challenges. According to Splitt, "we can do a lot of education there that will help people make better websites and, thus, will help people have better websites available to them."

Google's documentation efforts face ongoing challenges in reaching their intended audience effectively. Despite comprehensive materials being available, questions arose about awareness of existing resources and potential barriers to accessing or understanding them. The Search team noted the importance of gathering feedback from the Turkish web community to better understand these challenges.

The discussions revealed a complex interplay between technical expertise and practical implementation. Some participants who identified themselves as experts struggled with basic concepts covered in Google's fundamental documentation, while others demonstrating less experience showed advanced understanding of specific technical aspects.

Looking ahead, the Google Search team emphasized the importance of continued engagement with the Turkish market. The event's outcomes suggest a need for more targeted support in content creation, technical implementation, and documentation accessibility to elevate the quality of Turkish-language websites.

The Search Central Live event in Türkiye marks a significant step in Google's efforts to understand and address regional-specific challenges in search quality. As Gary Illyes, another member of the Google Search team noted, such events provide valuable insights into how different markets approach search optimization and content creation.

The podcast discussion highlighted how perceptions of expertise can vary significantly across markets and individuals. John Mueller, also from the Google Search team, observed that experience levels often prove subjective, with self-described experts sometimes struggling with fundamental concepts while supposed newcomers demonstrate sophisticated technical knowledge.

This initiative represents part of Google's broader strategy to improve search quality in non-English markets through direct engagement with local web professionals and content creators. The findings from Türkiye provide valuable insights that could inform similar efforts in other regions facing comparable challenges with web content quality and technical implementation.

The team concluded that addressing these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach, combining improved documentation, enhanced educational resources, and continued dialogue with local web professionals to ensure solutions meet the specific needs of the Turkish market.