in my opinion

Google in Japan: Adaptation or Homogenization?

By Chadrose de Guzman

How much of the world will the United States take over? Should all countries be exposed to the same things? We should all fight against cultural homogenization. As Google tries to tap into the Japanese market, it has adopted changes to its site in Japan in order to lure the Japanese population to search on Google. It has added links to Gmail, a Japanese Splash page and YouTube, also Google owned, just to entice the Japanese to use its search engine. The company also added the program, Spellmeleon that helps Japanese with their English spelling. Having a Google Japan only furthers the thought of cultural dominance. It has captured Japanese audiences through YouTube, exposing them to many aspects of the western culture which influences their youth.

Basically, the U.S. has tapped into a wealthy country and wants a piece of its money pie. Did you know that there are over 90 million internet users in Japan? Did you know that Japan in second in advertising markets coming in at a whopping $ 77 billion a year? It is no wonder that Google is so focused on taking over this country by making its goal to be the number one search engine in Japan. YouTube is watched by 10 million Japanese viewers a day; this is only through cellular phones. That is a lot of users!

Because Yahoo Japan was the initial search engine for Japan, it is perceived as a local company — tough competition to beat. But, Google's sights are set; it won’t be long until it reaches that goal of being number one in Japan. As this marketplace widens for Google, let’s hope it does not become a homogenized world.