When YouTube launched its translation options in November 2015, it offered four choices for content creators ― do their own translations, use automatic captioning through Google Translate, tap the fan base for free multilingual translations through the Community Contributions (CC) tool, or hire the services of professional translators from its own Translation Marketplace.
Since then, YouTube said it has received over 900,000 contributions for translating video subtitles and closed captions. With free multilingual translations available, would the marketplace take off as a viable business platform for professional content creators and language service providers (LSPs) to meet and do business?
“In March, we received almost twice the average amount of requests from the previous three months. Not only do we now have recurring customers, but many creators are also becoming more familiar with the marketplace tool. So, yes, we are expecting the volume to grow even more in the next months, and we’ll be working to promote that on our end,” Latinlingua, an LSP based in Argentina, said in an e-mail interview with Slator.
“Community contributions are an amazing tool and we are not trying to compete with that. It is nice that their (content creators’) own followers can give them the possibility to spread their content worldwide,” Latinlingua added. “But we believe our customers look for professional services instead of the community contributions to guarantee the quality of the transcripts and translations.”
With more than 300,000 videos being uploaded to YouTube daily, Latinlingua sees a lot of possibilities ― and challenges as well ― for paid translation.
“On the platform, the customer has to choose among four to six vendors from a list that only has prices and a link to their website. So, pricing plays an important role in their decision. On the other hand, we know we are not the cheapest agency for some services and language pairs and yet receive requests; so prices are not the only thing they take into account,” Latinlingua said.
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Germany
Local time: 19:24
English to Arabic
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MODERATOR
Under the Growing Volumes I noticed the following:
“Community contributions are an amazing tool and we are not trying to compete with that. It is nice that their (content creators’) own followers can give them the possibility to spread their content worldwide,” Latinlingua added. “But we believe our customers look for professional services instead of the community contributions to guarantee the quality of the transcripts and translations.”
... See more
Under the Growing Volumes I noticed the following:
“Community contributions are an amazing tool and we are not trying to compete with that. It is nice that their (content creators’) own followers can give them the possibility to spread their content worldwide,” Latinlingua added. “But we believe our customers look for professional services instead of the community contributions to guarantee the quality of the transcripts and translations.”
Also:
Meanwhile, TED’s localized watch time increased from 20% to 35% overall with the help of some 20,000 volunteer translators.
And: With more than 300,000 videos being uploaded to YouTube daily, Latinlingua sees a lot of possibilities ― and challenges as well ― for paid translation.
So this is the major point here: Latinlingua sees a lot of possibilities ― and challenges as well ― for paid translation.
But the question is how to get use/benefit from such a huge market, wow it looks like an opportunity with a wide range of choices.
Again, many thanks for Jared! News like these are very importent in our sector. ▲ Collapse
Local time: 13:24
English to Spanish
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These might be opportunities for LSPs with the time and money to assess how much money can be made from them. For the rest of us, discussions about translation markets, huge opportunities, demand growth and other expressions are just mirages, worthless announcements that contribute nothing to our profession. Just noise. Turn it off. Go listen to some good music.
Brazil
Local time: 15:24
English to Portuguese
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It's a mirage
These might be opportunities for LSPs with the time and money to assess how much money can be made from them. For the rest of us, discussions about translation markets, huge opportunities, demand growth and other expressions are just mirages, worthless announcements that contribute nothing to our profession. Just noise. Turn it off. Go listen to some good music.
Many companies are using YouTube to host their videos online, on private or public channels, and often pulling these into their web sites.
YouTube has an experimental automatic voice recognition system that generates captions in English in real time. This can be coupled with machine translation, to provide subtitles in a host of languages.
Those VR-generated captions are often ludicrous, and derision is further leveraged by automatic translation.
I can't pinpoint any reason why, but the funniest are institutional videos from dermatology clinics.
No company - dermatology clinics included (however their market is usually local, or at least domestic) - would like to become the laughing stock of watchers on account of VR & translation services they never requested.
The way out of it is to get their videos translated and subtitled by professionals, and then upload these SRT, SSA, or ASS files, so that YouTube can render them while playing.
However the spectator will have to click on the YouTube "gear" icon to turn subtitles on and select the desired language. This is a rather clumsy process, requiring them to pause the video, and later go back to the start. It also takes for granted that the average watcher will know how to do it.
Most companies - especially those using videos hosted on YouTube for their web sites - will want the subtitles professionally translated, and also burnt onto the image, so they can upload videos with indelible subtitles in each language they have on their web site, and then associate these to the corresponding language pages.
For the translator, it is basically e-legwork.
Find foreign companies that promote their products and services in your country and target language using online videos spoken in your source language, and offer their local subsidiary or representative your services.
If you translate and subtitle in both directions, find domestic companies that do the same to export to countries speaking your foreign language, and offer them too.
It's not a mirage, however it is not easily visible with the naked eye.
Spain
Local time: 19:24
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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YouTube is just one of the many ways in which companies and institutions can publish their services, as are printed materials, PDFs, webinars, slideshows, TV or radio b... See more
YouTube is just one of the many ways in which companies and institutions can publish their services, as are printed materials, PDFs, webinars, slideshows, TV or radio broadcasts, or a website. Whenever there is enough money or audience to gain for a company or institution in a foreign country/region to justify the investment in a proper translation, that is where we jump in.
For all the rest of possible "translations" out there, it is OK that amateurs fiddle around with the text, as they are opening up new markets for us and provide good insights to companies and institutions about the value and effect of professional translation. ▲ Collapse
Local time: 13:24
English to Spanish
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Call it mirage or something else, José, but the fact remains (also highlighted by Tomás' comments): it's not for us individual translators. It's simple economics: translation (automated or not) is another form of free advertising (that's why we can use YouTube for free). As long as translation is viewed as free (a convenience to the customer), it will not have added value.
Brazil
Local time: 15:24
English to Portuguese
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Call it mirage or something else, José, but the fact remains (also highlighted by Tomás' comments): it's not for us individual translators. It's simple economics: translation (automated or not) is another form of free advertising (that's why we can use YouTube for free). As long as translation is viewed as free (a convenience to the customer), it will not have added value.
Perhaps I wasn't clear.
My point is that it is unlikely that a professional translator will make money "on YouTube".
However a clear marketing possibility is shown in this example (fictitious):
ACME is an American company, which exports to/has a subsidiary in Brazil (where I am an ENPT translator).
I check ACME's "Brazilian" web site, which may be acme.com.br or br.acme.com, if you catch my drift.
I see the entire site is in Portuguese, however the videos - which are visibly hosted on YouTube - are in English.
Recent global events held here - the Soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games - showed how few people in this country understand English.
So I contact ACME Brazil or their rep's marketing department, and offer them the possibility of translating and subtitling these videos for their web site. I'll download the videos from YouTube, and return them with burnt subtitles in Portuguese, so their webmaster can upload and link them on their BR web site.
Benefits are so obvious, that it's just a matter of checking the ROI they have in Brazil from that web site.
I have done this over and over again for local translation agencies, who obviously make a bundle on the markup. The companies themselves, if they did so, will probably have checked with subtitling companies that work for cinema/TV, and whose cost structure is not devised to handle technical/business translation and short duration videos. A freelance translator capable of delivering turn-key video subtitling services is a much more affordable solution.
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