Gengo - Detailed Review
Translation Tools
- Gengo - Product Overview
- Gengo - User Interface and Experience
- Gengo - Key Features and Functionality
- Gengo - Performance and Accuracy
- Gengo - Pricing and Plans
- Gengo - Integration and Compatibility
- Gengo - Customer Support and Resources
- Gengo - Pros and Cons
- Gengo - Comparison with Competitors
- Gengo - Frequently Asked Questions
- Gengo - Conclusion and Recommendation
Gengo - Product Overview
Gengo is a platform that specializes in providing high-quality, human translation services, making it a valuable tool in the translation tools and AI-driven product category.
Primary Function
Gengo’s primary function is to facilitate the translation of content from one language to another through a network of over 25,000 qualified translators spread across all time zones. This allows for quick and efficient translation of various types of content, including documents, social media posts, emails, user reviews, and more.Target Audience
Gengo’s target audience includes businesses and individuals who need fast and accurate translations for their content. This can range from general business documents and social media posts to more specialized content such as presentations, reports, mobile apps, and website localization. The platform is particularly useful for companies looking to expand their global reach and engage with multilingual audiences.Key Features
- Automated Project Distribution: Orders are distributed automatically without manual intervention, allowing translators to pick up jobs and start translating within minutes.
- Direct Communication: Users can communicate directly with translators through a comments section and provide additional context using instructions, style guides, and term glossaries.
- Project Management: The platform offers a customer dashboard to keep track of all projects, ensuring a streamlined and organized process.
- Quality Checks: Gengo employs both automated and manual checks to ensure consistent quality. Automated checks highlight potential issues in real-time, while manual checks involve 100 language specialists reviewing translations.
- Speed and Scalability: Translations can be delivered within a few hours for documents that are a few pages long, making it ideal for urgent translation needs.
- Flexible Pricing: Gengo offers different service levels, including Standard and Advanced options, with pricing starting from $0.06 per word, depending on the complexity and visibility of the content.
- Support for Multiple Languages: The platform supports more than 50 languages, catering to a wide range of translation needs.
Gengo - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of Gengo, a translation service, is designed with a focus on efficiency, ease of use, and streamlining the translation process.Translation Workflow
Gengo’s interface is optimized to reduce the time and effort required for translators to complete their tasks. For short translations, the interface focuses translators on one line at a time, using a single text field. This approach significantly reduces the number of clicks needed; for example, translating 25 short jobs can be done with just 1 click, down from 75 clicks in the previous interface. For longer texts, the interface is modeled after the familiar workflow of using a text editor like Word. Translators can click anywhere in the source text to start translating, and the interface uses different font colors to help them focus on the translation while keeping the source text nearby. Once the job is finished, translators can isolate the completed translation, make edits, and submit the job easily.Mobile and Desktop Compatibility
The design of Gengo’s interface was initially tested on mobile devices, where translators could complete bite-sized translations during short breaks. This mobile research informed the development of the desktop interface, ensuring consistency and efficiency across different devices. The vertical layout used in the mobile interface proved efficient even on small screens and was adapted for desktop use.User Experience
The overall user experience is enhanced by several key features:Efficiency
The interface is designed to minimize non-translation tasks such as clicking and waiting, allowing translators to work more quickly and efficiently.Visual Feedback
For short jobs, the completed translations cascade down the page, providing visual proof of productivity and earning power, which can be motivating for translators.Ease of Use
The interface is easy to use, with features like the ability to click anywhere in the source text to start translating and the use of different font colors to distinguish between source and translated text.Customer Support
Gengo also offers responsive customer service and the ability to request edits to translations, ensuring that users can get the desired quality and make necessary adjustments.Additional Features
Gengo’s interface captures all essential information about translation requirements, providing a hassle-free experience. Users can select from different levels of translation and materials, and the service supports more than 50 languages. The platform is optimized for speed, with translations often delivered within a few hours. In summary, Gengo’s user interface is streamlined to enhance efficiency, reduce unnecessary actions, and provide a clear and motivating workflow for translators. This design contributes to a positive user experience, especially for those needing quick and reliable translations. Gengo - Key Features and Functionality
