Facebook is the biggest social network in the world, so it may come as a surprise to some that up until early 2008, it didn’t offer any localized versions of the site at all. The company managed to jumpstart its international presence with an application fittingly called Translations, which took the time-consuming and costly task of translating the site and crowd-sourced it, asking the network’s millions of users to lend a hand. The process proved to be very efficient: Facebook launched a Spanish site in Feburary 2008, only a few weeks after unveiling the app, and by June it had support for 16 more languages. It’s now up to over 60, including right-to-left reading languages like Hebrew. And now, Facebook is trying to patent the process that helped turn it into an international goliath.
Facebook filed the patent application with the US Patent & Trademark Office in December 2008, but it only recently made its way online. The application is currently going through the office’s examination process, and you can be sure that plenty of sites are hoping it doesn’t go through.
Here’s the patent’s abstract:
Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for translating text in a social network. In one embodiment translations of text phrases are received from members of the social network. These text phrases include content displayed in a social networking system, such as content from social networking objects. A particular member is provided with content including a text phrase in a first language, and the member requests translation into another language. Responsive to this request, a translation of the text phrase is selected from a set of available translations. The selection is based on actions by friends of the member in the social network, the actions being associated with the set of available translations. These actions can the viewing of or approval of translations by the friends, for example. The selected translation is then presented to the member requesting the translation.
In layman’s terms, Facebook’s Translation app presents users with words that need to be translated, and they submit their entries. The system then invites other users to vote using Reddit-style up/down arrows to vote on which translations are best. This helps generate translations that are not just technically accurate, but also helps eliminate awkward or overly formal wording.
It’s a technique that has worked so well that other social networks have rolled out their own implementations. Hi5 launched a crowd-sourced translation model in spring 2008 (the site had already been professionally translated into 23 languages at that point), and even launched a crowdsourcing translation tool for OpenSocial developers last fall. But the reception of free crowdsourced translation hasn’t always been positive — LinkedIn recently conducted a survey to gauge what kind of incentive its users wanted to help it translate the professional networking site. The results? Most users would have been happy with some kind of free recognition, either through a leaderboard or on their profile, which is what Facebook does, but 45% expected to receive “upgraded accounts” for their efforts.
Of course, Facebook was hardly the first site to use the web to crowdsource localization. Meebo has used a user-edited Translation Wiki to generate the site’s translations since early 2006, though the site’s voting mechanisms are less robust. Now it’s up to the patent office to decide if the techniques employed by these other sites will represent prior art that would nullify Facebook’s patent. And you can be sure that’s what many people are hoping for — it would be highly frustrating for social networks down the line if they can’t leverage their own communities the way Facebook has.
I think they should open-source it instead.
Agreed. But thats not in the best interest of the $ now is it. Id like to see a patent for generating interest in a user community through leveraging the good will of users to make information more valuable through its use and manipulation en route to distributing the ’service’ of participation as a commodity that can be owned, leveraged and given Terms which infer exclusivity of intent and implementation. Come on USPTO…hit me!
I think facebook should be denoted as “Scambook”…
The whole business of facebook is based primarily on indictment or counter accusations of ideas/source code mugging from one of their defunct founders. Isn’t it?
Most of their functionalities I think are source of ideas carefully ambushed from other web sites around the world.
e.g. envite friends with which friends needs confirmation! refers to mixi.jp;
e..g. use of friendships (connecting people in real world). refers to mixi.jp;
e.g. groups; events; Network of friends based on shared/common interests! Refers to many web sites prior to them;
e.g. gifts send and receive virtual gifts or gift store! Refer to numerous websites in Asia and Pacific where the bulk of money is made through avatars and second life sites;
e.g translating via crowd-soursing! refers to numerous other pre- existing applications.
What next, web apps? Sigh…
Hence, facebook is simply a gigantic application dead in itself with no monetization strategy.
Picture this basic scenario:
• You’re CIO of public/private or individuals investors or a boutique house
• You asked us to invest in this new thing called web 2.0 or whatever name you may apply to it
• You were given a total capital to invest ranging in the order ¾ of Billion US Dollars
• Five years down the line your Financials is still in the red?????????????…….