Gengo Translation Platform Overview
Gengo offers a range of features and functionalities that make it a comprehensive and efficient translation platform, particularly when it comes to integrating AI and other technologies. Here are the key features and how they work:Translation Memory (TM)
Gengo’s Translation Memory is a customer-specific tool that matches segments that have previously been translated and reuses them. This means you don’t pay for the same translation twice. The TM system is self-learning, improving the quality and speed of translations over time. This feature helps in maintaining consistency and reducing costs.Automated Quality Checks
The Gengo translator dashboard includes triggers that set both human and automated quality checks in motion. The validation system operates in the background to check and highlight potential issues while the translator works. This ensures that translations meet high standards of quality before they are submitted.Human Quality Checks
In addition to automated checks, Gengo employs nearly 100 language specialists who use GoCheck, a proprietary quality metric, to objectively mark different linguistic and stylistic errors. This dual-layered approach ensures consistent quality across all translations.Streamlined Project Management
Gengo’s platform is built to process high volumes of content quickly and efficiently. Projects are automatically distributed to translators without manual intervention, allowing translators to pick up jobs and start translating within minutes. The platform also features a customer dashboard to track all projects, and a flexible translator workbench with built-in tools to streamline the project management process.Integration with Leading Technology Platforms
Gengo is integrated with various technology platforms such as Magento, SendGrid, WordPress, YouTube, and Zendesk. This allows users to add professional translation directly into their existing workflows, enabling seamless localization of websites, email campaigns, video captions, and customer support interactions.Visual Comments and Context
The translator workbench allows customers to upload images, videos, and audio files to the comment section, providing more context and clarification for translators. This feature is particularly useful for user reviews and product descriptions, ensuring translations are accurate and relevant.Machine Translation (MT) Alert
Gengo has a tool that detects machine translations to ensure fairness and quality. This alert system helps maintain the integrity of human translations and ensures customer satisfaction by preventing the use of machine-generated content that may not meet quality standards.Flagging for Productivity
The improved flagging function allows translators to alert Gengo about issues such as inappropriate source text, the need for more context, or technical problems. This feature helps in resolving issues quickly and ensuring that translators have the necessary resources to complete their tasks efficiently.Shortcuts for Efficiency
Gengo’s workbench includes shortcuts to help translators work more efficiently. For example, the “Issues” shortcut opens the validation panel to identify and resolve errors, while the “Matches” shortcut displays translation memory matches to speed up the translation process.Crowdsourced Translation Platform
Gengo has a large community of over 22,000 certified translators working in over 70 language combinations across all major time zones. This crowdsourced approach ensures that translations are completed by professional, native-speaking translators, maintaining high accuracy and consistency.Automated Payments and Clear Pricing
The platform features fully automated payments, making the process seamless for both translators and clients. Gengo also offers clear, competitive pricing based on the volume and languages required, ensuring transparency and cost-effectiveness.Conclusion
These features collectively make Gengo a reliable and efficient platform for professional translation services, leveraging both human expertise and AI-driven tools to ensure high-quality translations. Gengo - Performance and Accuracy
Performance Evaluation of Gengo
When evaluating the performance and accuracy of Gengo in the translation tools category, several key aspects come into focus.Quality Assurance Process
Gengo employs a systematic approach to ensure high-quality translations. Here are some highlights:Human Reviews
Human Reviews: Over 100 language specialists review translations using GoCheck, a proprietary quality checking platform. This system assesses translation quality based on error count, error type, error severity, and word count, aligning with the TAUS Dynamic Quality Framework (DQF).Quality Scorecards
Quality Scorecards: Translators receive an overall quality score, which is a moving average of recent reviews, weighted by recency and text length. This ensures that translators who consistently submit high-quality work can access more advanced and higher-tier jobs.Performance Metrics
Gengo’s performance is quantifiable through several metrics:Approval Rates
Approval Rates: More than 98.8% of jobs are approved by customers, indicating a high level of satisfaction with the translations provided.Translator Consistency
Translator Consistency: The quality score system emphasizes consistency, with translators’ scores adjusted based on the standard deviation of their GoCheck scores. This means that consistent performance is rewarded, and fluctuations in quality are penalized.Types of Content and Quality Levels
Gengo offers different tiers of translation services based on the type of content:Everyday Content
Everyday Content: Suitable for casual, dynamic content like social media posts and product descriptions.Professional Content
Professional Content: Requires specific knowledge and is suitable for presentations, reports, and guides.Advanced and Additional Services
Advanced and Additional Services: These tiers offer higher accuracy levels and additional quality boosts, such as terminology accuracy, which are available for customers with sales support.Limitations and Areas for Improvement
While Gengo has a strong quality assurance process, there are some limitations:Specialized Content
Specialized Content: Gengo does not support safety-critical texts or material where human life may be at risk in case of error. They also do not offer transcreation or file recreation services.Formatting Issues
Formatting Issues: Translations of files, especially PDFs, may not retain the original design and layout, and could be returned in a different format.Segmented Translations
Segmented Translations: For certain project types, translations may be treated as individual strings rather than part of a whole document, which can lead to coherence issues in the final document.Customer Review and Correction Process
Customers have a significant role in ensuring quality:Review and Approval
Review and Approval: Customers can review translations before approving them. If a translation is not reviewed within 120 hours, it is automatically approved. Customers can request corrections or reject a job if it does not meet quality standards.Conclusion
In summary, Gengo’s performance and accuracy are supported by a rigorous quality assurance process, clear metrics for translator performance, and a tiered system for different types of content. However, there are specific limitations, particularly with specialized content and file formatting, which users should be aware of to ensure the best possible outcomes. Gengo - Pricing and Plans
Gengo’s Translation Services Pricing
Pricing Tiers
Standard
- Price per word: From $0.06
- Quality: Translators who have passed Gengo’s Standard level test.
- Recommended use: Ideal for everyday content such as internal communications, social media posts, user reviews, emails, and letters.
Business
- Price per word: From $0.12
- Quality: Translators who have passed Gengo’s more rigorous Business level test, ensuring higher accuracy.
- Recommended use: Suitable for content requiring more precision, such as presentations, reports, mobile apps, and website localization.
Additional Services
- Price: Contact sales for a quote.
- Features: Includes proofreading by a Business level translator. This service is only available for customers with sales support and is recommended for documents that require an extra layer of quality assurance.
Key Features
- Per-word pricing: Gengo charges based on the number of words translated, with no minimum spend, setup fees, or hidden costs. This ensures transparency and cost-effectiveness.
- Volume-based pricing: The cost is based on the volume of the content you need translated, making it scalable for any project size.
- Translation Memory: Gengo uses translation memory to track and reuse approved translations of repeat phrases, so you only pay for them once.
- Global Coverage: With over 21,000 certified translators in almost every country and across 70 language pairs, Gengo can handle translations in various languages and time zones.
Free Options and Estimates
- You can receive a free, instant estimate by copying and pasting your content into Gengo’s online order form. This allows you to see the exact cost before committing to the translation.
Gengo’s pricing structure is designed to be clear, competitive, and cost-effective, ensuring you get high-quality translations without any unexpected fees.
Gengo - Integration and Compatibility
Gengo Overview
Gengo, a human translation service offered by Lionbridge, integrates seamlessly with a variety of leading technology platforms and tools, making it a versatile solution for businesses and individuals needing translation services.
E-commerce Platforms
Gengo is integrated with popular e-commerce platforms such as Magento and OpenCart. For Magento, Gengo allows you to localize your entire website and product catalog quickly and affordably, enhancing your global reach.
Similarly, the Gengo OpenCart integration enables you to translate your product listings, catalog, and other content into over 30 languages with just a few clicks, ensuring compatibility with almost all OpenCart themes.
Content Management Systems
Gengo is also compatible with WordPress, allowing you to order professional translations and publish content in multiple languages directly from within the WordPress platform. This integration simplifies the process of managing multilingual content.
Email Marketing
For email campaigns, Gengo integrates with SendGrid, enabling you to engage with a global audience by translating your emails into various languages. This ensures your messages are accurately conveyed to recipients worldwide.
Customer Support
Gengo’s integration with Zendesk allows your support team to handle multilingual customer inquiries efficiently. This feature enables your team to communicate with customers in their native languages, enhancing customer satisfaction.