In the meantime the likes of China-based social network QQ makes well over $523 million in revenues and reports operating profit of $200-224 million. And so are other web based business for that matter.
Now you wonder why we’re in recession????. Because American’s money is being pour down the drain by the headless chicken investors.
Facebook are making just about the same as QQ. The just don’t report their earnings on account of being a private company.
According to this:
http://www.plus...e_QQ_Sample.pdf
Facebook is not the “world’s largest social network” at all.
Well, the good news is that there are people working on open sourcing it:
http://socialso...olbox/show/1107
You can also find a live example here:
http://www.dermundo.com/reader
And you might also like to check out Transposh which currently offers a Wordpress plugin for bloggers wanting to easily translate their site: http://transposh.org/download/
We have the open source CrowdSight application that was just launched – http://www.globalsight.com/
Check it out! It’s free!
The patent is restricted to social networks, though, apparently. Phew… I wouldn’t want to have to get REALLY PISSED OFF again!
http://www.tech...clicky-getsmad/
Didn’t you apologize for the other one?
While technically not a “social network”, Drupal’s development community has been doing crowd sourced translations since at least 2005 (and probably longer).
Regarding that technicality of “social network”: Drupal powers applications such as social networks, and the Drupal.org website is itself a social network.
I’m sure there are many other examples of how FB can hardly be considered an innovator here.
Of course, Facebook was hardly the first site to use the web to crowdsource localization.
>>>>> Maybe FB would be the first to implement in web, but the key idea behind translations are not a new one. The patent approval would interrupt other social networks as crowdsourced translations are being used.
There was some journal… you know… a live one. I distinctly remember them doing this before Zuck even entered college.
http://www.dict.cc has been doing crowd sourced translations for ages. How will this patent get through?
This a total BS patent. The idea is beyond obvious. Sigh.
It is reasonable for Facebook to own the Crowdsourced Translations, as a term or trademark, sound cool, but not the idea and practice which has been in-use by many vendors around the world. Simple, it is prior art.
Plurk has done this really, really well (and I’m pretty sure they did it before Facebook did) http://translate.plurk.com/
“including right-to-left reading languages like Hebrew.”
Why not saying Arabic, Persian, etc? TC is so … Get over it, TC!
WTF is your problem?!
It’s obviously a part of the Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. It starts with mentioning Hebrew as a right-to-left language and will finish when all the world is enslaved. Tell all the world they should read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion before it’s too late.
http://en.wikip..._Elders_of_Zion
Crowdsourcing translation is nothing new. Many of our hosting software created in house have crowdsourced translations since 1997.
Hi5 has been doing this for aaaages. Prior Art. Patent fail.
The idea isn’t original, the application might be however, but I doubt it.
Netvibes is available in 80 languages, translated by its users. All information at http://translate.netvibes.com/
(Reminder to change your language in netvibes: Settings > languages)
ridiculous
Considering that there is probably a total of 100 words in facebook that would need translating, you’d think it would be trivial matter to offer the different languages.
Translation isn’t just a matter of looking words up in the dictionary. There are LOTS of issues to deal with like a single word in English having multiple meanings in a different language, a different sentence structure, getting different scrips/symbols to fit in the user interface nicely. Even if you can get the basic meaning, “you wouldn’t website use if it English writing this like”
I used the Spanish version of facebook when it first came out and it was horrible – full of grammar errors and weird mistakes such as guys being called girls and vice versa. I had to switch back to English it was so annoying. It took about a year before it was readable
This patent should not be approved. There is a lot of prior art that predates Facebook as a company.
The process they use is employed in many translation platforms. Pootle, an open source localization system, has many similarities to Facebook and has been around for years. The worldwide lexicon, an open source content translation system I built, has been around longer that facebook (I remember giving a talk about this at ETech in 2001 or 2002). Dotsub, a crowdsourced subtitling system, has been around for four years or so now. These are just a few projects I can think of.
Facebook may have put this in front of a large audience but they didn’t invent the concept of community translation. In an ad hoc form it as old as the web is.
Brian McConnell
Plug : check our our new translation addon for firefox. It auto translates pages using human translations if possible with fallback to machine translation.