Video Platforms
To boost international viewership on YouTube, Gengo offers translation services for video captions. This integration helps you reach a broader audience by providing accurate and professional translations of your video content.
General Business Tools
Gengo supports the translation of general business documents, including internal communications, social media posts, emails, and user reviews. It is optimized for speed, allowing you to connect your content with the right translator quickly and efficiently.
Review and Feedback Mechanisms
For quality assurance, Gengo offers a translation review feature that allows customers to review translations, provide feedback, and request revisions within a specified period (up to 168 hours). This feature can be integrated into platforms like 3Play Media, ensuring that translations meet your standards.
Conclusion
In summary, Gengo’s integration with various platforms and tools makes it a highly compatible and versatile translation solution, catering to a wide range of business needs across different sectors and applications.
Gengo - Customer Support and Resources
Customer Support Options
Multilingual Support
Gengo enables businesses to provide customer support in multiple languages, which is crucial for global customer engagement. This can be achieved through translated FAQ pages, social media channels, call centers, and support tickets. For instance, the Gengo-powered Transfluent plugin allows support agents to handle customer inquiries across multiple languages directly from within the Zendesk dashboard.
Integration with Support Systems
Gengo’s translation services can be integrated with various support ticketing systems, ensuring that customer inquiries are addressed promptly and accurately, regardless of the language.
Real-Time Language Assistance
While Gengo primarily focuses on human translation, the concept of real-time language assistance, often facilitated by AI, is relevant. This ensures that customer support interactions are immediate and effective, even across different languages.
Additional Resources
Professional Translation Services
Gengo offers a crowdsourced translation platform that connects users with over 21,000 certified translators in more than 70 language combinations. This service is known for its high quality, with a 97.6% customer satisfaction rate and a 4.7/5 quality rating on translations.
Translation Tools and Software
Gengo recommends and integrates with various computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools such as SDL Trados, MemoQ, and Memsource. These tools help translators manage terminology, translation memory, and software localization, enhancing efficiency and quality.
Guides and Insights
Gengo provides a wealth of resources including blog posts, case studies, whitepapers, solution briefs, infographics, eBooks, and videos. These resources offer valuable insights into best practices for multilingual customer support, translation strategies, and the effective use of translation tools.
Webinars and Knowledge Hubs
Gengo hosts webinars and maintains knowledge hubs that cover various topics related to translation and customer support. These resources help users stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in the field.
By leveraging these support options and resources, businesses can ensure that their customer support is both effective and multilingual, enhancing customer satisfaction and global engagement.
Gengo - Pros and Cons
Advantages
Ease of Getting Started
Gengo does not require any qualifications or fees to sign up, making it accessible for many translators.
Flexible Working Hours
Translators can choose their working hours, providing a flexible work environment.
Support and Feedback
Gengo offers support and feedback to its translators, which can be beneficial for improvement.
Global Reach
With a network of over 18,000 translators worldwide, Gengo supports more than 35 languages and operates in every time zone, ensuring round-the-clock coverage.
Affordable Rates
Gengo provides clear, per-word translation rates with no add-on charges or minimums, making it an affordable option for generic translations.
Variety of Services
Gengo offers translation services for various industries, including e-commerce, web design, training, and software, as well as specialized services like subtitling and video transcription.
Disadvantages
Low Job Volume
One of the significant complaints is the low volume of available jobs, which can make it challenging for translators to secure work.
Competitive Job Allocation
Jobs are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, which can be highly competitive and stressful for translators.
Quality of Tests
Some users find the tests to determine skill levels unfair or misleading, which can be frustrating.
Low Pay
Many translators feel that the pay is not sufficient, especially considering the value they bring. The pay is often described as very low, particularly for translations involving English.
Quality Issues
There have been reports of poor quality translations, particularly in specialized fields that require domain-specific terminology. This can lead to significant errors, especially in critical documents like safety regulations.
Limited Tools and Resources
Gengo translators do not have access to tools like translation memory, glossaries, or project chat, which can hinder the quality and consistency of translations.
Strict Correction Window
There is a strict 120-hour window to request corrections after the translation is delivered, which can be limiting for clients who need more time to review the work.
These points highlight both the benefits and drawbacks of using Gengo as a translation platform, helping you make an informed decision based on your needs and expectations.
Gengo - Comparison with Competitors
Unique Features of Gengo
Crowdsourced Translators
Gengo leverages a large pool of freelance translators worldwide, offering flexibility and scalability. This model allows for quick turnaround times, making it suitable for projects with tight deadlines.
Translation Memory and Validation
Gengo uses a translation memory system that matches and reuses previously translated segments, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. The platform also features automated and human quality checks through its proprietary GoCheck metric, ensuring high-quality translations.
API Integration
Gengo provides API access, enabling businesses to integrate translation services seamlessly into their systems. This is particularly useful for automated and scalable translation solutions.
User-Friendly Platform
The platform is easy to use for ordering and managing translations, making it accessible for a broad audience.
Comparison with Smartling
Hybrid Approach
Smartling combines AI translation with human expertise, using large language models (LLMs) like GPT for nuanced translations. While Gengo also uses a hybrid approach, Smartling’s integration of LLMs is more pronounced. Smartling reduces translation workload by up to 90% and offers advanced workflow automation and quality control.
Project Automation
Smartling supports automated project management for complex, multi-language projects, which might be more comprehensive than Gengo’s automation features.
Setup and Training
Smartling requires initial configuration and training for teams to maximize its features, whereas Gengo is generally more straightforward to use.
Comparison with DeepL
Language Support
DeepL supports 30 languages, focusing on delivering highly accurate translations, especially in European languages. Gengo, on the other hand, supports a broader range of languages through its global network of translators.
Formatting and Tone
DeepL is known for maintaining the original document’s layout and switching between formal and informal tones, which can be an advantage for specific contexts. Gengo’s focus is more on the efficiency and scalability of translations.
Cost-Effectiveness
DeepL is cost-effective with plans starting at $8.74 monthly, while Gengo is also competitive but may vary based on the volume and complexity of the translations.
Comparison with Google Translate
Language Coverage
Google Translate supports over 100 languages, making it highly versatile. However, it may lack the specialized functions and quality control that Gengo and other dedicated business translation tools offer.
Input Options
Google Translate accepts various input types, including text, images, and spoken language, which is broader than Gengo’s text-based translation services. However, Google Translate may overlook subtle cultural nuances and context-specific meanings.
Potential Alternatives
Smartling
For businesses needing advanced automation, high-quality translations, and support for complex projects, Smartling might be a better option. It offers a more integrated approach with LLMs and automated project management.
DeepL
If accuracy in a specific set of languages (particularly European languages) and maintaining original document formatting are crucial, DeepL could be an excellent alternative. It is also more budget-friendly.
Google Translate
For general-purpose translations, travel assistance, or quick personal use, Google Translate is highly accessible and free. However, it may not be suitable for specialized or high-stakes business translations.
Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses, and the choice between them should be based on the specific needs of your project, such as language support, quality requirements, and budget constraints.
Gengo - Frequently Asked Questions
What is Translation Memory (TM) and how does it work at Gengo?
Translation Memory (TM) is a database that stores and matches segments that have previously been translated. At Gengo, TM reuses these segments to aid in new translations, ensuring you don’t pay for the same translation twice. Each time a job is submitted, the translation is automatically added to the TM for a particular customer. This self-learning system increases the quality and speed of translations over time.
How does Gengo ensure the quality of translations?
Gengo uses a combination of human and automated quality checks. The translator dashboard contains triggers that set these checks in motion. Automated quality checks include checks for misspelled words, missing glossary terms, and incorrect formatting. Additionally, nearly 100 language specialists use GoCheck, a proprietary quality metric, to objectively mark linguistic and stylistic errors.
What are the pricing models for Gengo’s translation services?
Gengo offers simple translation rates per word, which are significantly lower than traditional agencies. There are no minimum spends, hidden fees, or setup costs. The pricing varies based on the language pair and the service level (Standard or Business). For example, translations from English to Spanish might cost $0.05 per word via API and $0.06 per word via the web for the Standard service.