Trying to patent this? Epic Fail and its bad PR too.
FB thrives on bad PR
didn’t luis von ahn from carnegie come up with crowdsourcing with recaptcha? i.e. getting people to translate illegible words in old books whenever you sign up for a new email account?
even though they might not have invented it first, if they’re the first to try to patent it good for them
This idea is implemented and in active use for more than a year (Russian site):
http://notabeno...c=0&page=39
Use all benefits and close the door, quick!
…….I’ll never ever help them again, that for sure.
Use the crowd?
Than you are morally obliged to open source it!
Morally obliged?
Somebody’s been on 2 many happy pills l8ly :p
Has anyone challenged in court the exact definition of a “Social network” ? The patent says the invention is about providing translation function in a social network. What about providing social networking functions in a translation site?
http://www.phrasebase.com was built on this premise and has been functioning this way for over 12 years now. I hope the patent clerks realize this.
Aside many comments made here regarding the fact that even the employed process of voting and translation is not a Facebook only invention I want to point out that Facebook itself is in a mixed-edged situation.
On the one hand they are a company delivering a large community with services the community loves, extends and consumes for free. On the other hand they need to be a business that earns money to deliver the first mentioned services.
In such a situation it is obvious that sooner or later even Facebook needs to employ strategies beyond Ads to earn money. Since the last thing Facebook users want – even though they allow it implicitly – is that Facebook does sell their content and data to third parties, other ways have to be gone.
Consequently Facebook seeks to patent processes and ‘ideas’. Even though I doubt that they will be able to retrieve licenses from third parties for using such patents I do not see many other ways they can go without loot their ‘own’ crowd, you – the Facebook users.
Isn’t there a condition that you can’t patent an invention if it was implemented and publicly available for longer than a year?
This is a very interesting development. You might be interested to know that this type of effort doesn’t always go down well with all involved, and there are other aspects to consider.
http://www.matt...-big-questions/
Don’t forget countries outside the US. This type of software patent wouldn’t be applicable in most countries outside USA.
In most other countries you patent »how« something is done, not »what« you do. This is a good example of the latter, much like the famous »progress bar patent«.
I wonder why americans don’t understand that many of these software patents simply harm economic growth?
“These actions can the viewing of or approval of translations by the friends, for example.”
hmmm, was that translated for them using an auto translation service because it does not make sense…..
There is no alternative for professional translators period. If you want your website to be localized professionally, you can’t use crowdsourcing. Why? Since there will be no integration and conformity in terms and style. You can feel this within minutes if you use some local versions of Facebook. Be honest – don’t you feel that you want to return to the English version like all the time? Personally, I prefer to use paid translation service (I use OneHourTranslation.com but you can find plenty more on the web) to localize my virtual assets and not risking my reputation.
Yeah right…
Nothing like a good community to help you translate your website.
This is the kind of news that makes me sick to my stomach.
Yet another company ruining application development.
The patent system is so broken, letting idiots patent abstract and generic ideas.
Hopefully this patent idea with plenty of prior art does not get approved — yet another “obvious” patent.
This is really lame.
This is why I happily violate copyright. Current IP laws, especially for patents, are a joke.
Wow, way to piss off your translators Facebook. So, I do all of the work to help you grow enormously, and then you turn around and try and patent a patently obvious process? LOL, who in God’s name would actually pay to license this? It looks like Facebook realizes its demise is near, and is resorting to posturing for its future patent trolling activities…
whereistand.com has had crowdsourced translation in the public domain since ‘05.
Such a detailed process… and the translations SUCK.
Its interesting watching social networks apply for patents or trademarks (Twitter, Tweet)
shame on FB. unless they paid every single person who helped them out, I’d say it’s morally wrong to go down that path
Isn’t there something called “prior art”? In Europe, multi language websites are there since the start of the web and yes crowdsourced translations were done here far before Mr Zuckerberg started (the) facebook
Hi folks,
Interesting debate here. I broke this story of Facebook filing a patent for so-called crowdsourced translation over at the Baltimore Sun’s tech blog, BaltTech. TechCrunch and others have done a good job of running with it. Hope you can check out our work: http://www.balt...un.com/balttech.
Cheers, Gus
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.