How does Gengo handle repetitions and exact matches in Translation Memory?
Repetitions are duplicate segments within the same job, while exact matches come from the TM database of previously translated content. Translators can flag jobs or segments where the TM match is poorly translated, and Gengo monitors and removes poor translations from the TM to maintain quality.
Can translators collaborate on adding terms to a glossary?
Currently, there is no feature for collaborative addition of terms to a glossary. However, you can email suggestions to projects@gengo.com for consideration. Gengo is continuously improving its tools and may add this feature in the future.
What shortcuts are available to help translators work more efficiently?
Gengo provides several shortcuts to enhance efficiency. For example, cmd shift m allows translators to view matches, and alt shift m inserts the top match. Additionally, shortcuts like Issues and Matches can be used to open the validation panel and matches panel, respectively, helping translators identify and resolve errors quickly.
How does Gengo’s flagging function work for translators?
The flagging function acts as an S.O.S. for translators. They can flag jobs if the source text is inappropriate for its language pair or tier, if they need more context from the client, or to report technical problems. Gengo’s teams monitor these flagged issues and respond to queries to resolve them as soon as possible.
Are there automated QA functions in Gengo’s translation process?
Yes, Gengo has introduced automated checks that occur every time a job is autosaved. These checks include identifying misspelled words, missing glossary terms, missing tags, incorrect number formatting, and more. These automated checks help ensure the quality of the translations.
How does Gengo handle bad translations within the Translation Memory?
Translators are responsible for ensuring that they only use accurate matches from the TM. If a TM match is poorly translated, it can be flagged, and Gengo manually removes poor translations from the TM to prevent their future use. Efforts are underway to automate this process.
Can customers see a breakdown of matches and associated reward adjustments in the workbench?
Currently, Gengo is working on a solution to display this information in the workbench. There is no immediate way to view this breakdown, but the company is actively improving its tools based on feedback.
Gengo - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of Gengo in the Translation Tools AI-Driven Product Category
Gengo stands out as a comprehensive and efficient platform in the translation tools category, particularly for those who need high-volume, high-quality translations quickly.Key Features and Benefits
Quality Assurance
Gengo employs a robust validation system that includes both human and automated quality checks. The platform uses a proprietary quality metric called GoCheck, which helps in objectively marking linguistic and stylistic errors. This ensures consistent quality at scale.
Translation Memory (TM)
Gengo’s TM system matches previously translated segments, allowing for the reuse of translations and reducing costs. This self-learning tool improves the quality and speed of translations over time.
Streamlined Project Management
The platform streamlines operations using proprietary project management tools, which reduces overhead costs and enables competitive pricing. This makes it easier for translators to focus on their work without the hassle of client management and project coordination.
Flexibility and Convenience
Gengo offers a flexible and commitment-free work environment for translators. They can choose their workload, work from anywhere, and enjoy the convenience of automatic payments and hassle-free project management.
Scalability
The platform is built to handle high volumes of content quickly, distributing thousands of orders to translators each week. This scalability is crucial for businesses or individuals needing large amounts of content translated rapidly.
Who Would Benefit Most
E-commerce Businesses
Companies looking to translate user-generated content, such as product reviews, can significantly benefit from Gengo. Translated user reviews can boost conversion rates, customer engagement, and retention, making it a valuable tool for ecommerce marketing.
Content Creators and Publishers
Those who need to translate a wide range of content types, including articles, blog posts, and educational materials, will find Gengo’s services highly beneficial due to its high-quality output and efficient process.
Freelance Translators
Translators seeking flexible, commitment-free work with the support of advanced tools and a streamlined project management system will appreciate Gengo’s offerings.
Overall Recommendation
Gengo is highly recommended for anyone needing professional translation services, especially those requiring high-volume translations with a focus on quality and speed. The platform’s advanced features, such as translation memory and automated quality checks, ensure that translations are accurate and efficient. Additionally, its flexible and convenient work environment makes it an attractive option for translators.
For businesses, Gengo’s ability to handle large volumes of content and its impact on ecommerce marketing through translated user reviews make it a valuable asset. Overall, Gengo provides a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective solution for translation needs.